Working in the tech industry nowadays, it’s all about how to attract and retain the best teammates.  I think the most valuable piece to recruiting and retention is not perks – it is cultivating an environment where we can learn and grow more so than at any other company. How do you create an environment where employees become incredibly valuable, and would be bored anywhere else?

I love this excerpt from this piece in particular:

From the very beginning of my relationship with an employee- often during the interview process before they’ve even joined my team- I draw them a picture and make them a promise.

The promise sounds something like the following.

“Let me start with the bad news. The bad news is that you’re going to leave LinkedIn one day. I know you just got here and so it may be strange to think about leaving already, but I want to bring your attention to it so that you and I can partner together on making the most out of the time we spend together in this company. I don’t know if you’re going to spend 2 years here, or 5, or 10 or more, but I want to make sure that however much time you spend here with us on this journey, that when you look back on your whole career 20, 30, 40 years from now that you will look at the years you spent here as the most transformative years in your career. The years where you learned the most, grew the most quickly, were exposed to the most incredible people and the most innovative thinking. I want these years to be the years that literally change the trajectory of your career. I want you to enjoy more success in your life directly due to the experiences you had here at LinkedIn than you would have enjoyed had you never chosen to work here.

Have you ever done anything like this with an employee at the start of their tenure at your company? How can you do a better job of helping your employees accomplish their goals?