Rula Company Culture & Values

How does your culture influence hiring and retention as you grow?

At Rula, we’ve learned that company culture is symbiotic. The workplace attracts and retains top talent and those employees become the reinforcing function of a positive company culture. Our culture directly influences hiring and retention in several concrete ways.

Values-based hiring: Our core values have become an integral part of how we recruit, hire and onboard new employees. We actively evaluate whether candidates align with the behaviors and principles that define who we are as an organization and don’t just assess them on skills and experience.

Culture committee integration: We’ve established a culture committee made up of top performers who serve one-year terms as culture ambassadors. By rotating high-performing employees through this committee, we’ve created an ever-expanding group of “insiders” who are bought into our core values and actively work to reinforce them. This creates a powerful retention mechanism with these employees becoming more engaged and providing valuable insight into employee sentiment.

What values or behaviors most define your company culture today?

Our core values were developed through a rigorous, bottoms-up process that involved brainstorming workshops throughout the company. We gave employees a chance to offer their perspectives on what’s important to them, what makes us special and what behaviors we want to reinforce. The culture committee and executive leadership team then synthesized these insights into our consolidated values. The core values that emerged from all of that work are something we are genuinely proud of: Take Big Swings, Keep It Real, Handle With Care and Make It Happen.

What makes our values authentic is that they’re not aspirational statements on a wall; they’re the actual behaviors we reinforce through how we recognize and reward our employees. Our core values guide all the critical relationships and activities in the company — how we treat our patients, providers and each other; how we use our resources; and the priorities we set when making tough decisions.

We believe in living our values and recognition is central to making this happen. We’ve built multiple programs to acknowledge and celebrate behaviors that reinforce the culture we’re building.

In a fully remote, dispersed workforce, these recognition moments create connection and shared purpose.

How Rula Recognizes and Celebrates Employees

• Peer-to-Peer Appreciation: Utilizing platforms like Slack and Leapsome, we empower employees to give real-time shout-outs. By integrating these into company-wide meetings, we ensure hard work never goes unnoticed.
• Company Value Awards: We’re kicking off a nomination-based program that honors those who exemplify our core values while delivering significant business impact. Winners receive high-visibility rewards, including features on social media and dedicated time with our CEO.
• Creative Engagement: To bridge the gap in a remote environment, we host unique initiatives like employee art contests that benefit charities. These programs foster integration among teams that rarely interact.
• All-Hands Visibility: We consistently showcase value-driven achievements during all-hands meetings, creating a shared narrative of success.