Culture Matters
Through our culture, our people can do their best work.
Our teams are made up of individuals from many different backgrounds. Software. Physics. Engineering. Mathematics. Some from general science and technology. Some are from backgrounds you wouldn’t expect from an embedded software company.
We believe that our diverse backgrounds give us a unique perspective when it comes to problem-solving and innovation. We encourage open communication and collaboration within our team to ensure we can deliver the best possible solutions to our clients. Our ultimate goal is to build long-lasting relationships with them.
We take pride in our work and are committed to continuously improving and growing as a team.
Building an Employee Ownership Trust
As 2019 was ending, Bluefruit Software became employee owned. Today, employees own 51% of the business through an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). Our Founder and Director, Paul Massey, has already talked about why we formed an EOT.
What does an Employee Ownership Trust do?
There are several responsibilities that the Trust oversees. Their core mission is to ensure that Bluefruit Software operates in the interest of its employees.
One of the main areas of business the EOT does input on is bonus distribution. Companies that are employee-owned and have an EOT can distribute up to £3600 in tax-free bonuses to each employee per tax year. This is, of course, dependent on the performance of the business and affordability, but is a significant incentive from the Government, who view Employee Ownership as a very positive thing.
So how do we make sure that we recruit and keep such excellent people?
We provide a safe and comfortable space
At Bluefruit, we care about our team members’ work-life balance. We understand that working long hours and weekends can be stressful and lead to poor work quality. So, we do everything possible to create an environment that is conducive to innovation and creativity.
We offer flexible working hours to our team members, which allows them to balance their work and personal life. We believe in a culture of openness and trust, which is why we have an open-door policy that encourages communication. We are proud to provide a safe and comfortable space where everyone is heard and valued.
Empowerment
For Bluefruit this means our team member can influence the processes and decisions that affect their work. It means having better learning, with feedback loops that help deliver rich information on whether a process is working or not. This helps our employees to learn quickly and encourages an agile approach to change
We also welcome ideas and suggestions from all levels of the company and encourage open and regular communication within project teams. Everyone is listened to and given a chance to have their voice heard.
A Lean-Agile approach to learning
One of the key aspects of our Lean-Agile approach is continuous learning and team empowerment. We achieve this through daily stand-up meetings where we can identify any obstacles and discuss solutions. During retrospectives, we reflect on our performance and identify areas for improvement. We also provide regular in-house and external training sessions, trips to conferences, and other opportunities for self-study to encourage individual growth.
Building a strong and happy team
We work across different projects across different teams, but we don’t make strangers of each other. Beach barbecues, paintballing and team lunches are some activities we like to do as a group. And if that’s not your pace? We have a weekly fitness class, a pool table, board game evenings and other activities. We believe that happy and motivated team members are key to our success, and we are always looking for ways to improve their experience at work
