Bitrise is a pioneer in helping companies and their engineering teams deliver great mobile apps and deliver the best mobile first features. We do this because and only because of the brilliance of our people. They are the ones who make Bitrise a special place to work at.
We believe that it is our people and the environment we create which makes our people special. It is in how we work together with each other and our customers. For us it is not about gimmicks or fancy office spaces but about the depth and quality of our relationships with each other and our customers.
“For many companies people-first mentality stays at very much a surface level. For Bitrise it is not words but intentional work which we do and will keep doing to build the best experience possible. We partnered with WorkHuman to measure and test all our practices around creating meaningful work, the depth and efficacy of our inclusion practices, the depth and strength of our relationships. Our people vision helps guide our practices to ensure that we live a people-first culture in every single way.” - says Vikki Sly, our VP of People.
Last month, Workhuman put Bitrise under a microscope in 9 categories. Even though Bitrise is a very young company - as we formed in 2014, have over 160 people and are growing rapidly - we were able to provide evidence and successfully show credibility in these very important topics:
- I have the right to meaningful work.
90% of Bitrisers said in our latest employee survey that “I find my work a positive challenge” and 97% (!) that “I really care about the future of this company”. 92% trust the vision of the company and can identify with the mission and vision of Bitrise. We are dedicated to supporting nonprofit organizations with the free Bitrise platform, we stand behind the advancement of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM fields. As a tech company, one of our ambitions is to support technological advancement and learning and women in tech.
- I have the right to be appreciated.
Again a very high number, 89% of employees say “I feel valued at work, my opinion counts” and 85% “I feel my work is acknowledged”. We build a strong feedback culture, it helps us to give immediate reactions to each other thus giving recognitions and praise as well not only privately but in public. “I’m forever grateful for my opportunity at Bitrise. I get to work with talented, motivated and funny people from whom I can learn a lot and who appreciate my work. It’s important to feel that your work makes a difference.”...“Hard work and sweat always pay off in the end. Bitrise makes sure your work is appreciated.” says Anna Bányik.
- I have the right to work-life harmony.
This topic is very difficult to get right and even though we try hard, we must try even harder especially during remote work. We all remember back with a huge smile on our face to our Olympic torch relay. We wanted to connect all Bitrisers by passing on the virtual torch from the San Francisco area to Boston, London, Amsterdam, through Budapest HQ to Japan symbolizing the Olympic torch’s way to Tokyo after a 121 day journey for the official launch of the Olympic games. It encouraged physical exercise as a fun challenge competing as one big team. A much more serious proof of work-life harmony is our worldwide Employee Assistance Program (EAP) system where we not only provide health insurance to all our employees but they can also enjoy the benefit of mental health support, where they can connect to coaches with both private and work related questions. We deeply care about our colleagues and we want to help them to be better. Professional and personal development is only possible if their mental wellbeing is not at risk. We also believe that lockdowns, curfews and other Covid-19 related events are able to harm mental health. We want to effectively tackle these obstacles and we think that an Employee Assistance Program is capable of doing that.
- I have the right to belong.
86% of our employees say that “I can be myself at work”. “We are proud that at Bitrise our community is diverse, as is society, we can express our opinion freely, we can be ourselves. Thus we reject all laws that would restrict our human rights to be who we are and freely live our nature, not only at work but beyond as well if it would limit our freedom of thinking, believing in what we are and would limit the sexual orientation of any of us. Diversity and tolerance are important human values. We strongly believe that all of us are equal and have the same rights!” says Barnabás Birmacher, CEO and Cofounder of Bitrise.
- I have the right to grow.
Our learning philosophy: The most valuable part of our company is the people inside it, giving their all to build something extraordinary day in and day out. If we want to grow as a company and do increasingly groundbreaking work, we need our people to grow. For our long term success as a company and as a team, learning isn’t optional. It’s critical. Our mission is to scale everyone at Bitrise. To bring to life a culture where we are all continually learning and able to be at our best. To help support this we have organised a Learning Series called “Learn.Rise.Repeat”. Bitrise is a place where learning is encouraged, celebrated and recognised. Professional growth and learning culture goes hand in hand at Bitrise. We take learning very seriously and have opportunities to join learning programs as well as a personal development budget. We believe learning is a continual journey which we encourage and support. We want innovation and it is core to who we are, we only do this when we try to push our boundaries.
- I have the right to be paid fairly.
We believe in taking care of the whole person. We also believe that we are all here to make an impact and so we give all employees stock options and make sure we pay well according to market and role. We want people focused on how to be at their best!
- I have the right to feel safe and respected.
It’s important to discuss inclusion at Bitrise and we believe it is in our differences that we get to make the best decisions and do our best work. We are all biased, and yet bias doesn't have to stop us from being deliberately inclusive and leveraging our differences. In a “Behaviours of Inclusion” workshop, we learn the psychology of unconscious bias and its impact at work. We practice behaviours of inclusion - small habits that improve 1-1 interactions, gatherings, meetings, feedback, and decisions. We know that feeling safe and respected means we try things - sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, Michael Roguly ... says it so well “There is no place for blaming here, which is great because you are allowed to screw up, own it and move forward. And that’s the only way you can do it because when we are doing an uncharted path, you are going to make mistakes. So the only thing is to accept them, learn from them and move forward.” - says Michael Roguly Enterprise Account Executive, San Francisco
- I have the right to privacy.
Bitrise takes privacy in every aspect of how we run our business and handle personal data very seriously. At Bitrise we are committed to protecting the personal data of our employees, and we feel that it is particularly important to respect our employees’ right to privacy. The data handling policy defines the methods that enable information to be classified, handled, transmitted and treated throughout its lifecycle. This includes the security controls which are required for each classification to ensure that they are appropriately protected in line with business and regulatory requirements. These measures will minimize the exposure of Bitrise assets to risks to availability, confidentiality and privacy protecting the business operations and company’s reputation. “Data” includes information on any medium, including hardcopies, removable and non-removable digital media, backups, archived data and log files. The policy covers: Data Classification, Retention, Disposal.
- I have the right to work in a place that strives to protect the environment.
We are recycling batteries, old phones, and trash: paper, plastic, metal. We use only recycled paper in the office. Also keep and look after lots of green plants in our office. We have a cooperation with “Jane Goodall Institute” and with “For Africa Association”. Our commitment to creating a better, more sustainable future for all of our stakeholders. Leaving the world in a better place.
We completed the challenge successfully and are super proud that Bitrise became a Workhuman certified enterprise. We are not only proud but we are also cautious to live up to the emerging standards and keep raising the bar.
“It comes back to an honest personal belief from our founders to create an environment where we really can "come in and kick ass" as Barnabas Birmacher, our CEO would say and be the best place to impact the mobile market! And if we can smile whilst we do it that's great! It is part of our values system, it is who we are. We know we are not perfect and we know that the only way we will get this right is to listen, ask, hear our employees’ and customers' insights and turn it into action. We believe that it is only through creating the right culture that our mission and goals will be accomplished.“ - adds Vikki.
So we keep enhancing trust, appreciation, respect, gratitude, autonomy, and equity towards our employees and customers and prove that we are a human workplace and a people-first company who truly cares.
