Last updated · 26 March 2024

Maximum freedom, maximum responsibility

Maximum freedom, maximum responsibility stands for creating an environment where you are granted freedom and flexibility in your decisions, your opinion, your work, including your Working hours and location, and your Holidays and time-off. In reverse, this freedom comes with the responsibility of taking accountability for your actions and the results you achieve. For the better and for the worse.

Okay, so this kind of culture shouldn't be confused with just flushing all the rules and policies down the drain in a totally anarchic fashion. Instead, it is about finding the perfect balance where autonomy doesn't turn into total chaos, and the fear of being held accountable doesn't squash creativity.

When done right, it creates a positive, empowering environment where we kick-ass together. It’s about an environment where trust, innovation, and collective ownership thrive.

Autonomy and empowerment.

You are given the freedom to make decisions and take ownership of your tasks and projects. Empowerment is encouraged, allowing you to use your skills and creativity to find effectively-great solutions.

You have the freedom to call the shots and take charge of your tasks and projects, which means you have the power and independence to decide how and when to tackle and finish your work.

You’ll have plenty of opportunities to show-off your skills and expertise and to make a meaningful contribution to the success of the projects you're involved with. Among other things, through our Personal development, we take this a step further: you decide your path, we help you grow, and give you the tools you’ll need to develop your autonomy and your skills so you can thrive in your career.

Flexible work arrangements.

As mentioned in Working hours and location, we want to ensure you have enough flexibility to work in accordance with everything else happening in your life. That means flexible working schedules and the openness to work remotely. And even though we are Office-first, we know life happens, and there will be days when staying at home will be much more convenient, as working at a different schedule will.

Here’s a snippet from Office-first that makes complete sense here, too:

Being office-first doesn't mean you have to spend all your working days in the office. We know, sometimes you'll have to run some random errands, do some shopping, nurse a sick kid, pay the bank a visit, or you were just too goddamn lazy to wake-up on time because you’ve spent the night playing Fortnite until 4 AM, and now the traffic is in full havoc mode and it will take you hours to get to the office. Which is totally fine. In other words, you can still work from home when you see fit.

Communication, transparency, and honesty.

We cannot stress enough the importance of open and transparent communication. The same applies to ourselves, internally, and with clients as well.

We want everyone on the team to share their ideas, opinions, concerns, and frank feedback of any kind. We believe in being transparent about our goals, expectations, and any changes happening or required within the company. This helps us all understand each other better and creates a more collaborative and inclusive work environment.

To give honest feedback, sometimes, is to risk hurting someone’s feelings. This is a deeply creative world where people easily mix themselves with their work and, thus, naturally, get offended by other people’s comments. Obviously, the feedback sharer must be compassionate and careful about the chosen words. However, hindering yourself from giving feedback to refrain from hurting someone is the first step to halt progress. Always speak from your heart. If something isn’t right, just say so.

As a side note, good feedback is always based on logical argumentation, not on taste or emotions.

Innovation and creativity.

Maximum freedom means we want a culture that burns on innovation and creative problem-solving. In such a culture, you're not just free to come up with new ideas, you are encouraged to take risks, change things, and go over the line with things that have the potential to create a big impact on Significa's projects and growth.

We want you to get the chance to bring your own perspectives and insights to make some real change, create something new, and move the company forward.

Accountability and results.

With freedom comes accountability. You are not only accountable for yourself, but for everybody else.

Aiming at excellent work and looking at, at a minimum, meeting expectations can't be just an afterthought. Instead, it must be the fuel that keeps your engine going. We must all keep on improving, on getting better, and thus naturally, we expect you to hold yourself accountable for this, as well as holding the remainder of the team accountable too. The only way forward is to push and demand more from each other.

With this, there’s a focus on your outcomes rather than on micromanaging you through the process. Again, we expect you to hold yourself and everyone else accountable.

You can work from Australia if you wish. This is the freedom bit. But you are responsible to coordinate and plan your work from a different timezone with your team. This is the responsibility bit.

Trust.

You know, none of this makes sense without trust. Trust is the cornerstone of our motto and the foundation upon which our culture is built. Even though we're all about flexibility, transparency, autonomy, and openness, it can only happen if we have a deep sense of trust with each other.

Trust takes a long time to build but only a few seconds to be destroyed.

We trust you to make smart decisions, manage your time, decide your workload, schedule your Holidays and time-off and Leaves free of scrutiny. But in return, you must own the trust we lay upon you. Own up to your actions, be truthful yourself, take pride in the quality of your work, hit your milestones, and don’t let your team down.

Continuous learning and development.

You are not only encouraged, but you are also accountable to take charge of your own professional development, of your own goals, of your own career, as is evident in the way Personal development is built.

This may involve pursuing training, learning new skills, and staying up-to-date on the newest trends, to which we have an unlimited learning stipend (Perks and benefits). Don't get us wrong: we will mentor you and will help you through your journey, but you must take the driver's seat. We'll be the driving instructor on the side, pointing you in the right direction. You are the main character in your life.

Don't expect other people to make your decisions for you. Decide for yourself, own it. And then, if you make the wrong decision, we will be here to help you fix it. We would rather have people who own their decisions and make mistakes than those who are completely risk-averse.