Flexibility at Work: Cosmic Development’s HR Manager Shares Best Practices with 24HR.mk

24HR.mk is the first Macedonian portal for human resources, where you will find the latest information from the world of HR.

Here you can read the original article in Macedonian as published by 24HR.mk.  

Cosmic Development – one of the first companies in the Macedonian IT market that gives complete freedom and flexibility to its employees

Our employees have a full right to plan their workday as it suits them most, depending on their productivity. And they can work from wherever they want. We do not practice fixed working hours with a strictly defined beginning and end of work; we do not practice exhausting daily reports and similar practices. Instead, we give complete flexibility to our employees to work when they consider themselves the most concentrated, most productive, and most energetic.

Cosmic Development is an IT company founded in 2011 with headquarters in Canada. What’s quite important is that it is one of the first companies of its kind in Macedonia that has prosperously completed the first decade of its existence and continues with its success story. Cosmic Development currently has three more offices; two in Macedonia – in Skopje and Bitola, and one in Serbia – in Belgrade. We talk about the success story in Skopje with Andriana Popovska, Human Resources Manager at Cosmic Development.

Tell us something more about Cosmic Development?

The company provides outsourcing of all kinds of IT services. The clients we work with and deliver our services to are from different countries. Still, our primary focus is on working with clients from the United States and Canada. Besides our main scope – outsourcing of IT services, to a lesser extent, our company also outsources non-technical services and functions: such as digital marketing, customer support, writing articles for clients’ needs (content writing), photo-editing, photo-processing, etc.

Freedom and flexibility are the two essential things that define you as a company. What does this mean for your employees?

That’s right, the two most recognizable features of Cosmic Development are the complete freedom and flexibility that are given to all employees from their first day of employment, regardless of their position and location. We are happy that we are distinguished and stand out for these two things in a way. Freedom and flexibility in our work exist and have been enjoyed for many years, and we didn’t introduce them because of the pandemic with Covid-19.

What does that mean?

That means that employees have a full right to plan their workday as it suits them most, according to their productivity, and they can work from wherever they want. We do not practice fixed working hours with a strictly defined beginning and end of work; we do not practice exhausting daily reports and similar practices. Instead, we give complete flexibility to our employees to work when they consider themselves the most concentrated, most productive, and most energetic.

I will mention again that our company was one of the first on the Macedonian market which, in addition to flexible working hours, had introduced the benefit of remote work, for employees to enjoy the opportunity to work where they want.

Reliable and high-quality execution of the work assignments is most important to us as a company and freeing our employees from unnecessary norms. As long as the working hours are full, the results of the delivered work are of top quality, and our clients are satisfied, it does not matter what part of the day the employee worked and whether he does it from the office, beach, cafe, park, even from another country.

Of course, there are exceptions, like in a situation when the project’s goal requires specific meetings, teamwork, etc. But even in these cases, we practice and strive for them to be announced to our employees ahead so that they can plan their workday and time accordingly.

The freedom and flexibility provided to this extent also entail great confidence that the employer should have in its employees. As a company, we believe in every employee, their work, and their dedication. So far, we have realized that not only are these benefits not abused but they are also appreciated and respected.

Has Covid-19 changed how you work in your company and how did you adapt to the new normal?

Since teleworking and flexible working hours existed before the pandemic, we didn’t notice any significant changes and didn’t have to take any special adaptation measures. We would rather say that, like everyone else, we faced uncertainty in the whole situation rather than changes in the way we worked. And, of course, we stayed connected through a range of activities and challenges that we organized for our employees, especially during the mandatory isolation period. You can read more about our creative way to spend quality time together and outside of work here.

The benefit of distance working and flexibility made it possible not to notice a single day of downtime. There were no negative consequences for the employees or the company. At the same time, we provided our employees with maximum protection from the virus without disturbing the typical workflow.

We still work from home, but our offices are open for our employees (e.g., if one of our employees wants to work from the office, if someone has technical problems, for meetings, etc.) by following all measures and protocols for protection of course.

Did it affect the recruitment and employment process?

In terms of a negative outcome – not at all.

It turned out that the company was ahead of its time and introduced measures/options before they became mandatory. Thanks to the flexibility and remote work, the transition from office work to 100% work from home in a pandemic occurred naturally, without problems and side effects. On the contrary, I would say that the recruitment exploded during the last and this year. We constantly have new vacancies for which we actively recruit highly qualified staff.

What are the plans of Cosmic Development for the future?

There are many plans 😊; we have to admit that some of them depend on the whole situation with Covid-19. We strive to achieve them, but the health and safety of our employees always come first. Our priority is to continue on the upward line, both in the number of clients and projects, as well as in the number of new colleagues and of course retention and cooperation with existing ones.

We encourage all interested people who meet the criteria to apply and become part of Cosmic Development

On our careers page, you can see all our current vacancies.

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