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Beyond is a design and technology ideas company in London, New York, San Francisco, Mountain View and Austin. They help ambitious companies create market value with design- and technology-based products and strategies, and establish the methods and mindsets that move companies forward.
This is our eBook to help awesome people find out more about our ecosystem, and for our newbies to understand the way we do things around here. Come on in to the great Beyond!
2. welcome!Allow us to introduce ourselves…
Beyond is a design and technology ideas
company. We work with innovators and firebrands
who are pursuing ambitious goals to create
value-driven digital products and ecosystems, at
speed.
We’re a team of designers, strategists, engineers,
researchers, writers and producers who believe in
technology with intent. We’re excited to have you
on board!
3. Here’s a few things you
need to know...
before you set off on your
7. spirit
Entrepreneurial
Have the discipline and drive to
make things happen.
Regardless of whether or not you’ve started a
business before, an entrepreneurial spirit is
something we should all possess. It requires
grit, perseverance, creativity, business acumen
and, above all, a deep dedication toward
making things happen.
8. supporteach other
Collaborate and respect one another, always.
We champion an environment that values high performance,
carefully balanced with values that breed inclusive and
respectful behaviour. We follow a simple golden rule: be
supportive.
9. learning
Never stop
Have an attitude that continuously
seeks to improve.
“If you aren’t getting better, you’re getting worse” -
this phrase rings as true in business as it does on a
human level. It’s especially true in the fast-paced,
competitive and creative space we operate in.
A business is only as good as the people in it, which
is why we value continually developing our skills
and knowledge.
10. inspirational
Be
Strive for infectious and consistent
excellence.
Many of the companies we look up to in our industry
have built their success on one simple foundation:
building great teams. These companies breed a
culture where excellence in individual performance
is the norm, not the exception. We strive to create
an environment where the proverbial bar is being
raised every single day.
12. 90 day
Beyonders are known for their
openness, thoughtful curiosity
and growth mindsets. Our culture
nurtures this frame of mind.
13. skill
Empathy to imagine the
problem from another
perspective.
Enthusiasm for other people’s
disciplines.
Depth in the skill that allows
them to contribute to the
creative process.
Breadth in being able to
collaborate across disciplines.
T-shaped people
show both:
While you're here, we encourage you to develop
even stronger skills across your own areas of
expertise, as well as explore complementary areas.
We strive to be “T-shaped stars”.
DEPTH
Beyond support every team
member with individual
growth plans
The two components of
building T-skills:
15. At Beyond, your opinion is always valid. We believe in a flat
structure and collaborative communication. Our London
studio is made up of a network of like-minded peers who
bring together complementary skills and energy. We
encourage disruptors to challenge the status quo and experts
to share their knowledge.
At the same time, we recognise the need for visionary
leadership and professional management in order to progress
the wellbeing of our business culture. Our leadership teams
offer the team a framework that supports our people to be the
best they can be.
Our Client Strategy
Content
Creative Technology
Data Science
Design
Delivery
Engineering
People & Talent
Product Strategy
Team Design
Testing & Assurance
User Experience
structure
Our disciplines
16. Our development
frameworkWe don’t do annual reviews. They’re too static, anxiety-inducing and
inflexible - and we’re none of those things! We’re high-performing, flexible
and fast, which is exactly how we approach your development at Beyond.
Each quarter, we flex OKRs to drive direction for our business and our
people. Overarching OKRs are set at a global level, and then interpreted
for each studio and individual. We keep track of OKRs and performance
reviews through a system called Reflektive which, you’ll get access to on
day one. We also encourage everyone on the team to give shoutouts to
their colleagues who have gone above and beyond.
What’s an OKR?
It stands for “Objectives and Key Results”. This leadership framework
originated at Intel and has famously been adopted by Google. OKRs are
designed to be transparent, measurable and stretching, sometimes
uncomfortably so. They set the bar above and beyond your usual day to day
work, so that you can keep progressing in the right direction.
17. education
Training and
You’re the master of your own fate. We offer an abundance of free
resources for you, including a library, e-learning memberships, in-house
talks, field trips and more. We also actively encourage and support every
team member to find opportunities to keep developing, whether through
courses, books, conferences and/or qualifications.
If there’s some kind of training you’d like Beyond to invest in, we’ll ask you
to put a case together ahead of time for your lead, who will take it to the
quarterly leadership sessions for sign off.
What do we ask in return? Only to share a reflection of your experience
and some key learnings with the team.
18. Once you’ve completed your three
month probation, you’ll formally kick
off your structured development.
How often? After your first 90 days, or
at the start of a transition.
10x10sessions
Developmental
This is the informal part of the
performance development
framework. 10 high quality 10 minute
conversations per year vs. a one hour
meeting at the year end with your
lead.
How often? It depends. They can be
daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
check ins
This is the more formal part of the
performance development
framework. This quarterly slot is used
to assess your performance against
your OKRs, celebrate your recent
successes, discuss your career
trajectory and make adjustments.
How often? Every 12 weeks.
QuarterlyFrequent
20. your birthday
Because we work
to live, not live
to work
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_annual_
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Closed
& wellbeing
Medical cover
health
off
Financial
Health
Gym Membership 6
last week of the year
25 Matched
Pensions
L F EAssurance
%flexible benefits
ride work2
program
Employee
Assistance
22. We pay our people in terms of market fairness.
What does this mean? Put simply, the job market is
split into four quadrants. This ranges from the
lower quartile made up largely by non-profit
organisations to the upper quartile of large
corporations or high-risk, high-reward companies.
Beyond operates somewhere in the middle. This
compensation scheme balances out with our
overall rewards packages, which means that the
“total reward” of your compensation is centered
around the employee experience here at Beyond.
fairness
MarketHow we
compensate
you
24. Alex gets a
9 month
development plan.
Day
1
_development_
_check_in_
Check in. New developmental
goals are set.
_development_
_check_in_
_development_
_check_in_
okr
MONTH
3
!
Alex’s development
plan ends, evaluation
and new goals set.
Check in. Alex’s OKRs
are updated.Alex starts at
Beyond. Gets a
90 day plan,
probation kicks off.
ahead
Your career
year
1
year
2
25. advancement
Career
We believe this says a lot more than
formal promotions do. We like to talk
about our employees in terms of how
they’re progressing and specialising in
what they do. We do what it takes to
supports you along your career path.
