A London tech company works so hard to make its employees happy on the job that in some ways it feels like a vacation.
And unlimited vacation time is one of the perks of working at Inner Geek, a downtown mobile app development and web design company.
“I love that every day I come to work and I love my job,” says employee Jeremy Ward.
The company opened just 18 months ago and quickly grew from one employee to 15. All of them seriously love their jobs.
That’s because founder and CEO Colton Hathaway has a unique way of managing his staff.
“We do unlimited paid vacation as one of our policies for employees. We find that if we take care of our people, people will take care of our products. That’s just the philosophy we live by,” he says.
While it may not be a new concept, Hathaway says he got the idea of limitless holidays after visiting companies in Silicon Valley.
“I have a family,” says employee Greg Smith. “It's nice to know that if I need to take a day off, if I’m stressed out, I don't have to worry about, ‘Do I have any days left, or do I have to take a day without pay?’”
Company benefits don’t end with unlimited vacation time, they also have a fully stocked kitchen with lots of coffee makers. There’s even a beer tap if you want to work with a cold one. And staff get served a catered lunch every day.
“If you're spending more time here than at home, you better enjoy it. So it is a comfortable, relaxed environment where people can feel comfortable putting in more than an eight-hour day,” Hathaway says.
He says so far no one has abused the unlimited vacation time.
In fact, staff have rarely taken time off because, well, they simply enjoy being at work.
“Instead of an assumption, I am going to abuse the system, there is an assumption that I am going to do everything right. And it makes me feel a lot more valued,” says worker Eric Taylor.
Hathaway adds it’s all about trust.
“You have to hire people you trust and are committed to your vision. If you've got that, you can't really go wrong.”
