Inedo is proud to be a multi-national company. We have customers and users literally all around the world, offices in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, and Tokyo, Japan, and globally distributed remote employees.

Embracing the multiculturalism of our company is an important part of what makes Inedo tick. This is why we are guided by a cultural philosophy framed around Japanese words and concepts, our Chōwa, the guidelines by which Inedo and all Inedoins do work.

Inedoins? Yes! Inedoins. We came up with this word to describe the people whose work and passions come together to make Inedo run. It’s also a fun little play on words, emphasizing our multiculturalism: Pronounced in-EE-dough-anz, the term is a portmanteau of three words: “Inedo” (our organization), “in” (a Japanese term 員, meaning “member of”), and “Ohioan” (a person who lives in Ohio, USA).

We don’t walk around the office calling each other “Inedoins.” But it’s warmer and friendlier than “employee.” And the term provides a way for us to live by Chōwa individually and for Inedo as an organization to emphasize that our people are equally as important to Inedo as our products. 

These are words to live by for every business in every industry: people are as important as what you make or provide. Not only are happier employees more likely to be better workers and have less turnover, but customers are also paying careful attention to how companies choose to treat the people they employ—data that is supported by new HubSpot research on customer retention in the ‘coronaconomy.’

The short version is that organizations that care about their people are doing things right.

Each person who works at Inedo, from the individual contributor to CEO, is an Inedoin. There are no strict guidelines for how to be an Inedoin beyond the basics: you work here, and you work hard to apply Chōwa each day. We each define for ourselves what it means to be an Inedoin. For some, being an Inedoin may mean being flexible and creative. For others, maybe it’s being unyieldingly honest and forthright in communication. For all, it’s respecting the balance, the Chōwa, that exists between colleagues. We aren’t just an employee ID number; we’re Inedoins.