Tech Culture Will Separate Winners from Losers in the Digital Economy

Perspective

Tech Culture Will Separate Winners from Losers in the Digital Economy

By Rich Tehrani, Group Editor-in-Chief, TMC  |  October 28, 2016

The outlook for tech workers has perhaps never been brighter as top tech companies look to expand their footprints and bet on moonshot projects while traditional companies innovate through tech, in some cases disrupting themselves.

Google (News - Alert) is becoming famous for driverless cars, which for the company is a moonshot project – one that could be a huge future revenue driver.

In response, BMW, the company famous for its tagline, “Ultimate Driving Machine,” is changing to get ready for a world where cars aren’t driven.

Klaus Froehlich, the head of research and development at BMW, told Reuters that software engineers will make up 50 percent of the department within 5 years, an increase from today’s 20 percent!

Kia is investing £1.4 billion over the next two years to meet the same challenge.

Every company has become a tech company. Fracking, which has been boosted by big data, allows oil to be produced as cheaply as $2.50 per barrel!

GE is becoming a software company, focusing on IoT among other areas.

J&J is a tech company, and so on.

In this new world, software engineers will be the new assets that allow companies to thrive and grow into new areas. Building and sustaining the ideal tech culture will separate winners from losers in the digital economy.

Understanding where things are going, my company, TMC (News - Alert), and our website, TMCnet, this year launched the first-ever Tech Culture Awards.

After pouring over submissions from dozens of companies consisting of hundreds of pages of perks, growth rates, collaboration tools and so on, we’ve named and graded our winners.

The companies selected were given grades ranging from B to A+.

NICE Systems received the only A++ because its culture is really that good. The company nailed every single metric from benefits to medical – it is impossible to imagine what could be improved.

As NICE explained in its application, the company has more than 3,500 employees and a presence in more than 150 countries, as well a dynamic and fast paced culture and a passion for cutting edge technology. Its leaders and employees, NICE said, strive everyday to create an engaged corporate environment of innovation, visionary products, and growth. It has more than 25,000 customers, including more than 85 of the Fortune 100 organizations. And FAST (News - Alert) Company magazine last year recognized NICE as one of the Most Innovative Companies.

“When it comes to turning information overload into practical business value; no one else comes close to NICE,” the company said. “The consistent delivery of world-class innovation and exceptional customer service is ultimately the result of the hard work from our dedicated professionals, and this is where our unique culture comes in.

“Our employees are scientists, engineers, business and thought leaders, people who are subject matter experts who boast extensive experience as experts in their fields,” NICE continued. “What promotes them to do extraordinary things is our culture of collaboration. As a collective body we are deeply committed. So, we respect and listen to each other, drawing from our experiences and learning from our respective skills and backgrounds. That’s why people want to work at NICE.”

Another of TMC’s Tech Culture Award winner, Telstra’s (News - Alert) Australia office received an A, but we felt the New York office deserved an A+.

It is our hope that the annual Tech Culture Awards become the industry standard measure which separates the truly best environments worth competing for.

Whether your real-world experience agrees with what we’ve presented or differs with it, we want to know about it. Please respond in the comments below each entry linked to this site.




Edited by Alicia Young
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