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Entertainment, like friendship, is a basic human need; it changes our emotions and creates common ground. We aim to provide culturally diverse entertainment worldwide.
An exceptional customer experience is at the heart of everything we do. To achieve this, we strive for an amazing and unusual employee culture. This document is about our Pzaz culture
Our goal is to become leaner, faster, more efficient, more innovative and better – all the time.
If you’re interested in working for us, please read this carefully. We understand that our way of doing things isn’t for everyone, but we take it seriously and reading this will give you a better understanding of how we do things at Pzaz.
Notice | In line with the open and honest culture that Pzaz represents, we would like to say up front that we have shamelessly plagiarized many of Netflix’s culture sketches. We would like to thank them very much for sharing their experiences in the book “No Rules Rules” and we hope they don’t mind. We felt that there is no point in “reinventing the wheel” and at Pzaz we believe that standing on the shoulders of giants will make it easier for us to succeed in creating a great company.
“Of course Pzaz is different in many ways, which is reflected in this document, but I have been running startups for 25 years and the book Netflix Culture is exactly in line with my personal beliefs, values and philosophies about how the ideal company should be run. We may be less reckless when it comes to letting people go and put a lot of effort into working on our personal happiness outside of work. But honesty and openness, ownership, accountability, commitment and passion are parts of our core beliefs.”
— Vincent Weberink, CEO. January 2021
Our core philosophy is that people are more important than processes. More specifically, we have great people working together as a dream team. With this approach, we are a more flexible, fun, stimulating, creative, collaborative and successful organization.
Like all great companies, we strive to hire the best and value integrity, excellence, respect, inclusion and collaboration. But what sets Pzaz apart is how much we:
Pzaz team members are distributed across the globe and united in their goals. Our ideal team is one where people are great at handling operations on their own, but still understand what it means to be part of a team. Together, we will learn more, perform better, improve faster, and enjoy a work-life balance that is both fulfilling and rewarding.
To get closer to our dream team, we need to be sure that the people joining our organization have the same mindset as us. We strive for a work environment where collaboration and open feedback are embedded in all of our daily routines. Just like a sports team, we role model being competitive and united in our aspirations because it matters to us.
Constant feedback is fundamental to our team’s culture, where honesty comes before kindness and mutual respect is everything. An environment with no surprises is our ideal, where opinions are openly expressed and mistakes are accepted as part of a continuous improvement process.
Stability is essential for success. When individual performance temporarily dips, we stand by our team members, offering encouragement but also demanding the same in return. We grow together in good times and stick together in more difficult times. We also realize that unconditional love is not part of a business environment. We are a professional team, not a family.
Our idea of a dream team may not be the ideal choice for you, and if it is, that’s OK. Our vision seems too innovative for anyone who prefers a business environment with limited risks. Pzaz appeals to those who are unique because they think differently and are willing to put their differences aside to achieve more. We look for those who are on a growth journey.
In our dream team, mutual trust is a must. We believe in each other’s abilities, in our mutual support and in our active commitment to helping others to successfully complete their tasks or integrate into a new environment.
We care about our success and the success of each team member. We promote a vision of growth where the combination of individual qualities brings the best results.
We look for those who want to grow and develop with and within the company. To do this, we need to ensure that new team members are a perfect fit for the team. Each member must have the potential to become an indispensable asset to our company. Those who make it can look forward to a fulfilling career. Those who don’t quite make it may pursue other careers but will be fully rewarded for their efforts.
With stability comes sustainability, which is the true measure of success. For us, it’s less about the time it takes to complete a task and more about achieving results in a more sustainable, scalable way. Effort is always appreciated, but it’s the results that really define who we are.
There is always a need and desire to improve and do things better. We fully recognize that the ideal Pzaz team is a blueprint for tomorrow, where every experience shows us how to achieve or get closer to excellence.
Brilliant minds are always valued, but that is not the most important factor in selecting or retaining our team members. We are made up of highly capable individuals who thrive in a collaborative environment, and we look for the same creative, collaborative approach that translates into shared success.
Your financial value is based on skills and achievements, and is increased during times of growth and success, where better results lead to better rewards.
Feedback is a normal part of any business relationship, but the way you give and receive feedback makes the difference between creating a trusting, positive environment and a team environment.
We believe that a team develops faster and achieves better results when a trusting relationship is built on the basis of honest feedback.
Even if it is uncomfortable, feedback can help us create a trusting work environment. Actively expressing opinions encourages individuals and builds team spirit.
Professional, constructive feedback is a daily routine throughout our organization, regardless of title or role.
We encourage honesty and value those who are not afraid to speak their mind. We understand that this can be difficult for new people from different backgrounds, so we encourage everyone not to be shy or afraid. Your voice needs to be heard.
To be clear, “Your verbal ineptitude is undermining our business” is not acceptable. “Improving your verbal skills would lead to better results,” on the other hand, is a far better choice.
When it comes to receiving feedback, an open mind is the best approach, as we naturally tend to protect our egos and opinions.
Knowing that dialogue is key, we need to decide for ourselves whether the feedback is useful or not.
Giving feedback is a helpful, active act at Pzaz, while receiving feedback is an opportunity to improve and share our views and respect the views of others.
As part of Pzaz, we encourage people to make the right decision and, if necessary, use the leader’s guidance to make the right choice.
You are always welcome to suggest a better way of doing things if necessary. Dialogue is always encouraged as it allows everyone to be informed and aware of the decisions being made
within the company. The only exceptions are in urgent situations where quick, critical thinking is required for a favorable outcome. In this case, the decision-making rests with the team leader.
You can express your disagreement at any time and explain your reasons.
ideally in writing. This allows you to speak openly and clarify your views, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll reach an agreement.
The decision is up to the team leader, and it’s everyone’s responsibility to rally around the leader and drive the team’s efforts forward.
At Pzaz, we pride ourselves on offering flexibility and freedom to our employees. This is expressed in many ways, from flexible working hours to a distributed company with no central headquarters. However, flexibility means a unique standard of expectation, both in terms of individual and team performance.
We allow our employees to work flexibly so they can fit work into their lives. Because of this, there is no time interval to “clock in” each day.
The same flexibility applies to the number of hours spent on a given task, as long as the work gets done. We believe that work is better for everyone when people are trusted to manage themselves.
However, this attitude is a two-way street and so we ask everyone to be sensible and not abuse this trust.
If for any reason you are unable to make your shift, we ask that you give us plenty of notice (via Slack + a PM to your manager).
You can communicate this via Slack unless you have been told otherwise. We expect you to do this every day for each day of absence – unless you have been given a doctor’s sick note for a specific period.
Being a fully distributed company brings unique benefits, but also other challenges.
Keeping everyone connected and ensuring the communication line is fully functional is one of the biggest logistical challenges of remote work.
For this reason, we expect our employees to be reachable via Slack for the entire duration of their shifts. Short breaks are a given, but longer periods without a keyboard should be announced by a message in the #ops-whereareyou channel.
We understand that life goes on and that there are emergency situations that require our urgent attention and prevent us from doing our jobs.
If you find yourself in such a situation, don’t worry – we are inclined to give you time off to sort out the issue, even if it is not pre-approved.
Similar to sick leave, we expect you to keep in regular contact – this means contacting your manager on each day you are absent.
Emergency leave is usually unpaid, but
You and your manager may agree that you will use some of your holiday entitlement if it is mutually beneficial, but this is entirely at the discretion of the company.
The private customer information we receive through the provision of our services is strictly confidential at all times. You are obligated not to disclose our customers’ private personal information under any circumstances. You are expressly prohibited from accessing any systems, databases, records or other materials containing personal information without prior authorization.
Examples include personnel files, medical records, bank accounts
Information, credit card information, social security numbers, home addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, pager numbers, and voicemail messages (including all recorded conversations) of our customers’ end users.
In the event of a breach, the individuals involved may face significant legal liability and even criminal prosecution.
Our company is committed to creating a work environment free from any form of harassment that creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive work environment.
The definition of harassment can include inappropriate physical actions as well as verbal and written comments through inappropriate use of technology.
This policy is binding and applies to everyone, including management.
One consequence of being a fully distributed company is that our employees spend more time on computers and other display screen equipment than employees at one location.
Therefore, it is even more important that our employees use these devices correctly.
As a company, we have a duty to ensure that everyone uses their DSE safely, responsibly and sustainably.
Some concrete examples of what this means:
You must ensure that you can perform the repetitive movements required by your role without injury or strain, such as moving a mouse or using equipment such as a keyboard, telephone or other electronic devices.
It is your responsibility to purchase any necessary equipment to ensure that you can do this – for example, ergonomic keyboards or mice, wrist supports, etc.
Working in software development is a demanding industry that requires focus, concentration and determination. For this reason, we expect our employees to be able to create and maintain a work environment that promotes focused, productive work.
What does this mean?
The Internet is the lifeblood of our business and an essential part of our lives after food, water and shelter.
For this reason, we expect our employees to make a reliable and fast connection a priority.
Your connection must be fast enough to allow the employee to share/receive audio and video files (e.g. on a conference call via Slack or Google Meet) or upload or download files as needed.
Because remote working comes with freedoms and responsibilities, we expect you to purchase and maintain all equipment required to carry out your duties.
We will try to support you with this within reason if you require it, but as with other expectations, you must hold up your end of the bargain.
If your circumstances change and you find this more difficult, you must let us know.
