Keepler’s Handbook
This handbook is intended for candidates, employees, and anyone interested in learning more about us and our company culture.
01. How to Use This Book
02. Preface
03. Some K-oncepts
04. Your First Day
05. Your First Week / Month
06. Your First Year
01
How to use this book
This handbook is for anyone who wants to learn more about Keepler. Whether you’re a new hire, someone who’s been here for months or years, or even someone who’s not yet part of the company, it doesn’t matter. Here, you can find basic information, like how Keepler was founded and how the company operates, as well as more specific details, such as how to handle your first day, how to start communicating with others, and even how to ask for a raise.
Enjoy reading, and if you have any feedback, don’t hesitate to share it! hello@keepler.io
02
Preface
Keepler was founded in March 2018. At that time, we were just 10 people with a lot of ambition and some ideas about how to run a company. Now, we’re over 220 people. As you can imagine, the beginning wasn’t easy, but after a lot of hard work, we can confidently say that Keepler is a stable and prosperous company.
Consider this handbook as a reflection of the many failures, changes, and challenges we’ve overcome. This is a living document, which means you’re welcome to provide feedback, share your opinions, propose ideas, or even modify the content you’ll read.
03
Some K-oncepts
What’s Keepler?
Keepler was born in March 2018 with the purpose of offering excellent services to customers. Keepler’s mission is to transform customers’ data production models and generate business value through the agile construction of Data Products based on AI technologies.
Keepler is a place to learn, teach, grow, and evolve.
Keep + Learning
We selected Keepler as the name of the company as the result of joining two words: Keep + Learning.
Keep Learning is linked to one of our core values: continuous improvement. Therefore, the idea of constantly learning and improving is embedded in the company’s DNA and attitude. In addition, Keepler also references Johannes Kepler, who understood and predicted the movements of the stars in the dark Universe. Similarly, Keepler helps its clients understand and make decisions based on their ‘dark lakes of data.
We truly believe in our culture and we think we are different according to the market regarding this. We like to call everything at Keepler with a K in the name of each job as a way of saying that we are doing things in an unusual way.
K-manifesto
Once you are here, you might be asking yourself how Keepler’s manifesto was created. The process we followed is based on a technique from the Management 3.0 book, called Moving Motivators. This technique is very useful when you need to use a tool or template to make decisions individually. However, in this case, we applied it on a larger scale, as a group. The idea is simple: each person (in our case, 10 people) reflects on which values are most important to them from a list.
After the individual reflection, a moderator asks the same question, but with a new fictional negative context. For example: What would your top four values be if there were no money to pay salaries?
Following two more iterations with this strategy (positive and neutral scenarios), we finally identified our top four values, which ultimately led to Keepler’s manifesto.
. . .
Over time we have been maturing and adjusting these values, which are currently these 5:
Transparency
We advocate a transparent relationship with each other and with our customers, sharing the why, what and how of every decision we make.
Continuous improvement
We encourage our teams to excel in every project, because even if we do well, there is always a way to improve it.
Stewardship
Individual attitude is represented by stewardship, with colleagues and clients. Supporting others when needed and driving change when necessary.
Impact-driven
We act with purpose, aiming to add value. Impact guides our decisions, positively affecting our business, team, customers, and the world.
Everyone matters
People are the most important thing at Keepler, and that is why decisions are made with them in mind, seeking their well-being and happiness, both inside and outside the company.
There’s one important thing you should know when you join Keepler:
We don’t have bosses.
To be honest we have only one, our CEO. The rest of the team is organized into circles. You might be wondering, what exactly is a circle (aside from the geometric shape)?
Circles
A circle is a concept from Holacracy/Sociocracy 3.0, used to govern an organization. Both Holacracy and Sociocracy are frameworks that explain how to build an adaptable and self-organized organization. One of the key concepts in these frameworks is the circle. A circle is defined as “a group of people who gather to fulfill a specific need.”
So, what is a “driver”? A driver is a need that arises within an organization. For example, the main driver of a cloud organization could be its mission, as it’s the fundamental reason the organization exists. However, this driver can be broad, so it may be beneficial to break it down into sub-drivers, leading to sub-circles.
Another concept from these frameworks we’re working with is the link. Every circle needs to communicate with other circles in the organization. A link is a role within a circle, played by a person who represents that circle in other circles. This ensures effective communication and creates a work agreement between circles to improve collaboration.
04
Your First Day
Onboarding Gymkana
After some interviews, calls, a contract, and a bit of patience, you’re in Keepler.
Congratulations and welcome to the family!
Your first challenge is our famous Gymkana. Remember the scene in Indiana Jones when he swaps the idol’s head for the coin bag? It’s similar, but without the snakes, scorpions, or rolling stones.
You’ll go through some clever and tricky tests to complete your onboarding, which will prepare you for your first day. The idea is to turn important information into a fun, hands-on experience, so you lead your own onboarding process.
You’ll learn key aspects of the company: where to find information, key contacts, professional development resources, equipment security, and more.
It’s proven that hands-on learning sticks better, so get ready and dive in!
We won’t spoil all the surprises, though—it’s all about creating that “Wow” factor for new colleagues.
So far, the feedback has been great. Everyone who’s completed it has really enjoyed the process, and we believe it’s a more effective and original approach than traditional methods.
Are you ready for the challenge?
Ola K Ase? (What’s up Dude?)
This is a Spanish expression that can be translated as ‘Hi, what’s up, dude?’ and reflects the good vibes you’ll experience during your first days (and beyond—so relax!).
The Ola K Ase Circle is responsible for welcoming you and inviting you to the first meeting, where you can meet other CitizenKs, enjoy a coffee, and chat about whatever you like (not necessarily work).
Once you’re in, you can always be part of this select circle and help welcome new colleagues during their first days.
Your Workplace
Keepler was founded with a focus on work flexibility, initially offering two days of remote work per week for everyone. The COVID-19 situation accelerated a trend that was already inevitable in the technology sector, even for a consulting company. This shift allowed us to expand our flexibility further, giving employees greater freedom to choose where they work while transforming our offices into shared workspaces—places to visit when desired.
Our headquarters is in Madrid (Urban Campus Jerónimo), a fantastic space and community in the city center, just two minutes from Sol. However, during COVID-19, we transitioned to a remote-first model. As a result, Keepler offices are now available for employees who prefer to work from an office in Madrid. There are plenty of desks and meeting rooms available for work, offering a space to create, test, and learn in one of Madrid’s most vibrant areas.
Keepler Doku
Do you have any questions about our processes, culture, or company? Don’t worry—we have a wiki called Doku, where you’ll find all the information you need. This tool will help you resolve 99% of your questions. You’ll also find a learning path and a career path to guide your professional growth within the company.
Sorry! If you’re not a Citizen K yet, you won’t be able to access it—this is part of our private and amazing world.
Doku will probably be the best complement to this handbook and the most useful resource in your first days. We’ve built it with a lot of love and care, so…
Please use it frequently!
05
Your First Week / Month
Your Project
When you join Keepler, you’ll likely be assigned to a project. If not, don’t worry! You may start with internal tasks like certifications, supporting a circle, or contributing to internal solutions while waiting for your project. This is common—we bring you on board not just for a specific project, but because we value your skills and know opportunities will arise.
Your assigned project should be familiar (the People team discusses it during hiring), but you’ll need more details to contribute effectively and make a great impression.
Here are some useful tips for you:
Talk to the Business Manager
This person oversees the opportunity and has full context on the project, scope, and expectations. They will be a key point of contact throughout your participation.
Meet the Team
If a team is already in place, connect with them to get familiar with both the project and your colleagues.
Check in with Your K-buddy
Not sure what a K-buddy is? Read the next section to find out!
K-Buddy Program
Joining a new company can be challenging. Doing so remotely—with remote colleagues, clients, and workflows—can make it even harder. That’s why we created the K-buddy program.
This program pairs you with a partner who will guide you through your first months at Keepler in various ways:
Landing in Your First Project
Your K-buddy will help introduce you to your new teammates at Keepler.
Daily Tools
Learn how to use messaging tools, schedule and join meetings, and navigate your project’s management tools, among others.
Cultural Immersion at Keepler:
Your K-buddy will assist you in understanding Keepler’s culture and how to engage with it.
Your Growth and Career Development
This will help you set personal goals for your growth at Keepler.
This program lasts for 3 months, but you can request sessions as often as needed. Sometimes, you may want to focus on specific areas, while other times, new topics may arise.
Your Circle
As you know, Keepler is organized into five core Circles:
Agile, Business, Cloud, Data & AI, and Data Strategy
You’ll be a member of one of these core Circles.
Each Circle has the authority to make decisions within its area of expertise. Your participation is key to ensuring the best decisions for Keepler. Your Circle may also have sub-circles—choose where you can contribute the most and take an active role.
Onboarding sessions
We want you to be well-informed about our tools, processes, and values.
Every 3 months, we conduct a comprehensive onboarding week where each Keepler Circle introduces its responsibilities, contacts, and way of working.
Keeply
Keepler has a tool called Keeply to track your working hours, location, and mood throughout the week. In the EU, it’s mandatory for companies to record start and end working hours.
First, you must log your working hours—start, end, and lunch break—since it’s required by law. Sorry, we don’t like it but it’s required by law.
Next, you’ll complete questions about your stress, mood, and motivation levels during the current week. This data helps Keepler detect any anomalies, and it’s only accessible to the People team, who will reach out if needed.
Additionally, you’ll forecast your in-office and remote workdays. This is relevant for two reasons: first, within Keepler’s flexibility, the People team needs to know where each person is working from for security reasons. Second, it helps us reserve hot desks in the office, as spaces are limited and we need to plan who will be in the office to ensure a desk is available.
06
Your First Year
Self Learning Wallet
At Keepler, continuous learning is one of our core values and part of our DNA. We are committed to supporting your growth and providing the resources you need to develop professionally.
Currently, employees in Spain, Portugal, and the UK have access to a competitive annual training budget, which can be used for technical courses, events, certifications, or English courses that enhance your professional development.
For example, in the Cloud Circle: AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud certifications; or in the Agile Circle: Scrum.org certifications or Management 3.0 courses.
The only requirement is that the training aligns with the Circle’s strategy and is guided by its leadership, ensuring it supports both your growth and Keepler’s vision.
Apply for a Salary raise?
Open Salary Formula is the model that we use to calculate our salaries. Salary varies according to our expertise in several roles that add value to the company.
You lead your professional development. If you think you deserve a new experience level the process starts with you. Raise your hand!
It’s important to understand the process and deadlines. Keepler allows one opportunity per year to request a raise. When you’re evaluated, three colleagues from your Circle will lead the assessment (no bosses or outsiders). This process follows the Advice Process, as outlined in Frederic Laloux’s book “Reinventing Organizations”.
07
Your Time at Keepler
Meetings That Concern You
There are certain meetings at Keepler that may affect you, even if you don’t attend. Don’t worry—if you’re not able to join, a link from your Circle will attend on your behalf and represent you (and your Circle) in these meetings. Here are some examples of such situations:
Staffing Prioritization Meeting
This synchronization meeting is where a representative from each Circle attends to organize people and projects. The goal is to decide who should join each project to meet client needs, while considering factors such as individual motivators, number of projects, and each person’s assignment percentage.
The participants in this session are:
- People Lead: Analyzes the current positions available and provides information about the skills and career development of potential candidates to make the best staffing decisions.
- Head of Delivery & Culture: Supports the decision-making process from a global delivery and business strategy perspective, communicating the project’s status to the person assigned when the decision is made.
- Head of Sales: Contributes to the prioritization of filling positions, taking a strategic approach based on the opportunities available.
Growth Meeting
The goal of this session is to achieve company-wide synchronization, enabling decisions and strategies to be made with global visibility and helping different stakeholders achieve their objectives. In this session, the leads of each Keepler Circle participate:
- Head of Delivery & Culture and Discipline Leads: Representing Keepler’s delivery circles (Data & AI, Agile, Data Strategy, and Cloud).
- Finance Lead: Represents the circle responsible for the company’s financial management.
- People Lead: Leads the circle in charge of people management within Keepler.
- Marketing & Communications Lead: Represents the circle responsible for marketing, communication, and go-to-market strategies.
- COO: Leads the company’s operations.
- CEO: Leads the company as a whole.
Your Circle’s Meeting
As you know, once you join Keepler, you become part of a Circle—a group of people focused on a key driver (need) important to Keepler’s success. The technical circles at Keepler include Agile, Cloud, Data & AI, and Data Strategy. Additionally, we have a Business Circle that encompasses Business Development, People, Finance, and Marketing for structural roles.
Each Circle is organized based on its own needs, but it’s common for every Circle to have a weekly Tactical Meeting. This meeting, inspired by Holacracy, serves to follow up on the Circle’s progress, identify tensions, and make decisions. Stay tuned for these meetings—they offer great opportunities to learn and contribute to impactful company initiatives.
Company Branding
We love our brand and take great care in maintaining it. If you need to create a new presentation or use our corporate design, don’t worry. We have a wide variety of templates available, and we continuously add more based on demand. You can find them in our Google Drive, where they’re accessible to all Keepler members.
For example, when it comes to email signatures, we’ve got you covered. We have a ready-made template for you. Just check the Keepler Guide (it only takes 2 minutes) to configure it, and forget about complicated methods or designing your own.
Holidays Policy
We use a tool to manage administrative issues, such as holidays. You can perform common actions here, such as requesting vacations, notifying absences, checking your job category, reviewing your training hours, and accessing your colleagues’ contact information, among many other functions.
Additionally, you are responsible for managing your holidays. You must coordinate with your team and clients when planning your vacation. Please note that between January and September, you must take at least 12 vacation days.
At Keepler, we trust everyone to act responsibly towards our clients, company, teams, and colleagues.
When defining our holiday policy, we follow these guiding principles:
Each worker is entitled to 24 days yearly in Spain, 24 in the UK, and 22 in Portugal, based on national legislation.
Vacation days can be carried over as follows:
– Spain: Until January 31 of the following year.
– Portugal: Until April 30 of the following year.
– UK: Until December 31 of the current year.
Public holidays follow the HQ city calendar in each respective country.
Remote Work
Currently, for delivery circles, you can work from any city in Spain. For all other circles, you can work from any city in Spain, Portugal, or the UK.
Keepler’s physical office is in Madrid, Spain, but employees have flexible attendance. If you’re in or near Madrid, we recommend coming to the office at least once a week to connect with colleagues in person. If you live farther away, there’s no requirement to come in—you can work from any city of your choice. The decision is yours!
Voluntary Temporary Posting in the EU
So, Keepler’s giving you the chance to work from another EU country for a while—pretty cool, right? It’s a great way to get some international experience without a big commitment.
- $You can stay between 2 and 3 months in one country of your choice.
- $You can only do this once a year, so pick wisely!
- $Apply at least 2 months in advance and get approval from your BD (they need to make sure it won’t affect the client).
- $You’ll need a European Health Insurance Card, and your work hours and vacation days stay the same.
- $All travel and living costs are on you, so plan accordingly.
- $Make sure you have good internet and a backup laptop, just in case.
- $Keepler will handle the Social Security stuff, but if they reject it or there are extra costs, it’s on you.
- $If you get sick, you’ll have to follow the health rules of both your home country and the one you’re in.
Leaving the Company
If one day you decide to move on from Keepler, we’ll definitely be a little sad to see you go. But before you leave, we have one last request: an exit interview.
We won’t counteroffer with a higher salary or new conditions—we just want your honest feedback. Tell us about your experience at Keepler, what it was like working with us and our clients, and how we can improve.
That's all
