Our Culture Code.

How to use this document

The intention of this document is to help you gain a really transparent insight into who we are at Elevated and how we operate. Our intent is to attract, but we are okay if you decide after reading this that Elevated is not for you either!

This document is a bit of mishmash of basic behaviours / expectations of consultants as well as the business – where we have come from and where we are going, basic day to day practices to be aware of at Elevated.

We have included things like our recruitment process, our onboarding process, who thrives here vs who meets their demise. That sounds heavy, but again, we are okay with wearing our badges of honour just as much as our warts!

If you are left with any outstanding questions or thing you would like us to see address at Elevated, feel free to drop us a line at info@elevatedhr.com.

Our Mission (This is “why” we get up out of bed): Work Shouldn’t Suck

Our Vision (Our moonshot – where we hope to get to one day): A world where life and work integrate seamlessly.

Our Values (Our how we do the work): Partnership | Flexibility | Ownership | Elevate

As an employee you will be asked to remember these, reward your peers based on living the values, and provide feedback both on yourself and your peers on how well they live the values as well.

Our Recruitment Process

While each search is a little bit different, we understand what it’s like to apply to a job that seems to go into a black hole and hope to provide a bit more clarity to candidates who are looking to work at Elevated.

We are known to look at talent who don’t always present exactly what’s required in our job advertisements. But those candidates have often gone beyond the traditional approach of just shooting us a resume through our ATS. Is this fair and equitable? I guess that depends on your definition of what fair and equitable is.

Normally we post the position for about 2-3 weeks before we start looking through the resumes we receive. You should get an automatic response that indicates the resume has been received. The Recruitment Lead will then screen the resumes, send those over to the Hiring Manager and from there the Hiring Manager will determine who should be pre-screened. When the pre-screen is complete is, and the Recruitment Lead feels the candidate is worth another conversation, a DISC profile survey will be sent for completion. Note: We don’t use these to determine who will be hired but we do use this to tailor our interview process from a communication perspective. So don’t pretend or think you should show up any differently than who you are in the DISC process. While authenticity may not be a value on our proverbial wall, it’s certainly something we look for in the interview process.

We may ask you to chat with peers before meeting with the Hiring Manager. This is because we are very team oriented and need to understand how you add to the team from their eyes. Remember: The Hiring Manager chose you from your resume now it’s time to put your best foot forward with the team!

The Team interviews are typically held online via Teams as a few of our team members live in different locations. They are typically informational, conversational and again the goal is to figure out where you will add and with whom you help to elevate the most.

Then the Hiring Manager will meet you based on the feedback received from the team.

In terms of feedback, we love giving it – but not everyone is open to it (even if they say they are). The majority of reasons why candidates don’t make it through include:

• The candidate fangirls too much about Michelle (we get it, she’s cool but this isn’t about a love fest for her, it’s about a love fest for the company in general)
• A project we had intended to hire for suddenly falls through (yeah, we sometimes put the cart before the horse and try to hire ahead BUT if we find out during the interview process that we didn’t get something, we’d rather pull the plug early than bring someone on to only lay them off)
• The candidate doesn’t display enough self-awareness
• The candidate isn’t confident enough (our clients, regardless of the level you are coming in at expect you to be poised and knowledgeable, without a ton of time to think things through – they don’t want to be in a teaching environment when they work with us so we need to be sure you can step up to the plate when needed)

If you were sent a rejection note and would like more context about why you didn’t get the role, simply follow up and we’ll be glad to give you a play-by-play to help you in the future!

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We are a collective of diverse individuals, not only in our professional expertise but in our life experiences.

But let’s face it: Our team is predominantly female, spanning the same quarter-century in age, with everyone a parent (albeit some are of humans and others are of animals). We are keenly aware of the patterns within the HR industry – patterns that paint a homogeneous picture. As such, to make work suck a whole lot less, our mission is to diversify this canvas, ensuring that the voices and perspectives within our team, and those we serve, encompass a broader spectrum of the human experience.

Inclusivity, for us, isn’t a buzzword; it’s a commitment to action. We are conscious of the privilege that comes from our current demographics and understand that true diversity in HR means going beyond the familiar. It means actively seeking out and valuing different viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds. It’s about creating a space for voices that can challenge our assumptions and help us grow. Our goal is to cultivate an environment where diversity is not only sought but celebrated, where every current and future team member feels seen, heard, and empowered.

Our approach to benefits and time off mirrors our value of flexibility – a recognition that life is non-linear and rich with variety. We champion a culture that supports our team through the ebbs and flows of life’s demands. Whether it’s pursuing a passion, nurturing family, or embracing rest, we believe in empowering our employees to structure their time in a way that honours their individual needs and the rhythm of their lives. This flexibility is our commitment to building a workplace that not only adapts to life but thrives alongside it, fostering well-being and satisfaction that transcends the traditional boundaries of work.

Our Onboarding Process

Although still fluid, we’re getting better at the onboarding process with each new hire, because our team has been so great on onboarding feedback! But is it perfect? Nope. Will it ever be? Probably not.

In our pre-boarding phase, you’ll get a bunch of paperwork through Humi. It’s fairly standard from payroll forms to getting familiarized with the different software packages. If we’re on the ball, you’ll get your laptop delivered well in advance so you can start playing around the different tech stacks as needed.

The ideal onboarding experience will begin in Calgary, meeting with Michelle for the first 2-3 days. You’ll get some history, some background on clients you’ll be working with (or projects you may be on) and a more thorough walk-through of our tech stack. We make it fairly experiential, building on the day before and while it might be somewhat repetitive it’s because we do get how overwhelming the first few days and weeks can be.

From there – you’ll meet with team members individually on Teams. Most team members are on a smaller/function team, but we meet weekly with the entire team on Thursday’s. Here, you’ll be exposed to team learning, updates on the company and collaboration on issues every week.

How quickly can you start supporting clients? Sometimes it’s day 1 and sometimes it’s not for a month. It can feel a bit like you are drinking from a fire hose at times. But the point is, nothing is set in stone and that whole value of flexibility? Being prepared to pivot shift and change is almost the most prevalent right out of the gate even in the onboarding process!

Things to Remember at Elevated

We are a consulting firm. That means each employee is technically our product. How you spend your day matters. You are expected to be disciplined around how you spend your time and track it.

Your employment agreement covers most of our expectations around code of conduct, confidentiality and non-solicitation. As a quick reminder: let’s begin with empathy and respect (but don’t confuse that and take others for granted), confidential conversations must remain confidential (if in doubt, zip your lips), anything you create for Elevated belongs to Elevated and if you leave Elevated, our clients are ours and we ask that you refrain from soliciting our team members too.

Feedback is core to who we are. This includes recognition as well as areas to improve. This means you will not be given a space free of any inner discomfort. Get prepared for discomfort. It’s the only way you will grow.

We are flexible as long as you communicate. Stop communicating and we won’t be flexible. Always ask, don’t tell. Always ask, don’t expect. Always ask, don’t sit in wonder.

Don’t be a victim or a martyr. If you see something that is broken, say something or come up with a recommendation. Don’t just drop a bomb on someone for them to fix it. We may not always go with your recommendation, but put yourself out there to make it better.

Your results are for you, by you and on you. If you don’t like a result you have, don’t keep doing the same thing over and over again. The experience you have is often a result of the lens you look at life through.

We have an inhouse graphic design / creator of “wow”. Before you send anything to a client (specifically a word document, training module or PowerPoint), please have her review and make sure it is consistent with our brand principles.

Quality control is important. Termination letters and employment agreements need to have a second pair of eyes. In the former, Michelle should review. In the latter, there are multiple people who are good at reviewing employment agreements, but give them enough time to do so. Details matter.

Employee Experience

Employee experience is the sum of the programs, perks, benefits and behaviours that are consciously curated and contributed to, minus the inconsistencies in behaviour and processes an organization tolerates.

We work to build exceptional employee experiences both internally and externally. This is done in a proven 3 step process:

1.) Assess – We look at the organization through the lens of best practices that include both foundational and transformational programs, assets and thoughts. We gain further insight from the team members (either in stay interviews or anonymously) to determine where there is consistency or a lack thereof. And we talk to leaders about their current team members’ performance and commitment to understand the entire landscape of the organization.

2.) Build – We identify programs and assets that can enhance the organization. We tailor each program and asset to the company focusing on brand, values and opportunity for success.

3.) Manage – We manage all programs we build remotely, through automation and regular check-ins with management. We also build SOPs so that you can transition seamlessly upon graduation from Elevated when it’s to move it all in-house.

The Anatomy of a Successful Elevated Employee

When do things not work at Elevated

At Elevated, we believe openness paves the way for our collective success.

In other words, not everyone thrives in our setup. Some found the solitude of working from home a steep hill to climb, lacking the motivation and discipline needed when away from the structured office environment. The absence of in-person camaraderie was felt, and the autonomy we offer sometimes veered into isolation for those who needed a more hands-on approach.

Elevated is built on a foundation of self-sufficiency and accountability. We expect you to pilot your projects with confidence, to demonstrate resilience, and to maintain your project plans without a guiding hand. Keeping track of each hour of work in our time tracking system is part and parcel of how we operate – it’s essential, as our consultancy’s value is in the time we invest.

Another common thread among departures has been the allure of gossip, which we actively discourage in favour of direct, constructive communication. Additionally, an environment devoid of micromanagement means one must possess the fortitude to resist a victim mentality when faced with challenges, and instead, adopt a proactive stance toward problem-solving.

So, as you start your journey with us, remember that your role here is an active one. We’re excited to have you and believe in your potential to excel in our trust-based, dynamic environment. Let’s embrace the challenge together and remember – while our core belief is that work shouldn’t suck, at Elevated we believe it should be exceptional.

The Anatomy of Our Most Successful Clients

Our most successful clients can described as:

1. 5 – 100 employees
2. An internal point person to champion the work we do.
3. Willing to work in a remote environment – while we will visit some, not all organizations will get the luxury of us in person.
4. Interested in building HR capacity within the leadership team.
5. Look at HR as more than just administration – they want an impact on the culture they can feel.

Products We Offer Our Clients

• HR Assessment (this becomes the basis of our recommendations and is an online assessment tool)
• People Analyzer (built off of EOS)
• Employment Experience Surveys (we follow the Gallup Q12 and Herzberg’s Theory of Basic Needs, along with various employee experience questions)
• HR Hotline (for team members to call in)
• Values and Vision Workshops
• Succession Planning
• Newsletter / Communication Support
• Leadership Training
• Recruitment Strategy and Design
• Recruitment Administration
• Recruitment Training and Analysis
• Onboarding Planning and Design
• Performance Management Planning and Design
• Compensation Systems
• Compensation Market Rate Reports
• Training and Development Plans
• Training and Development Curriculum / Workshops
• Health and Wellness Solutions (Joint Health and Safety Training and Committee)
• DEI Committee Planning / Support
• Termination and Outplacement Support
• Employee Administration Support (file audits, online tools, turnover statistics)
• HR Technology implementation and audits
• Executive / Leadership Coaching and Certification

Our Tech Stack

Microsoft Office – This is Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook. You all have access to it online as well as a desktop version. Use Outlook for longer paragraphs and sharing documents to make it easier to find later on.

Slack: This is our day to day communication and good for new hires to go back and look to see what we talk about. Various channels are used to keep things organized. You can also search for key words and phrases to see if an answer has already been provided. This is for short, easy communication such as quick questions or quick comments – something like a text. Not paragraphs of information.

Humi – Our HRIS system. It’s where we house important documents like stat holidays, where you request vacation.

15Five – This is our recognition and performance management tool. On a monthly basis you are asked to fill out a 1:1 question, a pulse score and your priorities for the next month and goal tracking. Quarterly we do reviews and update our goals. If you received your probationary review in a quarter that is scheduled for a normal review, you will only be required to set your goals for the next quarter.

Dropbox – This is our file system. The normal files you will access are “clients” and “operations”. But feel free to take a look around. Honestly – it’s a bit of a mess right now. #sorrynotsorry

Freshbooks – This is our accounting system. It sends invoices, collects cash payments (and tracks those cash payments when received). We use it to understand our expenses and profitability in real time as well.

Where it affects you as team members, is that we use it to track time. Every hour that you work should be tracked. I care most about billable work, but if you’ve been tasked an internal project, I want to know about that too. All vacation, stat holidays and time needs to be tracked – and this just takes a bit of planning. On average, if you work 35 hours a week that’s 1820 hours to be accounted for. About 225 of those should be used for time away (vacation, sick, stat holidays etc.) leaving about 1600 for work. We recognize that 320 will be used for administrative purposes / internal meetings, but that in order for us to be profitable, your goal should be about 1300 towards client work. This may seem stressful – but with a bit of project planning, communication and getting creative – well, you’ve just become our product. Like we said earlier, you have joined a consulting agency – the more we work with our clients the better!

For those that are administrative or more internally focused, your goals may be different, but we still ask that you track all your time in Freshbooks.

Performance Reviews at Elevated

Performance reviews will be held quarterly in between the last two weeks of the quarter and the first two weeks of the following quarter.

Peers will be requested to give feedback throughout the year at various points in the process.

For performance issues that happen day to day, they will be dealt with in the moment. Performance management is an every day thing – not just a once a quarter thing.

Goal Setting at Elevated

Goals will also be set quarterly. Goals need to be approved and connected to the business goals of the organization. If the goals do not seem like they are much of a stretch, you will be encouraged to go back to make them stronger. Remember to set goals that are within your control, but that help the organization move forward.

Training & Development

We like to think that training and development happens every day. But when it’s really working, it’s a conscious decision. In a remote environment, we’ve learned that we have to be more thoughtful about our approach to training and development for it to be seen as training. If I’m reading an article, I’m learning something new – but it’s not till I tell someone else about it or actually try to implement what I’ve learned, can I say I’ve been trained or developed. Okay – enough with the philosophizing.

You get a minimum of $1,200 a year to spend on training. If the grant is applicable, that’s $3,600 you can spend. This amount doesn’t roll forward, because it’s actually a measure of you getting part of your annual raise. You see, we are SO committed to you going out and learning something new, that we ask you to spend the money each year. But if you have a compelling argument or business case to roll the money forward, let’s have that talk in late November / early December.

Depending on the course cost, we may ask you to pay it back if you leave before a certain time. I don’t like to hold this over your head, but it’s in here to #COA.

Course work is to be done outside of work (unless it’s for a conference or class which is pre-approved). But homework, studying etc. is definitely outside of work or you can choose to take one of your days you have to use for it as well.

Oh and one last thing: Each year you’ll be given some thoughts from the management team on what they think you could invest in, in terms of learning. You don’t HAVE to do what they suggest, but it should act as a guideline to help you figure out what’s next. But remember – it’s ok to stay static (we just won’t reward you for it!)

Paid Time Off

Everyone will be eligible for 20 days of Paid Time Off. This time is completely flexible with the exception of December (we ask that you refrain from taking additional time off in that month as we close down for an extended period of time as an organization during the last week of the year). All time off must be requested through Humi.

Benefits

Each employee is given $4,000 a year off to dedicate to one of three areas: A health spending account (which can be used to purchase a traditional plan or just as a lump sum), a wellness account (which can be used for sports equipment and gym memberships) or you can put it all in an RRSP through Sunlife.

RRSP matching is 2% after 2 years of employment and 5% after 5 years. You can start contributing to your RRSP at any time through payroll.

Life Insurance and Long Term Disability is a mandatory benefit, and for tax reasons is provided at the Employee’s cost.

Maternity Leave

Michelle started the Maternity Leave train back in 2014 and was the first to have a baby on the team. That seemed to open up the flood gates and well, it’s been almost every year since that we’ve had a leave! It’s also the folklore behind the Tiffany’s bracelet (but you’ll learn more about that when you come on full-time!)

What have we learned? That each maternity leave is a little bit different based on who you are and how you like to operate and given our value of flexibility, we have no intention of telling you how it has to look.

Do you want to stay connected via email and Slack? Not a problem. You get to keep the laptop! Want only a couple of updates a year? Also your choice – we’ll send them over to your personal email. Don’t want to hear anything from us? Completely your prerogative!

Steps:

Tell us when you “technically” intend to go off (yes, we know that it can change!)

Tell us when you “technically” want to come back (you have 18 months if you want it!) Just give us 4 weeks’ notice of your intent to leave. How you come back (gradually or full-time) is also in your control! Let’s start that conversation as early as you know you’d like to start testing the waters so we can get creative.

On your way out, we’ll give you the equivalent of a week’s pay as a bonus to cover the gap between your final pay and the start of your EI.

You can save up your vacation and use that as well before going off (pro-rated to the 1st of the year). In other words, if your due date is in May, you’ll have almost another 7 days you can use to cover the time before you go on EI.

Salary Bands

Payroll

Payroll is done through Humi. Payroll is on the 15th and the last day of the month. You can access your paystubs through your Humi account and will also receive them via email on each pay day.

Expenses

For any large expenses (flights, hotels etc.) Elevated will use the corporate card to take care of anything you need.

For smaller expenses that you purchase yourself (like gas for your car etc.) or mileage, we ask that you fill out an expense report and submit to our administration team for immediate payment via e-transfer. The moral of the story, we want to make sure you get your money, but fill out the form and submit them right away!

How do you help amplify Elevated’s voice

• While it’s not a requirement, we always appreciate positive reviews: Social media, Google, Glassdoor – they all help! Share our posts or create your own – they all help our SEO and get us recognized!
• Ask a client for a testimonial (again, this helps the most on Google!) and see if we can use their name in up coming material.
• Networking – go to events and talk about what we do, how we help businesses – it’s not about selling – but when you love what you do people are naturally attracted to you!
• Help us use a consistent pitch: We’re an employee experience agency dedicated to building HR capacity within leadership teams.

Fun

This here is a piece of history, and not just any piece, mind you. It’s a piece of our history, our story, and we want to share it with you.

Enjoy these fun videos:

Elevated Succession Plan

Elevated Christmas

Is your company HR Fit?

Elevated: F*%king Great HR

Elevated Office Olympics

What’s Missing

This was a brief introduction into what you can expect at Elevated. What do you think? We love your thoughts and feedback!

Our goal is to be the best employee experience agency internally as well as externally. We are working towards practicing what we preach so if there is something else you’d like to know, we’re keen to add it here.

If you are applying to work with Elevated – we wish you all the success in the world!

PS – No, we aren’t worried about sharing this stuff. Our biggest compliment is when we see the competition following our lead or when our team members are recruited to positions that are bigger or better than what we could offer here!

Being transparent actually makes it easier for us – in commitment we find freedom!