From our Founder, Neil
Background
Growing up I had one job that gave me the income I needed to have fun with friends: hard, manual, labor with my dad who was a contractor. I didn’t know any better, so the work was “ok”, and I generally enjoyed working with my dad. But I did not enjoy working in 40C/100F weather, putting shingles on a roof!
This drove me to be a computer geek (proudly!), leading us to become a fully remote company from day 1. With such an environment (this was before COVID, mind you), one thing regularly became a struggle: how to motivate and inspire a group of people behind a computer screen? Without the “watercooler moments” or a “drink after work”, how could we foster an environment that had people excited to show up every day.
The answer, I realized, was the same that motivated me to build the company: having a challenge that stimulated me and allowed me to self-actualize.
Abraham Maslow coined the term “self-actualization”, defined as the innate human need to “become all that one can be (what one can be, one must be)”. To this day, this has been at the core value of our company, and a big driver of our culture. At Rayobyte, we are inspired to be all that we can be, and we push ourselves outside our comfort zones to make it happen.
Our ethos for serving Team Members
“Self-actualization” is a tricky thing to get right. Push too hard, and you cause low morale and burnout. Take it too easy, and you get boredom. It’s finding that sweet spot with team members that allows everyone to flourish and be hyped up for the next day of work!
Here are the key principles we live by in serving our Team Member Stakeholder:
“What one can be, one must be” - embrace discomfort
At Rayobyte, we foster an environment that pushes each other to embrace discomfort in the name of growth. It will not be easy!! Growth is hard! It’s much easier clocking in at 8 and clocking out at 5 at a cubicle job that feeds you little work. We’ve heard stories of large companies that hire people and then pay them to just sit there so that their competitors can’t have the talent. Really?! We’re at work more hours than any other activity in our life (unless you're a long sleeper 🙂), why not use it as an opportunity to become all that we are called to be?
Accountability is a means to grow, not a means to be an butthead
With growth, comes great expectations. Managers at Rayobyte, and even peers, may hold Team Members accountable for their lack of performance. This is done not to be a butthead, but rather to give respectfully candid feedback to the Team Member so that they can grow. It’s much better having a ‘hard’ conversation (if we must call it that) and help that person know what they can do better, than to not ever have it at all.
Stories from Team Members
On top of the great Team Member Stories that highlight our Team Members “bringing their great ideas to life”, we also wanted to share some stories relating to self-actualization:
[Self-actualization stories coming soon!]