SOTI

SOTI

Mississauga, ON, Canada

http://www.soti.net

Grade: A

Summary: Innovative culture, focus on growth, innovation and fun, weekly Lunch & Learns, no co-pay, full family coverage, transparent and flat organization and room for advancement via hyper growth. Company wants you to be able to broaden your skillset: “An Android Developer today can be an iOS Developer tomorrow.”

Intro: SOTI is a sought-after company to work for all over the world, due to organization’s reputation as a leader and pioneer in mobile technology. The Company is known world-wide for its focus on innovation, is opportunities for growth and reputation for remaining ahead of the curve. In addition, many are drawn to SOTI because of its clear and articulated vision and a stronger leader and advocate of that vision, CEO Carl Rodrigues. Carl has instilled within the company a vision to grow the business centered on empowering its employees to build the best products and solutions for its customers. In developing SOTI’s focus on training and developing its team members at each level so they can be the CEO of their role and make the right decisions, both for SOTI and its customers. This vision is something that is very appealing to potential candidates and it shows in the people who work at SOTI and the way they interact within the company. Lastly, SOTI’s growth is attractive to candidates. The Company has experienced rapid growth year-over-year (30 percent growth in 2017 and 50 percent growth in 2016), and as a result, candidates see SOTI as a force to be reckoned with and something they want to be part of. This high growth environment is appealing to candidates as it confirms there is a great opportunity to grow your career.

Impact statements: SOTI is a sought-after company to work for all over the world, due to the organization’s reputation as a leader and pioneer in mobile technology. The Company is known world-wide for its focus on innovation, its opportunities for growth and reputation for remaining ahead of the curve. Depending on the skill level of the new hires, SOTI will offer creative bonus programs, signing bonuses and relocation programs to entice them to join our team. SOTI’s medical benefit offering comes at absolutely no cost to the employee. As SOTI has continued to rapidly grow, our fast approach has been to offer a solid plan and have it be free to employees and their families. SOTI recognizes that people have families and other obligations outside of work. SOTI encourages its employees to have a positive work/life balance which can mean that employees can deviate from the core hours and work a more flexible schedule as long as it works for the employee’s manager and other team members. SOTI has a traditional office layout and environment but one that contains several community areas that emphasize and encourage inclusion and collaboration. SOTI also recognizes that its soul is its people and that they encourage referrals of team members through the employee referral program of SOTI “They Rock”. Referrals of employees can be up to $10,000. This program truly rewards employees for bringing in top talent. SOTI has a “go make it happen” philosophy that is much more relaxed and less restrictive than what other companies may employ. Rather than have team members worry about running their ideas up a bureaucratic ladder in order to get approval, SOTI offers its employees an opportunity to innovate as they see fit in order to get the job done. In the last three years, SOTI has seen rapid growth which has led to the company to hire and promote a large number of people in order to meet our growing customer demand. SOTI’s philosophy is centered on empowering our employees to build the best products and solutions for our customers. In developing our core values and goals, SOTI starts with our most important asset: our people. SOTI focuses on training and developing our team members at each level so they can be the CEO of their role and make the right decision.

Advancement Opportunities:

SOTI provides opportunities for our team members to progress and grow than other companies offer. It’s part of our culture and our company is always looking for high performers within the organization and having open discussions with them to help them drive their careers.

Additionally, SOTI has an appetite to promote from within, more than the average tech company, which exposes our employees to more opportunity. One way this is done is by forming “TIGER” teams. These teams are procured when a project falls between departments or is new to the company. Rather than hiring outside consultants, SOTI managers often will put together a “motley crew” of team members from different departments to push people out of their comfort zones and try something new.

SOTI also has a robust internal application program for employees to apply to all different types of jobs across the business. This program has been something that employees often take advantage of, which provides them with new opportunities to grow within the organization, rather than looking outside of the company.

Measuring satisfaction:

SOTI prides itself on being an employer that listens to its people. As people communicate in a variety of ways, SOTI has invested in many areas both online and offline to gather feedback and listen to the pulse of the company. The company has set up a digital suggestion box that is available for employees on their mobile device or desktop. Employees can submit suggestions anonymously or provide their name if they want a follow up. Our managers conduct regular 1-on-1 meetings with employees to discuss their personal development and bring up suggestions for improvement. SOTI has a skip level communication program where HR and/or manager’s meet with team members to solicit additional feedback and ensure the employee has a venue for open communication with senior leaders.

SOTI has a traditional office layout and environment but one that contains several community areas that emphasize and encourage inclusion and collaboration. SOTI leaders work on the floor and in the trenches alongside their team members. Additionally, SOTI officers are laid out with whiteboards everywhere because you never know when a creative idea or discussion could sprout up.

Creative meeting places:

When it’s appropriate, SOTI actively encourages employees to venture out of the familiar confines of the office to hold meetings. SOTI’s philosophy of employee empowerment means offering them the ability to hold meetings in environments that allows for team members creatively and well-being thrive. Most commonly, employees have conducted meetings:

Walking in our outdoor courtyard

Nearby parks

Roof of building

SOTI’s annual conference SOTI SYNC, which is typically held at a different location each year so it is appealing to the entire global team. Recent SOTI SYNC conferences have taken place:

Downtown Toronto

Niagara Falls

The London Bridge

The 2018 conference will be held in Dublin Ireland

Perks:

Gym memberships

Day care

Entertainment and dining perks

In-house clubs and sports offerings like soccer teams and yoga

Fun:

Variety of learning and health and wellness activities that encourage innovation, employee wellness and creativity.

Lunch and Learn session

Weekly yoga sessions are extremely popular among employees and provide an opportunity for team members to separate themselves from their traditional work activities.

How corporate vision is communicated:

Recently SOTI’s internal communication program, Pulse, was expanded with the launch of a brand new internal site where employees from around the globe can get customized and actionable information. This also includes a weekly global newsletter that covers key areas of the business

and openly communicates sales, wins, employee promotions, new hires and other relevant news to the company. Communication is also done on a personal basis via manager and employee one-on-one meetings. This forum presents a great opportunity for rich dialogue.

Empowering employees:

SOTI is extremely appreciative of the efforts, energy and passion of its employees. A variety of different programs are in place that allow for recognition including a peer-to-peer program called SOTI You Rock. This is a global program that allows employees to nominate any of their colleagues from around the world to thank and recognize them for the contribution they made in the areas of Spirit, Overachievement, Team Building and Innovation. The blurb written about that person as well as their picture will be displayed on the homepage of Pulse, SOTI’s internal portal, to highlight and recognize those individuals. Pictures of the most recent Rockstars are also posted in the kitchens around the world.

An internal points system is also attached to this program where points can be redeemed for cool SOTI branded merchandise. Items include clothing, bluetooth speakers, battery power packs, backpacks, mugs, and much more! SOTI receives 150+ nominations per year in our Canadian office alone.

SOTI also recognizes that its soul is its people and that they encourage referrals of team members through the employee referral program of SOTI “They Rock”. Referrals of employees can be up to $10,000. This program truly rewards employees for bringing in top talent.

There is also an annual recognition program, SOTI MVP, which recognizes the top 3% of employees globally. These are very sought after awards as just being nominated is an honor. The MVPs are awarded a trophy at the annual holiday party in front of the company with a speech by our CEO about the MVPs contribution throughout the year. There is a permanent plaque showing all of our MVPs annually in the hallway of our Canadian head office. MVPs also have a banner put on their employee picture that shows up in Outlook, our internal Pulse site and HRIS system so they will forever be known as a SOTI MVP. Employees that earn this level of recognition are regarded as mentors and coaches from other employees. From a sales organization standpoint, there is the President’s Club where member who exceed targets and recognized for their achievements and celebrated accordingly. This program also extends to non-sales personnel that help support the sales team and revenue generating activities. Other programs on a smaller scale also include lunch/dinner outings, gift cards, and team recognition awards/spiffs.

SOTI has a “go make it happen” philosophy that is much more relaxed and less restrictive than what other companies may employ. Rather than have team members worry about running their ideas up a bureaucratic ladder in order to get approval, SOTI offers its employees an opportunity to innovate as they see fit in order to get the job done.

SOTI has a number of formal and informal programs to ensure that all employees can make suggestions that can effect positive change at the company. Formal programs include Suggestion Box, SOTI Unplugged and SOTI Jolt. Suggestion Box allows for employees to make suggestions for all areas of the business. Similar to a town hall, SOTI Unplugged sessions allows for employees to ask questions and make suggestions to different functional leads in a public session. SOTI Jolt encourages team members to come up with ideas or innovations and present them formally to a set panel. Employees get direct feedback, coaching and often implement their ideas into SOTI’s workflow.

Ensuring well-being:

Programs have filtered into SOTI that are expanding the health and wellness program. Today SOTI offers team members an on-site fitness room, on-site yoga every Wednesday, guest speakers from the Canadian Mental Health Association to educate employees on the importance of having discussions on mental health and with information on who to speak to if they have any questions/concerns.

Closing company statements: SOTI’s philosophy is centered on empowering our employees to build the best products and solutions for our customers. In developing our core values and goals, SOTI starts with our most important asset: our people. SOTI focuses on training and developing our team members at each level so they can be the CEO of their role and make the right decision. SOTI believes that decisions should be made by the person with the most knowledge and most often this is the employee who is the closet to the customer. This philosophy has permeated through the business directly from our CEO, Carl Rodrigues, and is embraced by our executive team. In order to accomplish this we need to heavily invest in training and continuously communicate the corporate goals with the team.

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