An employee handbook reduced to four words (and some expository slides), for a company with few policies and a lot of autonomy.

1. Logos Bible Software
Employee Handbook
and Corporate Culture
May 2011

2. Employee Handbook
Honor God. Love others.

3. It Means We Trust Each Other
• Logos:
• …puts people first.
• …values wisdom over policy.
• …provides feedback before discipline.
• …accepts mistakes as part of learning.
• Employees:
• …demonstrate the company values.
• …act in the company’s best interests.
• …exercise freedom without abusing it.

4. Understanding the Employee Handbook
SPECIFICS

5. Benefits
• Health care coverage.
– Details available from accounting.
• Discounts on our products.
– Not for resale, subject to annual limits.
• 401(k) program.
• Sabbatical at 10 years w/$1,200 for travel.
• Miscellaneous other benefits.
– Free coffee, soda pop, bike shop, etc.

6. Vacation
• “Non-exempt” employees:
– 10 paid holidays, scheduled by department
• Logos is closed when holidays are on weekdays.
• Paid holidays falling on weekends can be flexibly
scheduled.
– Paid vacation
• 2 weeks per year, 3 weeks after 5 years
– Paid sick day accrual
– Overtime, when authorized in advance

7. Vacation
• “Exempt” employees:
– Take holiday/vacation/sick days at your own
discretion.
• There is no vacation or sick day accrual.

8. Leave
• Anyone can take unpaid leave at their own
discretion.
– As a courtesy, please discuss and schedule in
advance with your supervisor.

9. Legal Requirements
• Act within the law.
• Logos acts within the law:
– Logos abides by all legally required
employment policies pertaining to breaks,
leave, benefits, etc.
– Policies on discrimination, harassment, leave,
etc. are available separately and hereby
incorporated by reference.

10. Privacy
• There’s no privacy on company computers
or phones.
– Your company email is for business purposes.
• Desks, lockers, and other storage areas are
provided for your convenience.
– They remain the property of the company and
are subject to inspection.

11. Ownership
• You are employed, among other reasons,
to create intellectual property for the
company. It belongs to the company,
unless we agree otherwise in writing.
– If you are creating intellectual property for
yourself or another employer, you need to
clarify ownership in advance with a
moonlighting agreement.

12. Plain Old Rules
• Don’t smoke.
• No open flames.

13. Working with So Few Rules
• Employment is a value exchange:
– You provide time, effort, and creativity, and
the company provides pay and benefits.
• Employment is a relationship:
– As long as we deliver value for each other, we
don’t need books of rules for our relationship.
– Communication maintains the relationship,
provides security, and prevents surprises.
– We presume good faith and act in it.

14. What We Aspire To
CORPORATE VALUES

15. We Value
• Honesty
• Openness
• Awesomeness
• Growth
• Initiative
• Elegance
• Shipping

16. Honesty
• We value the truth, even when it’s
uncomfortable.
– Speaking the truth shows love and respect.
– Listening to the truth shows wisdom.
• It is okay to say you won’t say.
– “Yes, we do have a ship date, but we’ve
chosen not to announce it.”
– “I can’t comment on why John Doe left the
company.”

17. Openness
• There is no mystery at Logos.
– Customers and employees (anyone!) can ask
any question without reproach.
• (Though the answer might be “I won’t tell you.”)
• There is no drama at Logos.
– Logos is a safe place to express feelings.
• “I’m worried that…”
– We address things openly and professionally.

18. Awesomeness
• Good is boring.
• Quality is the standard.
• Professionalism is expected.
• Awesome is a delightful surprise.
– Our products should have features that cause
users to laugh in delight when they find them.
– Interactions with our company should involve
occasional pleasant surprises.

19. Growth
• We are here to grow.
– We grow the company to:
• …serve more customers, have a bigger impact,
make more money, cover increasing costs, and
create more opportunities for our employees.
– We grow ourselves to better:
• …provide for our families, equip ourselves to serve
others, and participate in the company’s growth.
• Growing is a job requirement at Logos.

20. Initiative
• Do what needs to be done.
– Don’t wait to be told.
– It is okay to ask permission if you aren’t sure.
• Ideas are welcome.
• Mistakes are learning experiences.
– You can’t go wrong if it’s for the customer and
in keeping with our values.
• People who step up move up.

21. Elegance
• We don’t ship ugly stuff.
• Elegance does not equal fanciness.
– Elegance is:
• …’unusually effective and simple.’
• …a consistent look.
• …an uncluttered lobby.
• …a thoughtful gesture.
• …a tool that ‘just works.’
• …everything you need and nothing more.

22. Shipping
• We get stuff out the door.
– It doesn’t matter how great something is if no
one is using it.
• Artists and scientists vs. businesspeople:
– Artists pursue their own vision of beauty.
• Beautiful is more important than done.
– Scientists seek objective truth.
• It’s a never-ending journey.
– Businesses ship so we can live to ship again.

23. Honesty
Openness
We Awesomeness
Value Growth
Initiative
HOAGIES Elegance
Shipping
Bacon Cheese Omelet Hoagie from Hoagie Haven, Princeton, NJ / George Showman via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

24. How We Do Things
THE LOGOS WAY

25. Customers First
• We are famous for great customer service.
– If a customer isn’t happy, we haven’t earned
their money; it burns in our pocket.
– “Our policy” is delighted customers.
• Everyone is empowered to do the right
thing for the customer.
– “Right for the customer” is the best answer.
– Customers have direct access to our
executives, and they’ll take the calls.

26. Two Birds, One Stone
• We choose projects that accomplish
multiple goals.
– We reuse code and content.
– We visit multiple people on a single trip.
– We find new ways to sell things that long-ago
covered costs and made a profit.

27. Build Over Buy
• We tend to build it ourselves.
– If we’re good at it. (Code, content, etc.)
– If we’re going to multipurpose it.
– If it’s going to be cheaper in the long run.
• We try to reduce future royalties and obligations.
• We buy when it’s a one-off.
– If we don’t bring unique expertise.
– If it’s a consumable.

28. Software is the Secret Sauce
• Our unique expertise is in software.
– We maintain high standards in our core
competency.
– We leverage our extraordinary skill in software
to speed and enhance our work in other areas.
• We don’t just create content, we create tools to
help create and edit content.
• As publishing moves from a paper to a digital
platform, our unique-in-the-industry expertise in
software gives us an asymmetric advantage.

29. Acknowledge Ignorance
• Not knowing isn’t a personal flaw, it’s a
temporary and changeable state.
– We don’t hide our ignorance or incompetence.
• We are free to say “I don’t know.”
– We take on projects in areas we know nothing
about.
• We expect we can learn or do whatever we need.
• We value the fresh perspective ignorance will give
us even as we master new things.

30. Argue for Excellence
• We value the right answer, even if it’s not
our own.
– We challenge to refine, not to fight.
– A business argument is business, not personal.
• Everyone has input rights, even if someone
has ‘decision rights.’
• “As iron sharpens iron, so one man
sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17

31. Act Kindly
• We value people most, and we treat them
with kindness and respect.
– Honesty and openness create an environment
where we can challenge each other, grow, and
even speak hard truths in kindness.
• We admit our mistakes and forgive others
theirs.

32. Respect Others
• Our communications are respectful and
deferential.
– We are generous toward our partners and
customers.
– We presume the best intentions in others.
– We are respectful of our competitors.
• We don’t denigrate anyone.
• We avoid negative comparisons.
• We are grateful to work in a field where even
competitors can share the same ministry goals.

33. Fall Down, Get Up
• Our guidelines are inadequate for
everything we’ll encounter.
• We will fail to live up to our values.
• Sometimes we do things the wrong way.
• Endeavor to exhibit grace, and accept it.

34. Logos Bible Software
Honor God. Love others.