XM Knowledge Base
What are TACOS?
Culture encompasses many things — from beliefs, to practices, to knowledge and the list doesn’t stop there. Company culture is unique to a specific organization and it is how you do what you do in the workplace. It’s the collective of both formal and informal beliefs and rooted in values.
Having shared values brings together the different cultures and experiences that every individual brings to a company. Our values are a constant guidepost as our culture continues to evolve with each new hire we have welcomed into the organization. The 5 values of Qualtrics that all employees operate with are Transparent, All In, Customer Obsessed, One Team, and Scrappy and those values make up the acronym TACOS. These values center and align us as an organization and we leverage them in our day-to-day to stay focused, prioritize, and drive the business forward.
Our founders created Qualtrics in a basement, and following that tradition, TACOS were formed in a basement, too. Since the launch of TACOS we have grown from a bootstrapped company of a few hundred to a global, publicly traded company of more than 5000 employees. We have scaled and navigated through a lot of change. We have evolved as a company, but we haven’t strayed from what is important and what keeps us grounded — our values. TACOS has scaled with us and we will honor the origins of these values, how they got us here, how they have evolved with us, and how they will help us achieve tomorrow.
The History of TACOS
Qualtrics executives came together back in 2016 and, instead of asking “what describes us?”, they focused on the people at Qualtrics who embodied and added to the culture the most. They identified key characteristics and started building the Qualtrics values. They focused on the things that make Qualtrics unique — the important things that make someone want to work here, as well as the areas for improvement. They combined all their answers into five key categories and discovered that the acronym spelled TACOS.
What do our values look like? We are here to share.
What do we mean when we say TRANSPARENT?
We recognize impact based on performance and results, not politics. We strive to learn and grow, so we are direct and transparent with each other and openly share our goals, strengths and improvement areas.
What do we mean when we say ALL IN?
We’re either All-In or in the way. Each of us owns the short- and long-run success of our company, delivering results with care and responsibility.
What do we mean when we say CUSTOMER OBSESSED?
We are committed to helping our customers succeed. We view mistakes as opportunities to grow. We listen, learn, and go above and put our customer first. Period.
What do we mean when we say ONE TEAM?
We are a diverse, equitable and inclusive team. We are stronger together and value our differences. We strive to help each other get better at what we do individually and together.
What do we mean when we say SCRAPPY?
We innovate and write our own story, regardless of the status quo. We have grit and passion, and see obstacles as opportunities for creativity.
While TACOS may roll off the tongue, living up to and delivering on the promise of these values takes purposeful energy every day. Otherwise, they're just words on a wall. If you want to learn more about the foundation of what makes us successful as a company and as a team, explore the stories of our people on Qualtrics Life, or sign up to our Talent Community to see how our values come to life.