Building a strong company culture is hard work. It requires genuine effort, leadership, and values that employees can rally around. But what if you’re not interested in doing all that? What if you just want to look like you’ve built a great company culture without actually doing the work? The good news is, it’s not that hard to fake a company culture—and plenty of companies have already written the playbook for how to do it.

In this guide, I’ll show you the steps some companies have taken to make their culture appear top-notch while keeping their employees overworked, underappreciated, and miserable.

Step 1: Create a Trendy, Instagram-Worthy Office

If there’s one thing that screams “awesome company culture,” it’s a cool office space. Who needs real values and strong leadership when you can slap a ping pong table in the break room, add some bean bags, and install a smoothie bar? The trick is to design an office that looks great in photos—because that’s really all that matters, right?

Real-World Example: WeWork

Few companies mastered the art of faking culture better than WeWork. The coworking giant was once the poster child for trendy offices with its open-concept layouts, free beer taps, and chic decor. But behind the Instagrammable spaces was a company in chaos. Employees often worked grueling hours, and there were constant reports of poor leadership. While the office spaces projected an image of fun and collaboration, the actual workplace culture was anything but.

The lesson? Invest in flashy decor and distractions, and people will assume your company culture is amazing—at least until they work there.

Step 2: Use Buzzwords to Cover Up the Lack of Real Values

Having a set of clear, authentic values is hard. But you don’t actually need to have values if you can just throw around enough buzzwords to fool people into thinking you do. Words like “innovation,” “disruption,” and “synergy” are fantastic for this. You don’t need to know what they mean; you just need to repeat them often enough so that people think you’ve got your act together.

Real-World Example: Theranos

Remember Theranos, the biotech company that promised to revolutionize blood testing? CEO Elizabeth Holmes frequently used words like “innovation” and “disruption” to describe the company’s mission, despite the fact that their technology didn’t work. The company culture was allegedly toxic, with employees under immense pressure to deliver on impossible promises.

The key takeaway here is that buzzwords can work wonders in hiding the cracks in your company’s foundation. As long as you throw in terms like “cutting-edge” and “game-changing,” you’ll have people fooled for a while.

Step 3: Promote Diversity and Inclusion… Without Actually Practicing It

One of the hottest trends in fake company culture is to loudly proclaim your commitment to diversity and inclusion while not actually doing much to support it. The best way to fake this is to feature a few stock photos of diverse-looking employees on your website, then quietly ignore any systemic issues in hiring, promotion, and workplace environment.

Real-World Example: Google

While Google has made public pledges to improve diversity and inclusion in its workforce, it has also faced multiple lawsuits and protests from employees who allege the company discriminates against underrepresented groups. For years, Google has struggled to increase diversity in its leadership ranks and has been accused of silencing internal criticism from minority employees.

Despite these issues, Google’s external messaging continues to push a narrative of inclusivity and equality. As long as the PR department is pushing the right image, the company can still maintain the appearance of a forward-thinking, inclusive culture—even if the reality is different.

Step 4: Throw an Annual Company Party and Call It “Culture”

You don’t need to actually invest in employee well-being or work-life balance if you just throw a huge company party once a year. A well-produced party with free booze, a DJ, and some branded swag can go a long way in making employees forget that they’re underpaid and overworked—at least for one night. Just make sure to take a ton of photos so everyone can see how “fun” your company is.

Real-World Example: Uber

For years, Uber was known for its hard-partying culture, which was often promoted as an example of the company’s high-energy and innovative spirit. The company threw lavish parties for employees and contractors alike, which reinforced the image of a “fun” workplace. But behind the scenes, Uber was grappling with allegations of sexism, harassment, and poor treatment of its drivers. The toxic culture eventually came to light, leading to a major leadership shake-up.

Throwing a massive party is a great way to distract employees and the public from deeper issues. If you make it big enough, you might even get away with calling it “company culture.”

Step 5: Prioritize “Perks” Over People

Free snacks in the kitchen? Check. On-site yoga classes? Double-check. These perks are great for making people think you care about employees’ well-being. But perks alone don’t create a positive work environment—especially if employees are being overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. But hey, who cares about all that when you’ve got unlimited LaCroix in the fridge, right?

Real-World Example: Amazon

Amazon is notorious for its brutal working conditions, particularly in its warehouses. Employees have reported everything from excessive monitoring to punishing performance quotas that lead to physical and mental exhaustion. Yet Amazon loves to highlight the perks it offers, such as employee discounts and wellness programs, to paint a picture of a caring employer. The company even introduced on-site health kiosks dubbed “AmaZen,” where employees could take a break and meditate. Meanwhile, reports of high turnover and stressful working conditions continued to pile up.

Offering surface-level perks is a great way to create the illusion of a caring culture, even if the day-to-day experience of working at the company tells a different story.

Step 6: Talk About Work-Life Balance but Make Everyone Work 24/7

One of the easiest ways to fake a great company culture is to talk a lot about work-life balance while ensuring that everyone’s workload is so overwhelming that they never actually get to experience it. You can achieve this by sending company-wide emails about the importance of balance and mental health, but quietly reward the people who burn themselves out with promotions and bonuses.

Real-World Example: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is famous for promoting a culture of long hours and intense dedication. Musk has publicly stated that employees should work 80-hour weeks if they want to succeed. Meanwhile, the company continues to pay lip service to the importance of work-life balance and employee well-being. Tesla’s high-pressure environment has led to multiple reports of burnout among its staff, but the narrative of innovation and hard work continues to dominate.

By talking about work-life balance but setting up a system that rewards those who sacrifice it, you can keep up appearances while still squeezing every ounce of productivity out of your workforce.

Step 7: Hire a Chief Happiness Officer (But Don’t Actually Make People Happy)

If you really want to solidify the illusion of a great company culture, hire a Chief Happiness Officer. This person’s job is to give employees the impression that the company cares about their well-being, while not actually addressing the root causes of dissatisfaction. Encourage them to organize team-building events, throw happy hours, and send out cheerful newsletters—but avoid making any real changes to employee workloads, compensation, or benefits.

Real-World Example: Zappos

Zappos is famous for its focus on “employee happiness,” even appointing a Chief Happiness Officer to ensure that employees feel engaged and valued. However, while Zappos has undoubtedly created a fun work environment with quirky traditions and activities, the role of a Chief Happiness Officer is often criticized as little more than a symbolic gesture. Critics argue that while happiness is a nice goal, it doesn’t always translate to genuine workplace satisfaction—especially when systemic issues like pay and work-life balance aren’t addressed.

Final Thoughts: The Art of Faking Culture

Creating a strong company culture requires real effort, but faking one? That’s much easier. By focusing on the surface-level perks and distractions—trendy offices, buzzwords, parties, and perks—you can fool people into thinking your company is a great place to work. As long as you manage the optics, you can skate by on the illusion of culture without having to do the hard work of building one.

But here’s the catch: it won’t last. Eventually, employees figure out that all the yoga classes and kombucha in the world can’t fix a toxic work environment. When that happens, you’ll be left scrambling to pick up the pieces—or you can just throw another party. Your call.