Building a great work environment is essential in attracting and retaining talent in a competitive workforce.
Texas Instruments, Inc., a Dallas-based technology company, has consistently appeared on best places to work lists.
The company ranked number 31 on Business Insider's The 50 Best Employers In America, which was based on exclusive data from PayScale. Employees from the company reported a 73 percent job satisfaction rate.
We reached out to Steve Lyle, who's been with the company for 34 years and is the current Director of Diversity and Workforce Development, to find out more about the company culture.
Below is a transcript of the interview, edited slightly for clarity:
BI: Can you describe the corporate culture at Texas Instruments, Inc.?
SL: We absolutely believe that the culture that we have in place at TI attracts and retains talent at the company.
Ethics is a cornerstone at the company and has been for the past 80 plus years. We clearly have an inclusive culture. It doesn't matter what group you're from — it really is about what you bring to the table and what you can do for the company.
It's part of coming to work and being included and collaborating with others.
We do have a performance culture meaning there's an expectation for TI-ers to perform well. It's within themselves and we expect that of each other.
We expect leaders to sit down with employees to map out goals for the year.
BI: You have a diverse work group over there. Why do you focus so much on diversity and why do you think it's so important?
SL: Different cultures bring different viewpoints and languages, but at TI, this difference does promote discovery and innovation. Having that diversity and inclusion leads to innovation. People believe they can have a voice and that voice makes a difference.
BI: What do you think is most valuable to your employees? In other words, what do you think they care about the most?
SL: I think they care about coming to work every day to a company that has a culture. It is about what they're bringing to the table. I think that having that flexible work environment is very important to employees.
At the end of the day, it's not about where you do your work or when you do your work, but that you do your work.
BI: Why do you think flexible work schedule is so important?
SL: I was a single dad, raising two sons midway through my career and I really needed a corporation that cared about me.
People are now equipped with all these electronic devices that they grew up with and they can work anywhere at any time and they want companies to accept that. Family dynamics are also changing. You see both parents working and it's not just the women who need flexible work schedule, it's the men as well. You see a lot of two income families.
BI: Being a single dad, did the flexible work schedule encourage you to stay at TI for as long as you have?
SL: I was hired straight out of college and midway through my career, I became a single dad and it became more important to me and I knew that TI was about embracing inclusion.
I knew we offered flexible work schedule but at the end of the day, it's about working for great bosses where they say, "Hey get your job done, but take care of your family too." For me, that's been something that I've experienced through the years working here.
People leave great companies because of poor bosses.
BI: How do you make sure your team is made up of great bosses, or leaders?
SL: As a company, we spend a lot of time developing leaders and it starts early. We have rotation programs. New hires will experience rotations to gain experience and skills.
There is an emphasis on great leaders in the company. You have to offer an opportunity to grow and retain that talent.
Putting people in the right roles to begin with, linking them up with mentor, that's all included.
BI: How do you compete with other companies to attract talent?
We don't have crazy perks. It's about describing the culture that we have at TI to others. Crazy perks is not part of our culture. However, we do offer competitive financial and health benefits
We also have diversity, new employee, women, Chinese and various other initiatives for our employees.
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