Why Trust Is at the Heart of Flipp's Culture

Marieta Mendoza is the Director of People at Flipp, a mobile app that is helping retailers reinvent their flyers and circulars for a digital future.

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Can you tell me a little about your role as Director of People at Flipp?

As the Director of People at Flipp my job is to continue to foster Flipp’s culture and help scale the organization from a People perspective as the company continues to grow. In my role, I serve as a strategic business partner and trusted advisor to Flipp's leaders, a coach and mentor to team members as well as a culture and engagement ambassador and champion. I’m dedicated to Team Health and ensuring Flipp continues to be the best work environment possible. 

My mandate is for the HR function to be like water, our goal is to fill in the gaps where we see opportunities. It is important to me that the People Team at Flipp understand and are immersed in the rhythm of the business so we can always identify and define the pulse and how that translates from a business perspective. We exist so that everyone is excited to come to work on Mondays (and every day).

What does culture mean at Flipp? 

Culture is at the core of everything we do at Flipp. Flipp is a high-tech, high-growth company at the forefront of the retail industry. Our culture is what allows us to reinvent the products we develop and the solutions we provide to our partners. It is also what enables us to attract top talent while providing team members with what they need to create, innovate and solve some of the hardest problems in retail. 

There are three team principals that serve as the foundation of our culture. We commonly refer to these as the ABC’s. A is for Always Reinvent, B represents the desire to Be Team First, and C, is an innate passion to Coach Others, enabling performance in team members and unlocking their potential. As an organization we are obsessed with these principles. They are what us set Flipp apart from other companies and makes Flipp one of the best places to work. 

Flipp’s leadership style also plays a key role in our culture. At Flipp we practice servant leadership, a style of leadership that inverts the traditional management hierarchy. The Flipp principle of servant leadership puts people first and can be seen in everything we do. Instead of team members serving leaders, Flipp’s leaders are dedicated to serving their team. They are focused on asking ‘what can I do to empower my team members and help them achieve their goals.’ This requires both grace and personal humility to achieve. 

To ensure we maintain Flipp's unique culture as we grow, we employ a rigorous recruiting and interview process that balances both technical skill and cultural fit. During the interview process we test to ensure successful candidates not only embody Flipp’s ABCs but on a personal-professional level are humble, hungry and highly Intelligent. It is the balance of these traits that allow our team to consistently reinvent the way we do business in order to stay ahead of the retail industry. These traits align with our culture and contribute to our award-winning work environment. It helps to create an environment where people work with people they like and respect helping them to reach new goals together.

As a Flipp team, our goal is to achieve homothumadon. By definition, homothumadon means rushing together in unison to achieve one shared goal. This is was we strive for. Great teams have homothumadon and it is through homothumadon that we are able to solve big problems quickly and reach new goals together. We are always on the same page working together to drive extraordinary results. 

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in your role?

The most important lesson I’ve learned in my role as the Director of People at Flipp is how important team health is to a thriving and productive team. At Flipp, we have leveraged the Patrick Lencioni model based on establishing trust within a team creating an environment where team members can be vulnerable, honest and open. The goal is for each team member to clearly understands their role as well as their personal strengths and weaknesses.

Achieving team health takes awareness, time and focus. It requires team members to understand their role within the team and how best to work with other team members. Team health creates strong leaders who have clear goals and understand the vision and strategy of their team, while ensuring team members are fulfilled, happy and healthy. It is an important step in achieving homothumadon and establishing high performing teams.

As Flipp continues to scale, how do you identify organizational needs and adapt to them?

It is important for the People Team to have a strong understanding of the rhythm of the business so that we can help strategize and identify what the business needs. We keep a constant pulse on the needs of team members through regular 1:1s, employee feedback surveys and open dialogue so we can quickly identify and address gaps and opportunities.

What is one thing Flipp does exceptionally well internally? What are you most proud of?

We are very good at the good and fast approach. Flipp is in a unique position in the market right now. We are are in hyper-growth mode, exponentially expanding our team. With hyper-growth comes lofty goals, but it’s that combo that makes Flipp an exciting organization to be a part of. At Flipp we are always reinventing—not only what we do, and how we do it, but how we operate. We continually test and learn as we try new things and move on to the next thing. At our core, we are smart but scrappy and not afraid to take chances. That is something I’m very excited to be a part of.