Flexible working at Atom Learning

While big tech names like Google, Microsoft and Apple are looking to bring employees back to the office for at least part of the week, at Atom Learning we’re more committed than ever to embracing flexibility – and enjoying the benefits to our business and our lives. 

A culture of freedom and responsibility

Underpinning everything we do is our culture of freedom and responsibility, which we work hard to intentionally cultivate. As an educational technology business, innovation is essential for us to succeed. And we believe that to truly innovate, we have to hire great people – then give them the freedom to do their job well. 

Each person at Atom has complete ownership of their area. Our leaders help people figure out what matters and provide context, while the people decide how to achieve their goals. 

But beyond having ownership of our work objectives, another vital part of this culture is giving people the freedom to work how they want, when they want, where they want. While companies with a more traditional management approach may find this daunting, we’ve found that when work works for people, they are motivated to produce their best results. 

Here are the building blocks of our flexible working policy at Atom. 

We will always be remote-first 

There will be no mandated return to the office for our employees. We are remote-first, and we plan to stay that way. 

We have a head office in London for anyone who wants to use it, but our employees are based around the world. This benefits all of us, because:

• We all have the freedom to work around our lifestyle
• We can recruit brilliant people from a larger talent pool
• Our workplace is more diverse, and accessible to colleagues from lots of different backgrounds
• We are more productive as we can each choose to work in our individual, optimal conditions

“Being in a remote-first company is really refreshing. The relationship with my pod mates is as good as if I had met them in person.”

– David, Front-End Software Engineer

Learn more about why we’re a remote-first organisation here. 

Atom employees can work from anywhere

Our team is spread across Europe, the US and Asia and for anyone who wants a change of scene, we also offer the opportunity to work overseas. As long as we’re able to be online during UK working hours to collaborate with colleagues, the world is open to the Atom team. 

We introduced this benefit because it aligns with our culture of freedom and responsibility. At Atom, it doesn’t matter where our teams are located, as long as they are doing great work. This has allowed us to be a more competitive employer, and we love it because it gives us a wider pool of talent from which to hire the most brilliant people. 

Product Designer Miguel has incredible views from his home office.

Our work-from-anywhere policy allows people to prioritise what is important to them, for example by travelling to spend time with loved ones abroad for an extended period. Marko, Atom’s SEO Lead, recently worked from Croatia for a month to visit his family. 

Marko says, “A decisive factor in joining Atom was the prospect of spending more time overseas. Recent travel restrictions meant I couldn’t visit family in Croatia as much as I would have liked. At Atom, I can spend time abroad for up to three months per year. Now I can combine my work with longer visits and make up for all that lost time!”

We stay connected

But how do we keep everyone connected in a work-from-anywhere company? Apart from being avid Slack users, we have chosen to invest in our company social life here at Atom, and we’ve found a balance that allows us to nurture strong working relationships while still championing flexibility. 

Everyone gets a monthly social budget to spend with their team, with colleagues joining in both online and in-person. We also hold bigger company-wide socials every quarter, covering the costs of travel for remote employees, and anyone who can’t make it has the option to join online.

We measure success based on outcomes, not hours worked

Our freedom and responsibility culture means giving people autonomy over the structure of their working day. As long as they’re online at the right times to collaborate and communicate with colleagues as well as deliver against their goals, Atom employees are in charge of their working hours.

Everyone has different optimal working patterns – some people are productive early in the day, others in the afternoon, others prefer to take a longer break in the middle of the day and finish later. We also know that time away from the desk can kickstart creativity – if you’re stuck on a problem, going for a quick walk can help you come up with new solutions. We trust our people to know what works best for them to produce great results. 

Carlos, Backend Engineer at Atom, works with this fantastic view.

We’re particularly committed to ensuring that careers at Atom are flexible for colleagues with caring responsibilities, giving them freedom to plan their day around childcare or other commitments, and flex it when plans change (as they tend to do in life).

We know that increased flexibility empowers people to better support their physical and mental wellbeing. It’s been shown that having more time to nurture our lives outside work – connections with family and friends, hobbies, travel, volunteering, exploration and personal development – protects against burnout and boosts our resilience.

Whether it’s a lunchtime yoga class, taking the dog for a walk, doing the school run, or fitting in that doctor’s or dentist’s appointment – at Atom, we want work to work in harmony with our employees’ lives. 

Looking for flexible work that allows you to make positive social change?

Atom Learning is growing and we need brilliant people like you to help us make an impact in the education sector, benefitting the lives of teachers, parents and children. See our open roles here.