Twinkl: Be lovely!

By Jonathan Seaton, Co-founder and CEO 

Be lovey! 

Sounds a bit twee doesn’t it? What if you were to combine a strong sense of the mission ‘To help those who teach’ with a set of values that puts loveliness at the center?

Twinkl is a rapidly growing international digital publisher that now has over 3.5 million subscribers to its website and a growing team of over 450. At the heart of its success is the insurgent mission, the drive for innovation, and a workforce that is committed to collaboration and staying humble. Listed along with leading the way, going above and beyond, and doing the right thing is the final employee value to be lovely. Through this value we are able to hire the right people and create a culture where people are put before process, colleagues aren’t afraid to voice their ideas, and working relationships are at the center of success. 

Maintaining the culture that was so successful in the start-up stage has not been easy, especially as the organization grew over 300% in the past 3 years. With the rapid pace of change, it is fair to say we’ve had to play catch-up at times. Although this has never been at the detriment of our customers, it has meant we have had to stay agile and instigate changes quickly. 

To manage this and ensure we are continuously improving as we learn, we have a process of applying Black Box thinking to everything we do. For every process, every project, each individual, we repeatedly ask the four questions: What went well? What could have been improved? What was unexpected? What next?  

It is this drive for continual improvement and learning that means we are not afraid to change and grow. We encourage our team members to try new ideas, fail fast and take the learning on board.

Alongside this is a reinforcement to staff at all levels to have full ownership over their work, to lead the way in their area, and apply self-directed learning.  We are not afraid to apply the latest thinking; from dogs allowed in the office to five-minute morning HIIT desk workouts, we balance and invest in a range of fun initiatives that support the well-being of colleagues. 

Sometimes our culture of constantly trying new ideas and encouraging open feedback can raise challenges, as constant suggestions lead to multiple projects which must be managed. However, we also know that our culture and work environment is the most attractive part of working for Twinkl with over 96% staff saying they are fully engaged and committed to the goals and mission of the business.