Profile

Founded: 2002
Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
Number of Employees: 35
Public/Private: For-profit
Website: www.a-connect.com
Years on the WorldBlu List: 2009

About

a-connect's mission is to help companies optimize talent and resources in a competitive global economy, and provide independent professionals with access to challenging projects throughout the world.

Why

"Our mission is to attract the best talent to our organization and to our pool of independent professionals … Our internal team is relatively small and we expect even our most junior employees to think and act as entrepreneurs and General Managers who build their own businesses within a-connect … We treat our employees and independent professionals as real partners and human beings and we of course listen and respect our partners and value their views and contributions - which is the essence of democracy." —CEO, Hanne de Mora

BLUNOTES :: SELECTED BEST DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES

ON TRANSPARENCY...

a-connect sponsors a "Partner Abroad" week, during which staff members spend a week per year in a different a-connect office around the globe. The purpose of the week is to share best practices, increase transparency, and encourage a collaborative work culture between the offices. The main benefits of "Partner Abroad" weeks tend to be the informal cross-pollination, friendships, and trust that form outside of the workplace, and an enhanced understanding of what the business looks like in other regions of the world.

ON FAIRNESS AND DIGNITY...

Financial compensation at a-connect is determined by three elements: achievement of individual targets, the company's performance, and feedback from all colleagues, independent professionals, and clients with relevant exposure to an employee. This structure highlights the collective responsibility of all employees to each other and guarantees a linkage between an employee's contribution and overall organizational success. Only one-third of the variable compensation is linked to direct sales targets in order to avoid an overly opportunistic and individualistic culture.

ON REFLECTION + EVALUATION...

At a-connect, the evaluation process consists of three key steps. The first step is a playing-field-leveling 360-degree evaluation for all employees. Following this, a small team synthesizes the evaluation results and the individual target achievements for ALL employees, in order to ensure consistency and impartiality. Finally, staff members receive feedback and coaching to help them develop professionally.