Here at Cherre, we’re committed to cultivating a strong organizational culture centered around six shared values: Collaboration, Responsibility, Empathy, Excellence, Hunger and Real Estate. These values define us and are at the core of everything we do.
While establishing a set of company values is hardly a novel concept, we believe ours are so much more than a list of words plastered across a break room poster. Our values dictate who we hire, how we develop talent, how we approach design and business challenges, and how we work together every day. They are the pillars our business was built upon, and everyone on our team takes them very seriously.
Collaboration at Cherre
“In crowds we have unison, in groups harmony. We want the single voice but not the single note; that is the secret of the group.”
– Mary Parket Follett, pioneer in the fields of organizational theory and behavior
The Cherre team is comprised of smart, capable, dedicated, and highly-skilled people with unique backgrounds, perspectives, expertise, and approaches to problem solving. Every member of our team has been carefully selected based on what they bring to the table. With that in mind, we collaborate on every challenge and opportunity presented with the understanding that every win for the company is shared, as is every loss. We believe we will succeed more often – and with more impact – together as one cohesive team rather than as a group of individuals.
Our Values in Action
Cherre team members regularly work in cross functional teams to solve challenges, providing opportunities for everyone to share valuable perspectives and learn best practices from subject-matter experts. All projects are assigned at the team level (not to individuals), with guidance from product managers and relevant leads. We put a high value on domain expertise and work output, but ultimately believe that complex tasks require a collective effort, and that success is achieved only when everyone aligns their skills and expertise to serve a common goal.
We give everyone on our team – at every level – opportunities to express themselves, ask questions, and share their ideas – which we then judge based on merit rather than who they came from. Respect is earned based on contributions to the team and leaders emerge when peers turn to them for advice, second opinions, or to help remove roadblocks. Everyone has an obligation to call out potential improvements to our systems, products, or processes. And, nothing is considered off limits.
“I feel heard and appreciated when we collaboratively work on implementations, as well as when I give feedback on in-progress work, or the adoption of new technologies and processes.”
– Jason Chen, QA Engineer
Our engineers regularly join in on paired coding sessions to promote continual learning across the team and prevent the formation of internal silos where valuable information can be lost. These collaborative sessions are instrumental in getting everyone on the team up to speed and on the same page. An added bonus is that any decisions made in these sessions are typically easier to socialize with the rest of the team because different perspectives have already been taken into account.
With the understanding that effective collaboration is a learned skill, we actively mentor employees who need help refining their listening, communication, and storytelling skills so that they can better understand and explain why we do what we do. These are skills that will help them be more successful here at Cherre and wherever their careers – or lives – take them.
“People from all the teams are always happy to collaborate. I get a chance to work with super talented people and learn new things every day.”
– Noa Grinderfer, Data Analyst
Admittedly, the way we operate at Cherre isn’t for everyone. Our bias towards team cooperation over top-down decision making can occasionally make progress seem messier than some people are comfortable with. This isn’t the place for lone wolves or anyone overly concerned with titles, regardless of their seniority or established expertise. While we acknowledge that some people may work better independently or in more structured hierarchies, that’s simply not what we’re about.
“At Cherre, our values are not just meaningless slogans, but truly reflect who we are and how we relate to the business and each other.”
– Davida Kollmar, Data Scientist
Our values tend to detract talent as much as they attract it. That’s intentional, because it allows us to surround ourselves with like-minded people who share our belief that the way we work yields better results. If you think our culture might be right for you, we should talk! The best place to initiate a conversation is on our careers page where you’ll find more about what we do, the way we work, and opportunities to join our team.
