EPIC RECHARGE
Designing for fast growth
When Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht pledged the “vast majority” of their $16.5-billion stake in the online design company to its charitable foundation, with the aim of eliminating extreme poverty, the “people” side of the business received an immeasurable boost. Simultaneously, in September 2021, the company announced its US$40 billion valuation, off the back of its massive growth in the previous year and a new funding round.
“We’ve always had a two-step plan,” says Jennie Rogerson, global head of people at Canva. “Step one: build the most valuable company in the world. And step two: do the most good.” Working for a company that’s making meaningful change is recognised as a powerful motivator for attracting and retaining talent, she acknowledges. “It matters when people are choosing to take on that next challenge.” For existing employees – or Canvanauts as they’re known – it provides a sense of purpose.
With more than 75 million monthly users across 190 countries, Canva is working on doubling its 2500-plus employees worldwide in the next year. It’s also putting a greater emphasis on people-focused activities, from pre-hiring and recruiting to onboarding and alumni and every touchpoint in between.
Founded in Perkins’ Perth living room in 2013, Canva is facing the challenge of maintaining its culture as it expands, explains Rogerson, who heads a team of 170. What was simple to communicate when you were six people around a table (or even 100 people on a floor in Sydney) takes on different, larger proportions. “You can start to feel removed as a company grows so we’re working on writing down all our philosophies.”
New recruits are matched with a buddy to show them the ropes for the first six months. And every employee has a coach “who makes sure they are facilitated with the right growth, goals and stretch goals so they feel constant challenge”.
The “Vibe team” within the people group is responsibles for culture, fostering moments like “the epic recharge” goodie boxes, which mark employees’ five-year anniversaries with the company. The team orchestrated Canva’s en masse remote-working shift, while the wider global trend also drove the shift.
Rogerson sees an alignment. “We want to make sure our people experience is as delightful as our product experience.” Important in the growth surge is ensuring everyone feels they have a voice in how the company runs. Ideas feed through the people team, an ideas box or the optionally anonymised “fix it” form, through which Canvanauts flag what’s not working and suggest solutions. The form itself was born of one such suggestion.
For the people team, success comes from “consistently listening” through short surveys and a 60-question annual survey. What inspires or makes Canvanauts more comfortable on the job is very different in China, the United States and South America, Rogerson points out. A working group is tasked with actioning next steps and feeding back to survey respondents within seven days. Canva is one of the world’s fastest-growing software businesses but, says Rogerson, “we want people to know their opinion has been heard by a human and has a place on our roadmap”.