A visit from Netflix
This month, we were honoured to have Kenny Temowo, People and Talent at Netflix to host this month's Masterclass. He delved into his background and how he found himself from Musician to the People and Talent – UKI lead at Netflix.
Kenny recalled his time as a backing singer for the likes of Leona Lewis and Westlife which has ultimately shaped his focus on 'culture, growth and impact' in his current position. He then moved onto the education sector, lecturing sixth form students but he found himself constrained in the risk averse sector. Next, he delved into coaching and to this day has a coaching practice. He has found that his approach today is shaped by coaching, strategy, and creativity. He brought significant change during his time at Improbable such as driving leadership development strategies and important DE&I strategies such as driving the analysis of data such as the Gender pay gap and reducing bias in the employee lifecycle.
Today, Kenny has found himself at the world-renowned subscription-based streaming service, otherwise wise known as the international trailblazer that is Netflix.
"We bring in great people and trust them to make good decisions. "
It goes without saying that we could not wait to hear more about the well-known culture at Netflix, which Kenny describes as 'leaning into freedom and responsibility' but being scrappy and collaborative at the same time. However, this was not always the case, he shares, Netflix's culture was like a social experiment at the beginning and has been taking shape throughout the years. All good things regarding the culture in the early years has stayed, but it has certainly evolved into what we know today. He explained that today, the product attracts likeminded people to work at Netflix, where the leadership drive on the job learning, active feedback, and even junior talent lead on important projects. Whilst Netflix have always hired through a lens of social awareness, there is a newfound emphasis on inclusion and diversion are constantly working to drive more inclusive strategies and employee experiences.
Kenny ends his masterclass by highlighting the importance of values. Netflix find talent who value humility, collaboration, and honesty.
