Shopify Reportedly Appoints 'Channel Champions' and Shuts Down Slack Channels When Conversations Get Heated

Research shows keeping a closer eye on employees doesn't make them happier or more productive.

learn more about Gabrielle Bienasz

By Gabrielle Bienasz

When the Slack chats at Shopify get contentious, the company sometimes shuts them down — and employs "channel champions" to keep an eye on employee Slack channels, Insider reported Tuesday.

The outlet spoke with eight people who still work at Shopify or had in the past, all of whom were cited anonymously.

Shopify laid off 10% of its workforce in July, saying that its bet COVID-19-era e-commerce activity would continue "didn't pay off." The company hosts online commerce websites for businesses.

"What we see now is the mix reverting to roughly where pre-Covid data would have suggested it should be at this point," Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke wrote at the time.

But, in the months before the layoffs, employees began to feel an increasing cloak-and-dagger sense at the company, which had previously been known for having a more information-sharing, relaxed culture, Insider reported.

Shopify told Entrepreneur via email that Slack is "a tool to help us facilitate asynchronous decision making, establish community and, most importantly, accomplish the work we do on behalf of our millions of merchants."

"Given our large, distributed workforce, we have policies to ensure our Slack remains a productive tool for sharing information, collaborating, and building a healthy culture," the spokesperson added.

After the company went fully remote, it "implemented measures to discourage negative and off-topic discussions of the company and its plans," Insider reported, citing conversations with employees.

That also meant closing channels or threads that got headed, which reportedly happened when Shopify employees complained about employee stock packages after Shopify's stock went down in early 2022. (It was trading at $136 a share on January 3 and clocked in at about $32 today.)

"People were very bold in Slack," an employee who was laid off this summer told the outlet.

Something similar occurred when employees found a noose emoji in Slack in the summer of 2020, and, more recently, when employees were discussing an article from The Information from March 2022. After over 300 comments, a company executive, Farhan Thawar, VP of engineering, expressed gratitude for people's thoughts and then closed the thread, per screenshots Insider reviewed.

What's a channel champion?

After going remote, Shopify started to ask for people to be volunteer "channel champions," which is something that any channel over 100 people had to have, Insider reported.

These "channel champions" establish rules and report improper behavior and hate speech.

But, in practice, the champions often didn't make reports about "off-topic" conversations because they were worried about being seen as snitches, a former employee of Shopify told the outlet.

A Harvard Business Review study published in July found that some kinds of remote monitoring can make employees act out more and be less productive.

"That this effect was driven by a shift in employees' sense of agency and personal responsibility: Monitoring employees led them to subconsciously feel less responsibility for their own conduct, ultimately making them more likely to act in ways that they would otherwise consider immoral," the study wrote.

Gabrielle Bienasz

Entrepreneur Staff

Gabrielle Bienasz is a staff writer at Entrepreneur. She previously worked at Insider and Inc. Magazine. 

Related Topics

Editor's Pick

This 61-Year-Old Grandma Who Made $35,000 in the Medical Field Now Earns 7 Figures in Retirement
A 'Quiet Promotion' Will Cost You a Lot — Use This Expert's 4-Step Strategy to Avoid It
3 Red Flags on Your LinkedIn Profile That Scare Clients Away
'Everyone Is Freaking Out.' What's Going On With Silicon Valley Bank? Federal Government Takes Control.
Leadership

How to Detect a Liar in Seconds Using Nonverbal Communication

There are many ways to understand if someone is not honest with you. The following signs do not even require words and are all nonverbal queues.

Celebrity Entrepreneurs

'I Dreaded Falling in Love.' Rupert Murdoch Is Getting Hitched for the Fifth Time.

The 92-year-old media tycoon announces he will wed former San Francisco police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith.

Leadership

How Great Entrepreneurs Find Ways to Win During Economic Downturns

Recessions are an opportunity to recalibrate and make great strides in your business while others are unprepared to brave the challenges. Here's how great entrepreneurs can set themselves up for success despite economic uncertainty.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas To Start Right Now

To start one of these home-based businesses, you don't need a lot of funding -- just energy, passion and the drive to succeed.

Starting a Business

Selling Your Business? Do These 6 Things Right Now.

If you want the maximum price you need to make these moves before you do anything else.

Business News

'Invest In That Future Now Before It's Too Late': Bill Gates Calls For Global Pandemic Response Team In Op-Ed

In the same month that the World Health Organization called the coronavirus a pandemic three years ago, billionaire Bill Gates reiterated his call for a "fire department for pandemics."