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This recognition belongs to the more than 2,000 Cimpress and Vista team members who have helped guide our remote-first journey through feedback and contributions to resources like our Remote-First Handbook.

Check out this article by Paul McKinlay, Vice President of Communications and Remote Working, to learn more about our remote-first approach, what we’ve learned, and how we continue to improve.

LinkedIn: The 5 most crucial elements to earning the ‘The Most Flexible Workplace’ award

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Here’s a look at how we’re defining the transition, how we arrived at today, and our direction of travel, which was shared today internally as well.

Remote working is a once-in-a-lifetime reinvention of the workplace, the largest since the industrial revolution, and we want to embrace it. That is why so many team members in Vista and Cimpress central teams are moving to remote-first working. “Remote-first” means that, even after team members can safely return to working together in person following the pandemic, their primary place of work will be somewhere other than a traditional office.

We see enormous opportunity in the shift to remote-first. For team members, it’s the opportunity to work more flexibly and collaborate in ways we never have before. In terms of acquiring new diverse talent, it enables us to recruit and hire from a much broader set of geographies. In terms of investing for the future, reductions to our real estate footprint will enable us to invest more in other areas that support our team members and our growth.

Remote-first is a big shift from where we were at the start of 2020, but fortunately it directly supports pre-existing priorities such as our Vista-wide objective of becoming a high-performing organization and our foundational basic of being magnetic to talent.

Our office locations will become collaboration centers with a mix of spaces where team members can meet to work in person with others when needed. Policies, practices, tools and technology are being reviewed and, where needed, re-designed to optimize each for the most productive and engaging remote working experience.

Our Founder & CEO Robert Keane’s challenge to us: Make how and where we work a towering strength of our culture and a competitive advantage.

Remote working is no longer a novel concept to Vista, Cimpress or the world, but our experience so far pales in comparison to remote-first’s potential. Imagine the world after pandemic, when it’s safe again for us to gather in person: that is the world when we will take advantage of all the benefits remote-first can offer us, and that is the world we are building for.

Our remote-first model will raise the bar in many ways. From workplace flexibility to overall team cohesion, this evolution of the way we work will empower each of us to be more productive in places that are individually meaningful, and to contribute collectively and individually to Vista’s success. Work is about what we do, not where we do it, and we want to be an employer of choice because of how we organize to work together. Below are the fundamental elements of our vision.

Extensive input from existing team members

The decisions we are making are based on team member input and feedback and are grounded in our mandate to create a team member experience that makes remote-first a towering strength of our culture.

Hiring new team members

We are actively recruiting, and we already have found that our commitment to remote-first gives us access to a much wider talent pool and thus greatly increases ability to recruit top talent. No longer constrained by geography, we have a larger pool of people with the specific skills, qualities and diversity we want to attract.

Collaboration

In a remote-first environment, virtual communication, project management and knowledge sharing tools give team members the ability to work together and to move work forward asynchronously, across locations and time zones. Physical collaboration spaces will be available for times when needed for face-to-face interactions and in-person collaboration will remain an important part of how we work (and have fun) together.

Asynchronous working

The global nature of our team is already part of our culture but collaborating across locations and time zones hasn’t always been efficient. In an asynchronous way of working, your location is no longer an advantage or disadvantage. Team members can respond to messages and consume information as they are available, with gaps of communication in between to accommodate a non-linear workday and periods of deep work and focus. This is enabled by moving to a “document everything” culture that makes time zone irrelevant to the ability to collaborate, make decisions, share knowledge and learn.

Better business outcomes

Our remote-first strategy creates an environment and culture in which team members can thrive and be more involved, productive and engaged. This translates to becoming the high-performing organization we need to deliver better business results.

Joining the Remote-First community

Throughout the transformation, we’ve leaned on other firms. Organizations like GitLab, Dropbox, Mural, Zaiper, HelpScout, Buffer, Firstbase, Facebook, Remote, Doist, Automattic, Basecamp, Distribute Consulting, Remote Work Association, and Remote-how have created a community of voices which are collectively pioneering the way forward.

Operators like Darren Murph, Chris Herd, Laurel Farrer, Brian Elliott, Shane Mac, Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Annie Dean, Nellie Hayat, Samantha Fisher, and Ryan Anderson have contributed in person and through their published wisdom, much that we are able to build from, and hopefully at some point, add to.

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In our second year participating in the CEI survey, Cimpress USA is proud to have earned a score of 100% and the designation of being one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”

Over the past year, Cimpress and Vista have introduced a number of new programs in our continued support of equality in the workplace. We rolled out a series of LinkedIn Learning Module trainings on diversity and inclusion and published internal gender transition in the workplace guidelines. Our PRIDE employee resource group also held virtual PRIDE speaker events, including those with celebrities like Bobby Burke of Netflix’s Queer Eye, produced PRIDE marketing products, and sponsored a job fair for the New England Trans community at First Event Boston.

The results of the 2021 CEI showcase how 1,142 US-based companies are promoting LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies in the US. Additionally, 57% of CEI-rated US companies have global operations which help to advance the cause of LGBTQ inclusion in workplaces abroad.

The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:

• Non-discrimination policies across business entities
• Equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families
• Supporting an inclusive culture
• Corporate social responsibility

“From the previously unimaginable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to a long overdue reckoning with racial injustice, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Yet, many businesses across the nation stepped up and continued to prioritize and champion LGBTQ equality,” said Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President. “This year has shown us that tools like the CEI are crucial in the work to increase equity and inclusion in the workplace, but also that companies must breathe life into these policies and practices in real and tangible ways. Thank you to the companies that understand protecting their LGBTQ employees and consumers from discrimination is not just the right thing to do—but the best business decision.”

See the full report here.

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Not familiar with CEI? CEI is a national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality in the workplace. Participating companies are rated on detailed criteria falling under five broad categories:

• Non-discrimination policies
• Employment benefits
• Demonstrated organizational competency and accountability around LGBTQ diversity and inclusion
• Public commitment to LGBTQ equality
• Responsible citizenship

The average score for participating companies in 2020 was 71/100 with Cimpress earning an above average rating of 90/100. We believe our score is an accurate reflection of our benefits, policies and business practices being well aligned with the needs of the LGBTQ community.

In 2019, we made several strides toward creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace. A few of those highlights include:

• The Cimpress USA Benefits Team collaborated with Blue Cross Blue Shield to ensure our medical coverage for gender affirming services was both comprehensive and aligned with HRC’s vision for inclusive coverage. In September, as a direct result of this review, we’ve added voice therapy for transitioning members as an enhancement to our medical plan.
• Vistaprint proudly sponsored Technica 2019, the world’s largest all-women and nonbinary hackathon hosted by the University of Maryland, College Park in proximity to our Vistaprint Silver Spring office.
• BuildASign added gender neutral restrooms at all their offices and manufacturing facilities. They also created a new employee resource group, Empower, and brought in a speaker for a lunch and learn about “Making Spaces Safer for Trans and Gender Nonbinary People.”

We’re so proud of our team for their achievements, yet know there is still room to improve. We thank the Human Rights Campaign for the opportunity to learn new ways to make Cimpress a great place to work for everyone.

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Cimpress today is nearly unrecognizable from the business Robert set into motion those many years ago. Our customers no longer thumb through catalogs and order products from us on a phone call, but we’re still guided by the needs of our customers and a strong entrepreneurial spirit which encourages our teams to remain fast and nimble even as we get bigger.

As we head into the next decade and celebrate our many accomplishments over the years, it’s important to reflect on the longer journey we’ve been on and how it has helped us find sustained success.

A brief history

Bonne Impression set out to remove the limitations previously inherent in low-volume printed communications by providing customized printing in small quantities that is high quality, professional and affordable. But the new World Wide Web offered us a path to create a brand new industry online.

Early on, we recognized the transformative potential of the internet and saw many opportunities to meet customer needs. That led us to pioneer two key technologies that would change our industry forever: browser-based desktop publishing software, and workflow automation software that automatically aggregates very large numbers of small orders into high-quality, low-cost, high-volume production streams.

The enthusiastic customer response to our approach spurred rapid growth and in 1999 we changed our name to Vistaprint to reflect our new identity. We grew our team, expanded our products and services, entered new geographic markets, built new manufacturing capabilities and continued to invest in new technologies.

2003 saw the opening of our first production facility in the Netherlands, followed by a customer service center in Jamaica. A powerful combination of great customer value, hard work and the growth of e-commerce drove revenues from $17 million in our 2002 fiscal year to $815 million by fiscal year 2011. To put it mildly, it’s rare for a business at this scale to grow almost 5,000% organically, with no acquisitions.

In 2011 we made a decision to build manufacturing into a pillar of our competitive advantage, make customer centricity core to our culture, and invest in advertising based on the lifetime value of customers rather than on shorter-term returns. This enabled us to expand into new markets and business models as well as further strengthen our operational foundation. It’s also at this time that we determined we would commit to making financial decisions based on long-term returns, not quarterly or annual financial results.

We made our first acquisition in 2010. Since then, we’ve partnered with and acquired mass customization businesses around the globe. In 2014, as our company expanded rapidly in multiple directions, we changed our corporate holding-company name to Cimpress to clarify the distinction between the corporate entity and the company’s growing portfolio of customer-facing businesses.

Today, Cimpress spans more than a dozen businesses and operates across more than twenty countries. We have many accomplishments to be proud of, yet we know there’s still so much more to achieve!

Staying the course in 2020

If you’ve read any of Robert’s shareholder letters, then you already know about how we drive competitive advantage across Cimpress by investing in a select few shared capabilities that have the greatest potential to create company-wide value. We limit all other central activities to only those which absolutely must be performed centrally. Our businesses are encouraged to be independent and entrepreneurial.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our teams, we’ve been successful in tackling a number of challenges and harnessing new, exciting opportunities in key areas across our business. Despite decades of demonstrated growth and success, we continue to see our future as one of limitless opportunities. Here’s to the next 25 years.

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There is real benefit to having a geographically dispersed technology team. For Cimpress, a few include: tapping into the best talent pools in the world, having coverage across many time zones, and having a diverse population that brings unique perspectives to their work.

While we have seen a lot of success across our dispersed teams, the reality is that it takes effort to span the globe and doesn’t happen by accident.

Like onboarding any new team member or team, it takes significant effort and time investment by the more established team members. Practically speaking, we have all the quick-start, self serve tools necessary to do so, such as Slack, Zoom, Box and email. We also practice a Zero Trust security architecture: securing each application we use day-to-day on an individual level, making them available on the public internet without the requirement of VPN. This facilitates work from anywhere pretty easily.

One technique that’s surprising only in its simplicity is that we’ve found very regular and frequent meetings during ramp up to be the most helpful. For example, six months of regular meetings, first thing in the morning. It is crucial to establish a regular cadence, build trust, and build understanding of the business and our customers. Once this is established, then teams can ease off into a more flexible engagement that suits our highly autonomous way or working.

Maarten Wensveen, Cimpress CTO was recently featured in Forbes on this topic – Leading A Remote Team? 12 Tips For Building A Cohesive Company Culture

The post In Cimpress Technology, Successful Distributed Teams don’t Happen by Accident appeared first on Cimpress.

Questions answered in Sean’s episode

• Why do you think the long-term view is becoming more important to many businesses?
• What is Cimpress’ story of becoming a long-term focused company?
• What are the steps we’ve taken to get to where we are? How did we educate the finance community, investors, Wall Street, etc. to communicate what and why we were evolving in this way?
• How do you think your day is spent differently than the CFO of a similarly-sized private company?
• What new success metrics have come forward in the organization?
• What people or functions do you find yourself spending the most time with?
• What are your priorities in the next 12 months?

About the podcast

CFO Thought Leader podcast brings listeners firsthand accounts of CFOs who are driving change within their organizations. CFO Thought Leader is all about inspiring finance professionals to take a leadership leap by hearing about the successes, as well as failures, of others.

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Cimpress recently set out to increase its use of responsibly forested paper from zero to more than 80 percent across 13 brands worldwide in 12 months. We can confirm today that we have exceeded that goal by five percent with our largest brand, Vistaprint, reaching an astounding 95 percent. Jeff Freeman, Senior Manager, Global Sustainability at Cimpress, was recently given top honors for his instrumental role in making this ambitious initiative a success. Please join us in congratulating Jeff for being named Sustainability Champion in the 2018 Sustainability Awards by the Business Intelligence Group.

The responsibly forested paper initiative is one of Cimpress’ three company-wide social responsibility programs centrally defined and mandated by Cimpress CEO Robert Keane. With Robert’s clear vision and full executive support and funding, Jeff kicked off the program by creating a detailed education and communication plan. This step would prove critical for engaging stakeholders and achieving success.

One key aspect of this plan was spending time with key members of Cimpress’ businesses and discussing the rationale behind the change. During these discussions, Jeff educated stakeholders about responsible forestry and the impact Cimpress’ choices have on deforestation and the environment. He also designed a framework for Cimpress team members to follow while renegotiating contracts with new and existing suppliers and qualifying paper stocks within the manufacturing process. This step was essential for aligning Cimpress’ decentralized businesses and ensuring a seamless transition for Cimpress’ millions of customers.

Because of Jeff and his team’s hard work, Cimpress successfully achieved its ambitious first year targets in a multiyear initiative to transition to responsibly sourced paper. The outstanding work of the team demonstrates that large environmental initiatives can be reached with thoughtful leadership, dedicated teams and clear objectives.

“Mr. Freeman’s approach is one others can follow to make their next environmental initiative a success,” said Maria Jimenez, Chief Nominations Officer, Business Intelligence Group. “We are pleased to honor him for his contributions to making a more sustainable world.”

Learn more about Cimpress Corporate Social Responsibility, including the company’s ambitious plan to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2025.

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At Cimpress, we talk a lot about “staying small as we get big”. This means that even as we continue to grow past 11,000 team members, we embrace an entrepreneurial mindset that makes us fast-moving, high energy, and innovative, much like a startup.

We are fortunate to be led by example as many Cimpress leaders are entrepreneurs and founders in their own right. And while you don’t need to have created a startup to have an entrepreneurial mindset, it is inspiring to hear the hard work, initiative, and risk taking that got them to where they are today.

Florian Hagenbuch and Mate Pencz are co-founders of Printi, a Brazilian upload & print business that we began investing in in 2014. Below they share some of the early Printi story, as well as how they hold onto that startup mentality in their businesses today.

Why risk-taking is part of the deal

As any entrepreneur or business owner knows, taking risks is all part of the process – and when you choose to operate in a high-risk environment like Brazil, that situation is only exacerbated. Hearing from the co-founders about how they first started conceiving and initiating Printi, the story is pretty remarkable: both were working in London for financial firms, and sharing a flat with another friend.

“The fact is, we were in a really comfortable place in our lives, a great financial situation, and probably making way too much money for our age when you think about it – but deep down, we were unhappy. Day after day, night after night, the three of us would sit around in the evening and say to each other, ’hey, let’s do something entrepreneurial! Let’s start our own business.’”

Mate and Florian started crafting the original idea for Printi. Then in 2012, there was no turning back as they quit their jobs, moved from London to Brazil, and launched the company in August 2012. Looking back, they admit those six months were really hard. They had to get the website ready, get the products right, make sure they had a working supply chain and ensure everything was in place. Only then were they finally ready to launch. They hosted a PR event and launched a marketing campaign, thinking they were well on their way to success.

“On the first day, we sold just two orders for US$ 100.00. And in that situation, you sit there and say: “Hey, this is not quite how we expected it to go!” Our natural thought was: “Everyone will come to us because we have this great value proposition and this amazing offering, right?” These are all things we know that, over the long term, drive business success, ensuring a place in the market. But that’s not how it went; not at all.”

“In that scenario, though, you have no choice: you just put your head down again; you continue working; you figure out your distribution channels; you figure out acquisition channels; you figure out as many different ways as possible to make the company start moving. Then, gradually, every day starts getting a little better; every week and month gets a little better; eventually, fingers crossed, you start to grow.”

The importance of building empathy and customer focus

source: Printi’s facebook page

 “What we like to do is create empathy, which isn’t just between the company and our employees, but also between employees and customers. So, taking things from the abstract to the real, if you like. That means creating an environment where our employees are really ‘in the trenches’ with our customers.”

Printi does this by rotating people around the company. When new team members are hired, they are taken through all the areas of the business, including production, customer service, and other functions, with the goal being to emphasize the fact that if we abstract ourselves too much from our operating reality and therefore our customers’ needs, then that is going to be a massive failing – the ultimate death of the company.

“What we’ve learned as business owners and entrepreneurs is that you have to start by putting yourself in the customer’s shoes and that kind of thinking is something we try to instill in all our employees.

Why flexibility and transparency will help you succeed

“Running an entrepreneurial business is a balancing act: there is no exact science. If there was, then there would be no risk and everyone would do it.”

Mate points out that sure, one can always distil the business down to financial metrics – but, at the end of the day, it’s not only about that. A business is a derivative of the market opportunities, and it is all about learning where the company sits in terms of those opportunities. Like any other business, Printi has been through different stages; different milestones in its life cycle. It is a process and there are, at times, trade-offs to be made between growth and cash flow – things constantly shift. What is important is to break down the cycles, decisions, priorities and milestones for employees.

“It is culturally difficult for companies to go through these shifts, so communication is key: it’s really important. We, as business owners, might understand what the financial metrics are, including what they mean and how we apply them, but it is our job to make these metrics relevant to the entire organization. It’s important to translate these things for employees, bringing concrete examples to the table. By investing the time to do this, you will gain the most out of your workforce, building a sense of true ownership along the way.”

Finding the next opportunity

“Focus is important, and you never want to spread your resources across too many things. But you always need to remain opportunistic. Just because your business is going really well today doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be constantly evaluating the current opportunity and seeking out what the next big opportunity is.”

These are fitting words from Mate and Florian, as they continue to improve and expand on their offering in Brazil, they are pursuing their next big opportunity, moving into the United States. “We are excited to be partnering with Pixartprinting to help bring Printi’s capabilities to the North American market.”

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