Founded in 2016, YuLife is a life insurance startup that wants to change the world for the better. Part of that mission is to create an internal culture where its people can grow and thrive.I was curious to learn more about the ethos and ways of working at YuLife, so I set up an interview with Cali Gold their Head Of People, to chat more about the C word and why creating an environment where all colleagues can bring their whole selves to work is such an integral part of their organisational DNA. Additionally, how by creating products that underpin this philosophy they are staying true to their values both internally with their colleagues and externally with their customers.First off, Cali believes creating a nurturing environment is only possible in a company that's not cynical. "Your culture is a mirror of your product, and what your business is," she explains. "You can't have a truly authentic, caring, supportive culture if you're selling a product that's negative."So what is YuLife's mission? In a nutshell, they're making life insurance about more than just payouts on death, but shifting the focus to good health today. Central to this is the YuLife app, which enables employees to set goals for themselves, around tasks such as walking and meditation. "Our mission is about inspiring lives," says Cali. "So it'd be crazy not to mirror that internally!"Since 2019, YuLife has codified this approach by drawing up nine core values. "They're about giving more than you take, seeking the win-win, and building the world you want to see," explains Cali. "We hire on those values. We create strategies on those values. And we give feedback to each other based on those values." For example, one of the values is owning your own goals. "That means if you're not living up to the purpose of your job, people will talk to you about it," says Cali. "They'll say: what's going on? How can we help? How can you improve?" And that's not just a manager-to-employee thing. "We're trying to create a culture in which employees and colleagues and peers feel comfortable doing that to one another," Cali explains. That might sound a little scary. But she insists that: "If you really trust each other and have this psychological safety surrounding you, you're not threatened by these conversations."When the nine values were first drafted, YuLife only had around 30 employees, all in the UK. Now it has over 200, a quarter of which are spread around the world. But Cali says YuLife's succeeded in spreading its supportive culture across borders and time zones, primarily by sticking to its values consistently.YuLife also puts a strong emphasis on staying nimble and flexible. "If an HR policy isn't benefiting someone, we'll change it or scrap it," says Cali. "For instance, we have a number of annual leave days in place. But if someone needs some more time off, or they're dealing with something, we're super-flexible." Managers, meanwhile, don't micro-manage but let people work in the way that works for them. Indeed, they aren't really 'managers' at all, in the typical sense. "We're trying to remove this traditional view of leader and employee," says Cali. "It's more like coach, team and peers. And your manager should be coaching. They have this growth mindset, as opposed to someone who's there just to tell you off."When we remove those barriers, I think there's a huge amount of openness, of connectivity, of empathy," she continues. "That's something the founders have always highlighted. We don't want a typical hierarchical structure, with a manager and teams beneath them. It has to be a very open dialogue. And employees should always be able to challenge and question anyone in the business, the founder or leader or their manager. So it's creating a lot of transparency."That flies in the face of much traditional business practice. "But when you give people that space and flexibility, they don't take advantage," maintains Cali. "In fact, our employees work much harder than in other businesses I've seen." In return, they're supported throughout their time with YuLife. "For instance, we have a mentor-mentee programme, which connects people from different teams across different countries," says Cali. "And we're building lots of different ways of connecting people, through Slack groups, social online events and physical events. "We also work with a number of charities to do off-site team building activities," she adds. "Not the typical, 'Let's go for beers or dinner', but 'Let's build something that actually resonates with your life's mission'. So it's a landscape of continuous learning, development, connecting and making yourself feel good."In short, when it comes to creating a positive environment for its workers, this company doesn't just talk the talk, it walks the walk. Like I said in my earlier post about YuLife, "this isn’t just about the free fruit Fridays, this is about as real and authentic as it gets." And that comes from having strong values, hiring others who share those values, and introducing practical measures - not gimmicks - to make employees truly feel nurtured and supported.