“In 2002, Nulogy started in a living room with old computers and no salaries. Our early days were grounded in working closely together with the support of friends and family to start this business.
One time a customer came to meet us at our P.O. Box instead of the house. Oops. That would be just one of many mistakes we would make over the years that hardened a deep belief in the value of continuous learning and hard work.”
— Kevin Wong, Founder and Chief Operating Officer
Nulogy has come a long way since 2002.
15 years later, we are an award-winning Canadian software company that is on an ambitious growth trajectory. This year alone, our team has doubled in size, we moved to a 34,000 square foot office, and began executing on our most industrious plans yet!
To top off this whirlwind year, we have been recognized as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures! This national program, now in its 14th year, annually recognizes best-in-class Canadian organizations for having cultures that enhance performance and help sustain a competitive advantage. The Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture award represents our growth, and the joint efforts of each employee, co-op student, and alumnus that has been with us over this decade and a half.
What has made Nulogy such a special place? We’re here to share the secrets we have learned over the last 15 years.
It’s Not Just Business, It’s Personal
This story starts in 2002 in Waterloo, Ontario with four engineering grads, a living room, and a bright idea. We worked without salaries and put in long hours getting our first product off the ground. Our friends and family were there to support our hard-earned success. It is these humble beginnings which have influenced the Nulogy motto, “It’s Not Just Business, It’s Personal”.
Everyday we seek ways to make each employee feel at home and personally connected to their work, just as we did when the company started.
That’s our secret.
Practicing “It’s Not Just Business, It’s Personal”
The Office
On the eve of receiving this award, we embarked on the next phase in our journey — a move to a brand new office. It’s special because it has been custom-built specifically for our employees. What happens when you consult your employees in the top-to-bottom design of a new office?
An office full of team collaboration rooms, whiteboards EVERYWHERE, space for introverts to work quietly, a fully-stocked pantry and keg, prayer and meditation rooms, a nursing room for returning parents, a gender-neutral washroom, loads of plants, all located directly above St. Patrick subway station. Wow that’s a long list!
This office is a physical embodiment of who we are as a collective Nulogy.
Best-In-Class Benefits
The idea is we want everyone at Nulogy to feel supported, cared for, and stress-free. This means come in and put in your solid work, but when the work day is over — go live your life, rest, and recharge. Here are some ways we make sure that happens:
- Unlimited paid vacation and flexible work schedules so that we can rest and manage our busy lives. Most of us take from 3–5 weeks off every year.
- Up to $2000 on benefits (like massages, if we choose). The goal is to make sure that health comes first, so our benefits cover a wide range of health needs; whether physical or mental, and all start on day one of employment.
- A yearly education budget of $3,000 that Nulogites can use towards any pursuit that will help them level up professionally. Plus, organization-wide learning initiatives like agile coaches, Lunch-n-Learns, and workshops on intentional communication.
- RRSP matching program which provides $1 for $1 matching up to 5% of salaries to a maximum of $4,000 per year because we want Nulogites to think long term — like we do as a business — and save for their future.
- A parental leave package that includes a top-up of 100% for 13 weeks, and a $750 baby bonus per child. For returning mothers, we offer flexibility upon return to ease back into work, and a nursing room onsite so that they can nurse or pump at work.
- A brand new laptop and tech setup, tailored to your needs!
- Daily employee-run meditation practice, walking/running clubs, discounted gym memberships, and financial support for employee-organized team sports so that we can keep everyone healthy and active.
- Standing/sitting desks and ergonomic Keilhauer chairs for every single employee.
- A fully stocked pantry (accommodating dietary needs), and a keg with rotating beer selections!
- A paperless office, with composting services, eco-conscious products, and even biodegradable coffee pods.
Purpose in our Work
We are proud to offer such a competitive benefits package that touches on both physical and mental well-being. However, at the end of the day it’s not about the perks. While they are a nice touch, we prioritize creating a company where employees feel purpose in their work.
Nulogy’s long-term mission is to dramatically reduce waste in the global supply chain.
Getting there is going to take a lot of work.
We know this.
That is why we have put a lot of thought into our organizational structure and habits. Two of the major strategies towards our long term mission are flat hierarchies and ‘Autonomous, Self-Managing Teams’.
A Flat Org
Nulogy has a flat organizational structure. Even though we are now over 150 in size, there are many opportunities for employees to organically interact with our anyone, regardless of title or tenure. Our office is built with transparency in mind — using mostly open-concept spaces, lots of glass, and free of executive offices (our leadership team and founders sit among everyone else.) Our executives aren’t above doing anything, including emptying dishwashers, doing food runs, running a company initiative, or simply being available to work through a solution — empathy and simple communication is the norm here.
Autonomous Self-Managed Teams
Couple a flat structure with autonomous, self-managed teams and you will see the way we build software is special. Our product development teams are cross-functional; they consist of developers, designers, testers, and product managers. These cross-functional teams make decisions as units, without top-down delegation.
Sometimes we see that new employees are bewildered by distributed leadership because it reframes conceptions of ownership and responsibility. However, over time they too see how self-managed teams foster a mutually-supportive environment where purpose is found in complete product-ownership. These practices works for us — our award-winning* software is a testament to our strong product development culture, as we continue to expand globally. This year we continued to expand our global presence in Latin America and Europe.
*This year Nulogy was recognized within the industry, receiving the prestigious “Most Innovative Product” award from the International Warehouse Logistics Association, and the “Outstanding Industry Contribution” award from the Contract Packaging Association. We were also proud to be invited to join the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII) in recognition of our leadership in software craftsmanship!
This is just the beginning.
Did we mention that Jason Tham, our CEO, is a Team Canada triathlete? Perhaps that is why we believe that work is a marathon not a sprint.
Often times, when growth is ambitious and companies scale quickly, culture and values get lost in the fray. Thankfully, fifteen years later we still have an empathetic, successful, and close-knit culture built on foundation which was laid years ago.
Nulogy would like to thank Waterstone Human Capital Group for recognizing the sincere efforts that we have put into making this a wonderful place to work since our inception. Thank you.
2018 is going to be a big year for us as we will be continuing to grow our teams! If this article resonated with you, we encourage you to take a look at our careers page to see how you can add to our thriving culture:
