ABOUT
Founded in 2016, 11:FS is a fintech startup that seeks to transform the financial services industry.
The company’s offerings include consulting, a business research platform called 11:FS Pulse, and a banking as service platform called 11:FS Foundry.
CHALLENGE
This startup needed a way to make sure its values were upheld and its culture evolved thoughtfully during a period of rapid growth.
ACTION
11:FS used 15Five to introduce new hires to company culture and align the whole company on key objectives.
RESULTS
• 200–300 High Fives given per week
• Company values codified
Culture is Key
Fintech startup 11:FS has grown dramatically since it was founded in 2016, and Chief Operating Officer Ryan Wareham connects the company’s success to its robust culture. “Culture is key,” he says.
But maintaining a strong, consistent, and active company culture through a period of growth takes a lot of work. “You can change process quite easily, you can change system, you can change tools quite easily—but culture is something that you need to nurture constantly,” observes Ryan.
As 11:FS was entering a period of rapid growth, Ryan and his CEO took the time to examine the company’s culture and codify its values. Then, they used 15Five to help everyone—including the new hires—understand that culture and feel connected to those values. “It can be overwhelming when you
join a new business that’s growing quite quickly,” observes Ryan. He finds that 15Five Check-ins and 1-on1s help orient new employees by providing structure and a common frame of reference.
“Having [15Five] as kind of an anchor for people has been really helpful.”
Codifying values with emojis
At the same time, 15Five enables managers to respond to employees’ performance by providing information they can act on. “It gives you that dialogue, and then you can help course correct in the moment if need be, and you can provide recognition in the moment as well,” Ryan says.
15Five’s High Fives have helped 11:FS bring its values to life. The company makes High Fives even more fun and meaningful by connecting each High Five with an emoji representing one of its core values. “Every week you’re seeing 200 to 300 High Fives [and] each one is an example of one of our values,” Ryan says. “It just makes them tangible and real.”
Everyone has an impact
Tracking OKRs in 15Five has helped 11:FS measure its progress and helped employees feel connected to the big picture and understand the impact of their work. “The way that 15Five lets you ladder up the OKRs from the top all the way down to [the bottom] and back up again is really important, and I think it’s quite empowering for people,” says Ryan.
Everyone has an impact 15Five’s reporting makes it easy for Ryan to measure his company’s progress and performance. “The analytics and the reports are really very useful, especially in terms of flagging hotspots,” he explains. “The pulse score is very valuable, and also the weekly questions and the feedback and that qualitative data.”
Paying attention to this information and the insights it provides enables Ryan and his team to continue the ongoing work of nurturing their ever-evolving company culture.
Finding the right solution
Ryan and his team were drawn to 15Five from the start. “One of the main reasons we selected 15Five in the first place was because we buy into the whole philosophy around it: the always-on coaching, the always-on dialogue, the continuous self-improvement,” he says. He appreciates how the product has evolved over time. “It seems like the product team always gets it right,” he says.
“It’s always micro-improvements but the microimprovements actually make quite a big impact.”
