Apptio’s Success is Built on Apptio’s Culture

In honor of Apptian Appreciation Week, where we celebrate our people and their accomplishments, I’m reflecting on what makes me proud to be an Apptian: our culture. As CMO, fostering a positive culture within the marketing organization is a crucial part of my role. Transparency and a willingness to help is the cultural thread that runs through everything we do at Apptio. We have individual goals and objectives, but Apptians never lose sight of our collective responsibility to customers and colleagues. I’ve felt that from the first day I joined Apptio, and it was incredibly refreshing.

Making a positive impact

Most of us have experienced the flip side at some point in our careers. If you have an unhealthy culture, it doesn’t matter how smart your people are or how good your product is; you don’t have a sustainable way forward. Culture will always eat strategy for breakfast. Apptians know this truth — and live it. A sense of purpose is what brought — and keeps — most of us here.

From day one, I’ve seen how Apptio has a customer-first mentality. Everyone is looking to make our customers wildly successful, while also looking to impact the world positively. That came through loud and clear during the pandemic. In “normal” times, Apptio helps technology investments be our customers’ competitive advantage. Since 2020, we have helped organizations remain relevant, innovate and thrive. That’s impact.

Building communities in the workplace

I’m incredibly grateful that Apptio has employee resource groups (ERGs). ERGs are groups of employees who join together at work based on shared life experiences. I am an executive sponsor of both the Apptio’s Women’s ERG and Pride ERG and have a passion for ensuring that everyone can bring their whole self to work. The more support there is for everybody’s unique way in the world, the more successful and fulfilled people will be.

The pandemic gave us space to analyze what was going well as well as what could be improved with our employees’ well-being. We all need reassurance, allyship, and knowledge that we aren’t alone. Our ERGs provide a safe haven. While they may have begun to take on strong roots during the pandemic, I know they will continue to grow well into the future. We continue to build out the programming and increase the number of allies that support them.

Helping employees take care of themselves

The pandemic has wreaked havoc on people’s personal and professional lives: lost loved ones, sickness, job loss, working from home, kids out of school. It’s one thing on top of the other. I do a lot of 1:1 check-ins to make sure people are okay, and my leadership team does the same with their teams. If our team members need help, we encourage them to ask for it.

Respecting and giving grace for where people are in their lives is the only human response to what we have faced. Now more than ever, leaders need to provide support, whether that’s by encouraging people to take time off or simply making sure employees are aware of available benefits. I look for opportunities to give teams a forced break where they have time to take a deep breath and take care of themselves and their families, free from guilt.

Do great work, AND be a good person

Apptio is full of fantastically smart and capable people who are also good humans. It doesn’t matter to me if you are the most talented person in the world who does the most amazing work if you are not a team player. There’s no room for, and no one deserves to have to deal with, toxic people in a team. Our culture is sustained by having good people build teams of good people who are happy and passionate about doing their best work every day.

Apptians are rightly proud of this part of our culture and are protective of it. That’s why Apptio is a great place to build a career and make an impact. If you’re looking to take the next step in your career, come to talk to us. We would love to have you.