Our People: Our Values

Reflecting on my one-year anniversary, I'm so proud to be a commercetooler. I’m proud of our ethos and the deeply felt values that serve as the undercurrent of our ongoing success. I’ve shared before that what brought me to commercetools was the emphasis our CEO, Dirk Hoerig, placed on the foundational culture of curiosity and innovation. It was clear last June that I would have the opportunity to nurture and grow this culture at scale through our established values.

But, what does that look like? What do these values mean? At commercetools, these principles aren't just words to us, they are the bedrock of our culture and business operations. They guide our current efforts and behaviors as well as inspire what’s next for us as a business, as a team, and as individual innovators in our own lives.

As we’ve entered the mid-year mark, I wanted to use this space to both reflect on the last six months and look ahead to the end of the year through the lens of our four guiding values: Drive Results, Cultivate Belonging, Champion Customers, and Adapt Boldly.

In Q1, Dirk highlighted various strategies that led to our results over the past year in his Open Letter. He expanded on how we launched several innovative products that enhance our platform's capabilities and introduced new benefits and programs such as our Family Leave Plus benefit, various leadership development initiatives, and an expanded “Workation” program.

We're focused on outcomes that not only propel our business forward and drive our customer's success but also benefit the wellbeing of our over 650 employees. Examples of this in the current year are:

• Implementing an LMS in our journey to build a culture of collaborative learning where we can upskill fast and continuously

• Compass release, our new performance management approach that is enabling us to focus on raising our bar, supporting each other with radical candor feedback, and being intentional with our career development

• A new promotion process that mirrors our business needs in terms of allowing full flexibility for promotions to happen anytime throughout the year once our employees have mastered their current role and are ready to step into bigger assignments

In my role, I've witnessed firsthand the profound impact of creating a workplace where every employee truly feels they belong. It's hard to imagine any HR executive who wouldn't recognize the cultural and operational benefits of fostering an environment that encourages employees to lead their professional growth and authentically be themselves.

For those still skeptical, I would recommend the Deloitte DEI Institute™ 2023 report. It sheds light on how "covering" - the act of concealing one's true identity to blend into mainstream corporate cultures - adversely affects employee well-being and productivity.

To explore this further, don't miss an upcoming episode of our The Toolbox: Cultivating Belonging with Pride. Our People Experience Manager, Melissa Makhoul, will have a compelling discussion with senior advisor, Tudor Havriliuc, about the significance of belonging in corporate spaces and much more.

Our commitment to fostering belonging doesn't stop here – we have several other initiatives aimed at enhancing our workplace for all our people, including but not limited to:

• The appointment of chief excitement officers in every office and two remotely

• Our soon-to-be-launched Women in Leadership program designed to empower the aspiring female leaders of commercetools. The program focuses on training, overcoming career obstacles, and providing tools and community support to boost confidence and encourage career advancement.

• Our growing list of employee resource groups which include women@commercetools, Open Minds, BLK Leaders, and Planet Earth Alliance.

At commercetools, championing our customers means consistently creating value and going the extra mile to unlock both new and existing opportunities for them. Our technology naturally fosters incremental innovation and promotes thoughtful collaboration, qualities that are deeply ingrained in our team. Rather than hastily chasing every emerging trend, we approach our work like a marathon - carefully listening to and understanding our customers' needs, allowing us to tailor our services effectively to help them achieve their business objectives. 

In a similar vein, my team applies the same dedicated approach to our internal audience - our valued workforce. This commitment is shown through our in-person onboarding process, the ct Discover programs (enabling our employees to feel fully equipped in understanding how our business works, from the making of our products to our sales journey and servicing our customers), and the overall satisfaction of our employees which is at over 90%! We aim to ensure that we not only meet external expectations but also enrich our internal community, fostering a supportive and productive environment for all.

By now, we’ve all heard or read the trope that the only constant in this era is change. That makes it essential not just to enable our customers to adapt but to be inventive drivers of change ourselves! 

Our willingness to embrace change and innovate has positioned us at the forefront of the composable commerce sector.  So now, this is why we strive to empower our employees to be agile, ensuring that as a company, we can respond dynamically to industry shifts and emerging challenges. This commitment to innovation is reflected in our internal programs and initiatives, such as ct Exchange. This soon-to-come cultural exchange program features a housing swap initiative, offering cost-effective accommodation while providing employees with the enriching experience of understanding diverse cultures and work dynamics. Or, ‘Global Heart, Local Smart’ that aims to combine the best of both worlds together to define our very unique workstyle: being part of a global, flexible company with meaningful in-person connection. This is a transformational journey that will run throughout 2024 with associated various initiatives that boost employee flexibility and connection.