Karman, Culture, and Policy Pt5— Time Off and Education
If you’ve been following the series up to this point, great! Thank you for taking an interest. We’ve built this company into what would have been our dream interactive job and it’s great to see that there are others our approach resonates with. If you’re really excited by what we’re doing and have experience working on the types of projects we work on why not reach out? We’re always looking to meet new people that are excited by the way we work and, periodically, we do need to add to the team.
After the excitement of the last few posts it’s hard to follow this one up. Consider this post the calm before the storm of jumping into what we’re most excited about The Research Time Policy. That’s not to say that our approach to the team’s time off and education isn’t important, it’s just not as unique as some of our other policies. With that in mind let’s jump into it.
Higher Education
Higher education is important. Maybe you didn’t feel up to getting a degree right out of high school, maybe you lost sight and didn’t finish, maybe you want to go for something higher. We’re 100% onboard with your idea to further your knowledge. With enough advanced notice we’re happy to let you work reduced or shifted hours to work your way through additional education.
You know what’s better than hiring someone with higher education?
Having an employee attend classes with the perspective and maturity of an effective team member with the opportunity to immediately apply the lessons they learn in the classroom to their work. There really isn’t a better combo! Some businesses may get uncomfortable with the thought of trying to schedule around an employee’s school hours but we’re small enough to make it work.
Time Off
Our time off policy carries forward the common principles of trust and small team dynamics that provide the foundation for our other policies. We offer a fixed amount of vacation time per year with a set amount that can be carried over between years. This limits the liability to the company. We don’t track sick days per year, in 5 years it’s never been a problem. Personal time to hang around home from 8am to 8pm waiting for that internet tech to show up can be taken whenever as long as the hours are made up and it doesn’t impact the current client project. Essentially any time but launch day.
Didn’t get to backpack around a continent when you were in your earlier years? Have a big adventure you’d like to tackle but don’t know how it fits into your adult life? Take a leave of absence!
With enough upfront notice you’re welcome to request a large chunk of unpaid time off to fulfill a dream or pursue an adventure for under a year. Your job will still be there when you come back. It’s hard to say where this last little addition to the time off policy came from but rumour has it one of the founders wiggled it in to take his family on a 3 month adventure in Asia some day :)
As always these policies rely heavily on trust and open, honest communication within the company. For us, the careful selection of team members and straightforward feedback for any action or behaviour that doesn’t fit our high expectations are what allow our policies to remain as permissive as they are.
If you see something in here that really excites or scares you let us know!
We’re putting these policies out there to get more perspectives and improve on them in any way we can.
Get excited for the next post! The research policy was a big motivating factor for starting Karman and I’m looking forward to sharing it.
