We prioritise potential as a key criterion in our hiring process. We understand that the unique nature of our projects demands a wide array of skills, making it difficult to find individuals who are immediately ready to dive in. Potential, for us, means the ability to quickly adapt, learn, and master new skills. With this foundation, we commit to fostering growth by offering opportunities for involvement, exposure, and eventually, leadership across a variety of projects.

We firmly believe in the power of self-driven development. Our people managers are dedicated to providing unwavering support, including monthly career discussions, while the company opens the door to a broad spectrum of opportunities. It’s up to our employees to seize these chances and steer their professional journey.

The ultimate goal is for everyone to reach their full potential.

1️⃣ Career Paths

We don’t believe in prescriptive policies and guidelines. However, as we grow, we understand the need to provide some clarity on what someone can expect as their next step at REBORRN. This was feedback we received in our monthly eNPS survey and we acted upon it.

As you can see below, the descriptions of our roles are not exhaustive but rather serve as a high-level compass.

We have also consciously decided not to follow the path of other consultancies by avoiding multiple levels that (falsely) cater to the need for career growth. We are clearly not a good match for people driven (only) by titles. Instead, we prioritise providing opportunities and support to everyone, and, of course, this is accompanied by the respective roles.

An important note:

Our previous experience helps us decide what to do, but mostly what NOT to do. One of the lessons we learned (the hard way) is that people management is not for everyone and should not be the only way to grow within the company. This is why we have senior roles that don’t involve team management but hold equal importance and are paid equally well as those that do.

2️⃣ Development Plans

Every REBORRNian crafts their personalised development plan using their preferred career path as the foundation. While the responsibility lies with each employee, their manager is there to offer support and guidance. The goal is to reflect on how we can be even better at our current role and to strategically plan our next career steps at REBORRN (and beyond), to reflect on our future aspirations, and chart a course to reach them.

We track and discuss our development once per month during our O3. This is our chance to discuss any bottlenecks or changes throughout the process and ask for support and guidance from our manager or other stakeholders.

We are happy to share here the template we use for our development plans, filled in with some examples:

3️⃣ Learning Rituals

Sip & Share sessions

During one of the skip-a-level sessions, one REBORRNian shared the idea of Sip & Share Sessions with one of our founders! Not only she had the idea, but she set this up and has been leading this initiative ever since. Sip & Share are informal knowledge-sharing sessions that are held over breakfast & coffee☕ and each time we have a speaker who shares their expertise with their colleagues.

These sessions are a great chance to expand our knowledge, get to know our colleagues, and learn from one another. Each session lasts 30 minutes, including time for questions, and can cover anything from work-related tools and practices to wellness and self-improvement.

We also record the session and have a wiki with all the recordings and relevant material so that anyone who could not attend or newcomers to be able to watch it.

Here are some examples of past sessions:

Exchanging knowledge session (over brunch)

Each team has its learning rituals as well. For example, the Org. Design team meets once per month over brunch to share knowledge. In rotation, a team member volunteers to present something interesting they learned or read with the rest of the team. This is informal (no decks) and an excellent team bonding opportunity.

4️⃣ Training Sessions

To start with, we don’t have a training budget. Our training approach is intentionally unconventional. We're committed to backing and funding any training we see as crucial to our team's growth, stepping away from the confines of a set training budget because we believe in a more impactful strategy.

Responsibility rests with each manager to pinpoint their team's training requirements during development plan discussions, secure the necessary cost approval, and take action. Meanwhile, our HR department takes the lead on identifying needs across the company, orchestrating internal training sessions or teaming up with the right external partners to fill those gaps.