10 Incredible Facts You Didn't Know About Netflix
9. Netflix Is Ruthless With Firings And The Person Who Made It That Way Got Fired
There is a philosophy that Netflix absolutely prides itself on with its employees - and that is the concept that how hard you work does not matter. What matters to Netflix isnt the quantity of work as much as the quality. They even have an infamous manifesto that outlines the basics of this spirit entitled Netflix Culture Freedom and Responsibility, which succinctly explains to Netflix staff that they are in essence part of a pro sports team working for a common goal. And like any fine EPL club for example, if you don't perform you're gone at the drop of a hat.
It's actually not as cold as it sounds. Patty McCord, who was the chief talent officer from 1998 to 2012 at Netflix, is the main parent behind this philosophy. McCord believed that getting the best of her staff required the maximum freedom possible to encourage curiosity and aspirational behaviour. But in exchange for that freedom her staff had to be constantly contributing. McCord despised the idea of having staff that were mindlessly doing activities for long hours without actually helping change the company. She wanted to be able to keep the freshest ideas and contributions possible, and she didn't want to babysit adults.
This has been understandably controversial and devastating at times for staff who have been dropped the moment their contributions to the organisations have been seen to waver. What is perversely ironic though is that nobody knows this reality quite like McCord herself, as she revealed in an extensive interview with NPR's Planet Money podcast. After getting extremely sick and having to take considerable time off work, McCord was eventually dropped from the company herself as her contributions weren't felt to be enough, and it was felt that she was violating her own philosophy.
Sadly for her she had to finally feel the callousness of her own philosophy come back to bite her in the bum.