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Our Handbook is open source: here's why

about.gitlab.com

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Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#21

Post by kimmshibal »

jobvandervoort wrote: post #18
leetrout wrote: post #8

Just absolutely fantastic values for work-life balance and certainly makes GitLab look _very_ appealing... Some of my favorites: We're a distributed, remote-only company where people work remote without missing out. For this, we use asynchronous communication and are as open as we can be by communicating through public issues, chat channels, and placing an emphasis on ensuring that conclusions of offline conversation…

This will sound like blatant propaganda for GitLab, but you'll have to take my word that I'm being sincere here: GitLab is by far the best company I've worked at and the best company you could work for, as far as I can see. The values that you see in the handbook are really what every single one of my colleagues works and lives by. People frequently take time off and the team is always supportive, whether it is for a…

What if i want to "sleep" for 30min?

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#24

Post by dagw »

Daviey wrote: post #23
danso wrote: post #22

There's an "unlimited time off" policy; what does Gitlab do to prevent that policy from being punitive in practice to employees?

What sort of punitive things do you mean?

If you go over some secret 'limit' that no one will tell you about, you'll get put in the back of the line for promotions and raises and the front of line when it's time for cutbacks.

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#25

Post by jobvandervoort »

dagw wrote: post #24
Daviey wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sort of punitive things do you mean?

If you go over some secret 'limit' that no one will tell you about, you'll get put in the back of the line for promotions and raises and the front of line when it's time for cutbacks.

We don't track how much time you take off. If you want to take off more than 25 consecutive calendar days, you should discuss this with your manager first [0].

We expect that our people make sensible judgements about the time off that they take, but if it's not written in our handbook, there are no further rules.

> Always make sure that your job responsibilities are covered while you are away.

[0]: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/#paid-time-off

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#26

Post by jobvandervoort »

kimmshibal wrote: post #21
jobvandervoort wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will sound like blatant propaganda for GitLab, but you'll have to take my word that I'm being sincere here: GitLab is by far the best company I've worked at and the best company you could work for, as far as I can see. The values that you see in the handbook are really what every single one of my colleagues works and lives by. People frequently take time off and the team is always supportive, whether it is for a…

What if i want to "sleep" for 30min?

Third line in taking time off in the handbook [0]:

> You don't need to worry about taking time off to go to the gym, take a nap, go grocery shopping, doing household chores, helping someone, taking care of a loved one, etc. If something comes up or takes longer than expected and you have urgent tasks and you're able to communicate, just ensure the rest of the team knows and someone can pick up any urgent tasks.

[0]: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/#paid-time-off

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#27

Post by danso »

Daviey wrote: post #23
danso wrote: post #22

There's an "unlimited time off" policy; what does Gitlab do to prevent that policy from being punitive in practice to employees?

What sort of punitive things do you mean?

In other companies, the policy has sometimes led to employees taking less time off, because of a reluctance to appear to be "that guy" who takes off more than everyone else.

http://digiday.com/agencies/dark-side-unlimited-vacation-pol...

> Asked how many days off she took last year, Dawkins was surprised. Forced to think about it, she realized it wasn’t very much: just 14 days, although “it felt like a lot.” There is a game to play, she admits: “You are subconsciously thinking about ‘does this appear to be too much time,’ but that’s human nature,” she said. “There have to be checks and balances with management so there’s a process in place.”

Kickstarter last year reportedly rescinded its policy because of this effect:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/at-kickstarter-fle...

> It’s always been important to us to ensure that our team is able to enjoy a quality work/life balance,” the Kickstarter spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. “What we found was that by setting specific parameters around the number of days, there was no question about how much time was appropriate to take from work to engage in personal, creative, and family activities.”

Another side effect: with no minimum number of vacation days in place, employers are not required to compensate employees for accrued vacation days when they quit.

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#28

Post by satysin »

jobvandervoort wrote: post #18
leetrout wrote: post #8

Just absolutely fantastic values for work-life balance and certainly makes GitLab look _very_ appealing... Some of my favorites: We're a distributed, remote-only company where people work remote without missing out. For this, we use asynchronous communication and are as open as we can be by communicating through public issues, chat channels, and placing an emphasis on ensuring that conclusions of offline conversation…

This will sound like blatant propaganda for GitLab, but you'll have to take my word that I'm being sincere here: GitLab is by far the best company I've worked at and the best company you could work for, as far as I can see. The values that you see in the handbook are really what every single one of my colleagues works and lives by. People frequently take time off and the team is always supportive, whether it is for a…

Sounds amazing. You need any London based project managers? ;)

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#29

Post by drinchev »

From the handbook [1] :

> Technical interviews

> Try to get a real sample of work (which we already do for developers by working on GitLab issues) Avoid puzzles or weird algorithm testing questions. Probing for data structures is fine as long as it is relevant to the job the person is going to do.

> Be mindful of the background of the candidate, someone who knows 10 languages already (and some languages in particular, Perl for ex), may pickup ruby in a second given the right chance. Don't assume that someone with a Java background will not be capable of moving to a different stack.

> Consider including non technical people performing soft skills questions. Because technical people should be capable of talking to non-technical just fine, we should assess it.

Kudos to GitLab for these sentences. I think this is far better approach than the usual technical interviews.

1 : https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/hiring/#technical-intervie...

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#30

Post by vinu76jsr »

dagw wrote: post #24
Daviey wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sort of punitive things do you mean?

If you go over some secret 'limit' that no one will tell you about, you'll get put in the back of the line for promotions and raises and the front of line when it's time for cutbacks.

I believe opposite case is usually prevented, people don't usually take time off for no reason, they go on vacation, family emergency etc., an observed side-effect of unlimited time off is usually people don't take time off at all, purely a cultural(company's) thing.
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