Turning "Culture" into Reality

They say that office politics is the difference between what an employer says a workplace is like and the on-the-ground reality. Like more or less everyone else, I hate office politics. So we've been proactive at Q-CTRL in ensuring we take actions to limit politics.

Q-CTRL’s operations are guided by our Core Values:  Be Real, Be Trusted, Be Just, Be Revered. But the translation from these high-level principles to on-the-ground action is often where things break down.  That’s why we decided to write out a statement that describes what we aspire for our workplace to be like, and some of the actions we take to make this vision a reality.

We're happy to share this with you so you can understand how we operate.

Why we come to work energized

We are excited to solve hard problems with real impact.  We know that we are helping to shape a totally new technology in one of the most exciting fields of our generation, even while understanding that every job will have less-than-glamourous tasks that still need to be done.  We feel that we are treated fairly, compensated well for our skills, and face an outsized upside for our efforts. We approach this in policy by fairly awarding raises, bonuses, and employee equity options. And we ensure that incentives are always mutually aligned to prevent deleterious internal competition. Some are motivated by money while others are not; either way all staff have the opportunity to share in the company’s successes, and feel a mutual sense of achievement when peers or the company are doing well.  

The workplace experience

Our offices are active and focused but lighthearted.  Sometimes people are chatty and sometimes they are quiet.  We come to work to get things done but also enjoy each other’s  company. We work together when we need to and can seek independent time when it suits us; workplace policy supports flexible arrangements including working from home so long as it doesn’t impact operations. Technical debates in the office can be animated and even heated, but hostility - open or subtle - is not tolerated.  The office can be filled with humor and we ensure that humor doesn’t stray into the inappropriate. Everyone should feel comfortable working in the office in the way that best serves them.

How we feel about our colleagues

We enjoy interacting with our colleagues and respect them for their diverse backgrounds, talents, and personalities. We are friendly, jovial, and happy to see each other.  Importantly, we recognize that workplace relations - and the expectations on feelings of personal obligation - are not the same as familial relations. We don’t expect that everyone must be together at all times.  Some people become quite close personally and interact socially outside of the workplace. Others prefer to separate workplace and personal relationships. We respect any and all approaches to mixing personal life and work - and since work is such an integral part of our lives we don’t offer prescriptive views on “work-life balance/integration” or the like.  To each their own.

We support diverse personalities

We actively work to prevent the politicization of the workplace.  Some staff are outgoing and do well in social settings while others struggle with the weight of socialization with peers and managers.  Some staff speak openly about their family lives, others are intensely protective of their privacy. We work to ensure that as much as is practical, we eliminate pathways for personal biases to influence the workplace experience.  We support our teams and balance team-development with a recognition that some truly struggle with these activities. Accordingly we are careful in curating sponsored activities which can have the unintended consequence of promoting workplace exclusion based on who builds the strongest personal relationships with managers.   All the same, we select a workplace environment that provides avenues for socialization and ensure that leads are empowered and supported to build connections with and amongst their teams over meals.

We emphasize getting stuff done - but not at any cost

Our team is motivated to achieve great things in science, technology, and business.  We work hard and sometimes take on monumental tasks to deliver for each other. Our staff are, and feel, trusted to exercise professional judgement.  Accordingly we emphasize processes that remove bureaucratic hurdles and help people move quickly, instead of being forced to follow prescriptive rules that will inevitably fit poorly with a critical situation. But this lightweight approach to processes and procedures is not indicative of any tolerance for abusive behavior.  We don’t exploit our staff and we don’t take advantage of each other by pushing unreasonable tasks on others (peers or reports). We also never lie or misrepresent our capabilities to win a sale or earn accolades, while maintaining an optimistic view on how much we can achieve together.

If, after reading this, you think Q-CTRL is right for you, have a look at our careers page and help us build the quantum future!