
Twice a day, the company gathers around long tables to share meals cooked by the company, kind of like a corporate Hogwarts.
"We cook for 860 staff globally, breakfast and lunch every day, that's a huge part of what we do. We have a farm associated with our Sydney office that grows 80 per cent of our veg for breakfast and lunches," says Low. "As we get together every day and share from the same plate, sitting at a table across from each other, we build trust, and trust is something that we believe maps to productivity."
The company encourages staff to form social clubs centred around non-work topics like nail art to cryptocurrency and wine. There are around 400 clubs worldwide. Sounds fun, right?
Low is quick to correct that assumption.
"It just sounds like a checklist of fun, cool stuff but really it all has a theoretical and practical impact on the company's success," says Low. "We believe everything we do maps to our values: being a good human, empowering others and pursuing excellence. We believe those values that we hold at Canva are super important to our success commercially."
Low says the company's productivity and success come down to everyone's connections to the core values.
"It's really important from the beginning that every person in Canva is aligned to the values of the company and to the foundational and aspirational goals of the company. We're constantly trying to clarify how every individual's contribution maps to the success of the company," he says.
"Essentially, we want people to get to the end of their day and say to themselves, ‘My work today contributed to this amazing development in the company’, be it commercial or other. A sense of accomplishment is the most powerful motivator."
To give employees a sense of ownership on their projects, Low says Canva is "big on celebrating goals". And then there's also the effort that goes into cultivating the sense of psychological safety in the office.
"If people feel a great sense of trust amongst their team members, they are way more likely to contribute in meaningful ways and to bring their full selves to work," Low says. "At the end of the day, it's about creating a safe space where they can do the best work of their lives."
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