Our People
Philosophies
PEOPLE PHILOSOPHIES
Surgeon General’s Warning.
Our People Philosophies are what we want
every Axiomite to believe about our people.
The goals for each are aspirational, meaning they are not true for everyone yet.
We are committed to making them a reality across Axiom Nation.
When we reach a point when we have achieved these goals, we will create new ones.
What is always true about us is that we strive to be better, no matter how good we get.
© 2012 Axiom Global Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL
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PEOPLE PHILOSOPHIES
Why We Did This
A note from Mark:
Axiom Nation,
Our People Philosophies are the embodiment of our Core Values. These are our Core Values:
Committed, Thoughtful, Irresistible and Fresh.
Core Values live within each of us and attempt to capture that which Axiom aspires to be. But that’s
not enough. We need real, tangible statements that translate our values into behaviors.
Those tangible statements are our People Philosophies. They exist to support the more human
elements of our company, one that happens to be wildly ambitious. But to be clear, we cannot have
the success that we want without the culture we covet. And, likewise, we cannot have the culture we
covet without the success we want. The trick is to not try to get one without the other, but to reach for
greatness in both.
Our people philosophies are meant to help us with that. If Core Values are what we want Axiom to be,
People Philosophies are what we’re doing about it.
© 2013 Axiom Global Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL
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OUR PEOPLE PHILOSOPHIES
Irresistible
Fresh
Committed
Thoughtful
PEOPLE PHILOSOPHIES
Our People Philosophies.
PHILOSOPHY 1
We seek out and hold onto irresistible people - people who have subtle
magnetism, incurable passion and genuine authenticity.
PHILOSOPHY 2
We cultivate an unusually fresh work environment characterized by maximal trust
and transparency, accountability and ownership.
PHILOSOPHY 3
We are committed to challenging each other and to holding the bar high for
ourselves and one another.
PHILOSOPHY 4
We are thoughtful in how we engage with one another, our values and the
mission - and we will not forsake those things in service of our ambition.
© 2012 Axiom Global Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL
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PEOPLE PHILOSOPHIES
Philosophy 1 - Irresistible
We seek out and hold onto irresistible people - people who have subtle magnetism,
incurable passion and genuine authenticity.
This means:
•
We pride ourselves on finding and landing great people
•
Irresistibility - authentic, subtly magnetic people who inspire others to be better - is an ironclad pre-requisite to any
hiring decision
•
We “keep looking” and don’t compromise, even if we’re desperate to fill a seat
•
We live up to our People Philosophies so our irresistible colleagues choose to be here
We will know this is true if…
•
We include recruiting efforts (the ability to identify and close top talent) in performance reviews of all senior team members
•
We bring back a hiring (including “nose”) committee to ensure we get the right people “claw”; apply high standards evenly
•
We have regretted attrition rate less than 5% annually
•
New hires are set up for success through onboarding, training and mentoring, resulting in more than 90% at “performing” or
better after their first 12 months
© 2012 Axiom Global Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL
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PEOPLE PHILOSOPHIES
Philosophy 2 - Fresh
We cultivate an unusually fresh work environment characterized by maximal trust
and transparency, accountability and ownership.
This means:
•
We operate in a trust-based environment and we don’t micromanage
•
We all work hard, but we’re not a “face-time” culture
•
We trust team members to take a break when they need it to balance personal and work commitments
•
We jump at the chance to reward talent and achievement with expanded opportunity
•
Senior management communicates openly about strategy and performance
•
People at all levels in the company work together to tackle strategic priorities
•
We feel comfortable challenging each other and our traditions, prizing innovation and risk taking in pursuit of a better
way to do things
We will know this is true if…
•
We promote star performers quickly
•
We hold managers responsible for creating growth opportunities for team members
•
We have far fewer “policies” and rules than other companies of our shape and size
• Eliminate our vacation / tracking policy
• No standard office hours
• Enable some working from home for all team members (laptops for all)
•
We find a way to benchmark speed of promotion path for stars and beat the benchmark
•
Every Axiomite knows and can describe our strategy and current performance
© 2012 Axiom Global Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL
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PEOPLE PHILOSOPHIES
Philosophy 3 - Committed
We are committed to challenging each other and to holding the bar high for
ourselves and one another.
This means:
•
Each team member has a clear understanding of what it takes to succeed in their role
•
We give and seek fair and frequent feedback (360 degree)
•
We expect skill sets to improve at “the pace of Axiom”- meaning fast
•
We are all in to help each other develop with mentorship, training and assignments that take us out of our
comfort zones
•
What is satisfactory performance at most companies is not sufficient at Axiom. We have an extraordinary
mission and opportunity, and ordinary performance won’t get it done. So “decent” (acceptable levels of
performance by other company’s standards) performance at Axiom equals a graceful exit
We will know this is true if…
•
•
•
•
•
All Axiomites, at any level, can describe their development goals and how they’re tracking from a performance
perspective
All managers know their teams well enough to describe development goals and performance for each of their
team members
Our senior managers receive training to maximize their ability to coach, develop and mentor their teams, and we
evaluate them rigorously in these areas through skills assessment and bonus plan design
We launch a company-wide, Analyst & Associate Development Program
We launch a company-wide, Senior Leadership Training Program
© 2012 Axiom Global Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL
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PEOPLE PHILOSOPHIES
Philosophy 4 - Thoughtful
.
We are thoughtful in how we engage with one another, our values and the mission –
and we will not forsake those things in service of our ambition.
This means:
•
We don’t have “employees” or “staff”, we are team-mates, which is how we think about and treat each other
•
We genuinely enjoy each other, and that makes our work better and a lot more fun
•
We are attuned to each others’ well-being so we can offer help when needed, across functions, levels and
offices
•
Faced with scarce resources (including time), we make hard choices that favor the overall mission as opposed
to our narrower individual objectives
•
All team members really understand and live our values (as opposed to knowing the words)
•
Managers are quick to provide feedback when their teammates aren’t living our values and are trained and
eager to provide tangible coaching
We will know this is true if…
• We focus on values in both recruiting and performance management decisions
• Reward team members who uniquely model our values
• We exit team members who don’t live our values, no matter how good their performance
• We survey the team twice per year, to learn how the team is feeling about their experience at Axiom and whether
we, as a collective, are staying true to our values
© 2012 Axiom Global Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL
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© 2012 Axiom Global Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL
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