Social media platform Snapchat, which is owned by Snap (SNAP) , has recently undergone major changes in its workplace.
Last year, Snap laid off roughly 10% of its global workforce, or about 500 of its employees, in an effort to “promote in-person collaboration” and “reduce hierarchy.”
During a recent episode of “The Diary of a CEO” podcast, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel said that he felt a “sense of shame” as a leader when conducting layoffs.
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“I feel a huge sense of responsibility to our team members, and so when we let them down like that, those days are the worst,” said Spiegel.
He also doubled down on Snap’s goal to remove hierarchy within the company, claiming that focusing too much on job titles can hinder people from developing great ideas.
“The more that you focus your organization around hierarchy, I think the less you’re focusing on the right things, which is how are we making sure great ideas are coming from anywhere, getting surfaced, and being built,” said Spiegel.
Snapchat CEO gives new hires a harsh test
Spiegel also said that in order to promote innovation at Snapchat, he gives new hires on the company’s design team an “almost impossible” task.
“(On) your very first day, you have to present something …” said Spiegel. “Of course, on your first day when you have no context for what the company’s working on, no idea what’s going on, how on earth are you supposed to come up with a great idea? I mean, it’s almost impossible, but you have to show an idea your first day.”
Spiegel said that the task sparks creativity, which helps the workers succeed at the company.
“On your very first day, your worst fear has come true,” said Spiegel. “We’re sitting there all together, and we’re looking at an idea that’s ultimately not that great. I mean, sometimes they’re pretty good, but ultimately not that great, and that I think opens the door to creativity because it already happened, you already failed, the idea wasn’t good.”
He said the company strictly abides by the concept that “the best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.” He also admitted that only 1% of the ideas that Snapchat’s design team pitches are good.
Snapchat CEO’s test mirrors a growing workplace trend in tech
It appears that an increasing number of tech leaders are raising the bar on employee performance during a time when technology is rapidly evolving due to artificial intelligence.
Related: Starbucks CEO has a tough message for employees after layoffs
Last year, Waze Co-Founder Uri Levine revealed on an episode of “Lenny’s Podcast” that he encourages employers under his leadership to give employees a 30-day test to determine their future at the company.
If a new hire’s performance at the company has been poor during their first 30 days on the job, he encourages leaders to fire them.
“Every time that you hire someone new, what I really want you to do is mark your calendars for 30 days down the road and ask yourself one question; ‘knowing what I know today, would I hire this person?”’ said Levine. “At the end of the day, I’d like to nail that into ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”
He claimed that if the answer is “yes,” employers should grant the employee more equity in the company to “buy their loyalty for life,” but if the answer is “no,” they should be fired “immediately.”
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Meta (META) , which owns popular social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, also announced earlier this year that it is cutting roughly 3,600 jobs, which is about 5% of the company’s workforce.
In an internal memo sent to employees, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the job cuts are based on performance.
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” said Zuckerberg in the memo. “We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.
Zuckerberg said that the job cuts come during a time when Meta is heavily focusing on developing AI, its smart glasses and “the future of social media.”
“This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams,” said Zuckerberg.
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