Employee Handbooks- How Valve Does It

I read this article the other day, and, because my significant other is an avid gamer, I knew immediately what I was looking at. If you have a gamer in your life, you probably do, too.

For those of you HR types who may not be quite so up on the gaming world, the linked article is discussing the employee handbook of a company called Valve, who are huge in the world of videogames, PC and platform-based. They are creative and innovative, and make games people love to play. They also have one hell of an employee handbook.

For those of you who click the link, I'd love to know what the first thing you thought of that handbook was. I know for me, it was their hierarchy that did me in. Valve doesn't have one, apparently. At all. They have a completely flat hierarchy, and no one reports to anyone else. The HR geek in me loves it. I may have squeaked. It is just so simply cool  to see a company doing something totally differently.

Obviously, this type of non-existent hierarchy is going to be a bit radical for most organizations to accept, but radically different is what Valve does, and it sure seems to work for them. I'd love to know more about HR at Valve, and what that looks like compared to what my HR looks like. Fascinating stuff.

I think most organizations are not prepared to be quite so radical when it comes to their hierarchy, but the part about the Valve handbook that I like the best isn't about the hierarchy at all. It's the bit where people are assumed to be responsible adults, who are at work because they love what they do. Valve is assuming that if you work there, you're there because you want to be. That assumption, that attitude, has to be a big part of why people are there. If you always think the best of people, they will rise to the challenge. I love that.

I know a lot of cynical HR types out there who will tell you that this simply isn't true, and maybe it isn't always. Certainly, I've worked in many organizations and environments where there were shirkers, people who abused the sick pay policies, people who only worked if the manager was there micromanaging every second- but I don't actually think that's how things really ought to be, I think that's a sign of unhappy workers. Put someone in an environment where they are expected to live up to a high standard, make sure they have the proper tools to perform to said standard, and turn 'em loose, and see what kind of creativity you get from that. If you've got a good fit, you're going to know it.

What do you think about Valve? Would you love it, or hate it?