In this article, we put down our perspective of our answer to the question and hope that it provides a glimpse into what a Red Airshipper experience on a day-to-day basis.
We begin with our guiding principles that guide our company policies, our day-to-day actions, our work experience and our Red Airship culture:
Red Airship’s Guiding Principles:
1. Find and create joy in all aspects of your life
We take Joy seriously - it is not just a word but a belief that creates possibilities
We find the silver linings in challenging situations
We treat each other kindly and respectfully
We say "no" to things that do not align with us
We share our joy with others, including our customers and vendors
2. Maintain your integrity
We decide and act in the best interest of the team
We don't agree for the sake of agreeing
We do what's right for our customers
We own up when we screw up
3. Give and Build Trust
We trust our team members to do what's right
We assume positive intent in all actions and clarify when in doubt
4. Stay Open-Minded and Adaptable
We communicate openly and honestly with our clients, vendors and one another
We keep our minds open and respectful of different perspectives
We experiment relentlessly to find what works and improve our processes
We are not afraid of change
5. Aim for Excellence
We strive for excellence and challenge ourselves to be better
We are okay with failure
We seek to update our knowledge constantly to serve our customers better
We are hungry to learn new skills to be relevant
6. Be Dependable
We take ownership of our work
We commit to delivering our promises
We are ready to roll up our sleeves and help others and participate in projects where we can add value
These guiding principles are a collective effort created through feedback and learnings over the years by Red Airship crews.
Red Airship is unique because we are constantly evolving based on the needs of our team. We have personally experienced what we don't want to happen in our earlier careers, so we know what we want and are focused on building up a place where people can be themselves, do their best work and grow together with us.
While these principles are not 100% perfect, it serves us well 80% of the time, which works well for us. It gets us started and pushes us to be better versions of ourselves each day.
And how do we know we are on the right track? Our high retention rate of over 90% since the company started in 2013 speaks for it.
So how do these principles come to life at Red Airship?
Here are some examples of how we practise it in our day-to-day work with different combinations of our guiding principles coming into play:
We practice flexible working hours.
We recognise that life is as dynamic as it is, and work is only a part of it. It doesn't make sense to us to follow dated agricultural practices of having fixed working hours where your presence is needed constantly. We manage our time responsibly and take ti me off when needed to meet the demands of the other roles in life. Each crew plans and communicates ahead, and the team respects that time off when requested.
We practice an unlimited leave policy.
As an extension of the flexible working hours, each crew are also given unlimited leaves. A majority of our projects are long term, and it is important to us that the Red Airship crew rejuvenate and recharge along the journey. Other crews step up to cover the crew's work during their off days, or we take up less work during this period. We respect these requests for leave and support them.
We emphasise the individual crew's constant growth.
The founders are committed to supporting the team to grow. They pour in resources to support initiatives like the Red Airship's Study Week, where a crew can take up to a week off work to focus on learning. In addition, there is an annual study grant to support learning as well. They believe in shared responsibility, hence the crew's commitment to share their new knowledge with their team members internally.
As a Senior Engineering Manager, we want to make sure every team member is looked after. Not only do we build their technical skills, but we also focus on building other personal skills like communication and leadership and improving the way they think. My focus is to build a great environment for teams to thrive so they can focus on building great products.
There are also frequent and regular 1-on-1s with their managers to receive and give feedback on their work performance, chart out career progression, and identify skills to practice. We want each crew journeying with us to become a better version of themselves when they decide to disembark from Red Airship.
Red Airship focuses not only on project outcomes but also the personal development of the crew. It is an inclusive culture where everyone's opinion is heard and treated with respect.
We are a 100% remote team with a hybrid work arrangement.
Covid-19 has led us to experiment with a 100% remote work arrangement, which means you can work anywhere in this world as long as you have access to the internet.
Leaders and managers do not micro-manage every single minute nor monitor your online presence. We trust that each crew manages themselves and continues to achieve work outcomes.
Prefer to pop by a co-working space on a work day? We support that too through the use of a co-working space app.
What should I expect when I join Red Airship?
When you are ready to start your journey with us, we expect these from you:
You will take charge and manage your own time
You will keep an open mind and be adaptable
You will collaborate with others
You will share and celebrate your small wins with the team
You will provide feedback to improve
You will keep learning and growing
You will take regular breaks
There is a lot of autonomy and opportunities given to you. It will be up to you to decide how to make the best use of this opportunity to learn and grow on a personal level continuously and to contribute your part to Red Airship's journey.
Our crew comes from diverse backgrounds and life phases. Hear from some of the crews on why they decided to be a part of Red Airship.
As a working mum, the flexibility to arrange and manage my own time during the workday allows me to better balance my time between family and life. We support and cover one another to provide the best for our clients. The team made the environment safe for me to ask questions and provide constructive feedback.
Being a newcomer to an industry is never an easy journey, but working at Red Airship has certainly made it an enjoyable and fulfilling one. Its open and collaborative culture encourages the sharing of knowledge across the board, regardless of seniority. It has given me confidence to grow as a designer, knowing my questions will always be answered without judgement, and my ideas always heard.
Last year, after much deliberation, I decided to make the jump from being a brand manager for a global lifestyle and hospitality group to embarking on a new journey as a software engineer. Spurred on by meaningful conversations with the team at Red Airship, I decided to apply for a 6-months traineeship with them before converting full-time. It was a novel and challenging experience doing the traineeship at Red Airship - executing real, client-facing projects the moment I started - but I was reassured every step of the way, be it through mentorship and pair programming with senior software engineers or even exploring and planning out my personal development. It continues to be a steep learning curve but I’m excited to do it with Red Airship.
If you like what you see and the expectations don't scare you, check out our Careers Page.
