Creating a workplace environment where employees consistently grow skills and become better professionals, and where the entire team is working towards creating economic opportunity for the global economy. On June 3, Insight Studio took a road trip to learn from executives at LinkedIn about company culture and how they are working to improve the lives of all members of the global community.
Heralded as the sixth best place to work in 2016, LinkedIn afforded the attendees the opportunity to hear not only about how to grow better employees using training tools such as Lynda.com but also how this benefits the community and the local economy as a whole.
Click here to watch Brooke Shepard of RRM Design Group talk about her three tips from her LinkedIn experience
We asked three participants of the trip to take notes and share their biggest takeaways.
“The trip was an excellent opportunity to hear directly from the leaders of a top tech company about their key factors for success. What I found most valuable was the discussion on organizational culture and mission. In particular, I was impressed by the actions taken around their core value of transformation. Included in that is the idea of transformation of the individual employee to leave LinkedIn a better professional than when they started, transformation of the company to realize its full potential and transformation of the world through creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. It was clear that their culture provides them with a distinct organizational advantage in a competitive and demanding space. We have referred to that presentation several times since returning from the trip and have been able to use it as a model for several efforts underway at the City.” – Greg Hermann, SLO City
“Visiting LinkedIn for the day was such an amazing overall experience but one of the things that really resonated with me was the overall mission that LinkedIn is focused on: connecting global professionals to make them more productive and successful. I was particularly fascinated by their Economic Graph project where they are digitally mapping the global economy to connect talent with opportunity. Another piece of this is their recent acquisition of Lynda.com to help people gain additional skills to be successful.
“The reason these two things resonated with me in particular is because I think our community could take this massive goal that LinkedIn has as a company and start applying it in small ways here to help this community thrive. There is so much value in giving the work force here in SLO opportunities for education, growth and improvement. And while that may result in some loss of talent as people move along on their career path, the return on this small investment could eventually be immeasurable.” – Audrey Bigelow, Promotional Concepts
“Going to LinkedIn and being able to immerse yourself for a full day in their culture is such a treat. You can’t help but feel as if a little bit of the motivation, purpose and thoughtfulness they work with has rubbed off on you. They brilliantly bridge the divide between work, play and life as a family unit workforce. From DJ Booths to ultra-quiet work areas, from free smoothies to large scale cafeterias they choose to create an ecosystem of their own. With every employee understanding a central lofty vision of ‘Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.’” – Geno Maestas, Spectrum Business
Click here to see Regional Insights from LinkedIn’s Economic Graph
Click here to see LinkedIn’s transportation program
Click here to see LinkedIn’s presentation on Lynda.com
The trip to LinkedIn is part of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce’s Insight Studio, a year-long programs aimed at professional development through a diverse program of speakers, events and trips.