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When your customer is known as The Warfighter, it’s safe to say your company culture could use a dose of whimsy.

That’s why you’ll frequently find Michaela Flatau, Chief People Officer at Defense Unicorns, in a unicorn costume. As the defense technology company has grown to 200, it’s become more by-the-book with organization and transparency, but fun traditions keep morale high. Team rituals centered around giving and honest communication strengthen workplace trust. After all, if you want to say you hire the very best, you have to treat them as such.

“If you've already gone too far down the [corporate] path, you can't turn it around by suddenly having fun logos or costumes and things like that. You have to earn your employees’ trust as well.” – Michaela Flatau

Key Takeaways

• Revisiting and revising company culture is essential as teams grow.
• Leaders who value and protect the culture are a huge contributor to its success.
• Work-life balance and camaraderie help retain talent in stressful or heavy roles.
• Trusting employees with recognition is as key as trusting them to do a good job.
• Team rituals and social Slack channels drive participation and engagement on remote teams.

Timestamps

2:54 The Mission: About Defense Unicorns

6:54 The Evolution of Whimsy at Work

13:12 Introducing Transparency

15:26 Leadership’s Role in Company Culture

21:11 What’s With the Costume?

22:53 Tacopocalypse & Team Rituals

26:50 Building Authentic Workplace Trust

29:52 Five Tacos to Share

Key Topics Discussed

Amazing Teams, Una Japundza, Michaela Flatau, Defense Unicorns, HeyTaco, company culture, workplace trust, peer recognition

Mentions

Website: https://defenseunicorns.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-flatau