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Homestead was founded on the philosophy of investing first and foremost in an exceptional family of employees, and then striving to achieve long term success as measured by our customers, products, community and shareholders. This creed shall serve as the guide which preserves that founding business philosophy, starting with our most valuable resource: our employees. Every employee of Homestead has both the right and the responsibility to the following:
- to receive honest communication from management concerning decisions and problems.
- to be proactive and voice his/her concerns whenever he/she disagrees with a decision, policy or action.
- to self impose—and then live up to—exceptional expectations. "Good enough" work is not acceptable.
- to share in the success of the company through equity holdings and annual profit sharing.
- to have fun and be passionate. We believe it is the only way to build truly exceptional products.
- to learn on the job. We believe in building a learning company—that means employees will never be penalized for not knowing something, but will be for not striving to learn it. Homestead will always actively encourage and invest in the continued education of our employees.
- to be evaluated based on productivity and his/her contribution to Homestead's future success.
In this spirit, all Homestead employees and directors, empowered and challenged by the above rights and responsibilities, will work and make daily decisions according to the following prioritized responsibilities:
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Our first responsibility is to our Customers, for without customers we have no company. Everything that we do must be done with the customer in mind. We will do this by:
- Never conceiving a product without taking into account how it meets the needs of a customer.
- Always learning first hand from the customer during the design process.
- Providing exceptional and personal attention to the needs, complaints, or comments of our customers.
- Making customer satisfaction the ultimate measure of success—more than money, more than our own satisfaction, and more than publicity or hype. In the long term, we will only succeed if we meet our customers' needs with a better product and with better service.
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Our second responsibility is to the quality of our Products, for they will be the vehicles for our lasting impact on the world as a whole.
- The first meaning of quality is the quality of the content of our products—their soul. Every Homestead product must have the potential to "revolutionize the way people learn, work and live with technology" as our mission statement requires.
- The second meaning of quality is the quality of production. No product will be released until it has been exhaustively tested and prodded, is of the highest professional standard, and every employee working on it is proud to put his/her name on the product. Finally, when problems are found with a released product, they will be relentlessly pursued until repaired.
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Our third responsibility is to our Community. As we are among its most fortunate and endowed members, we have a duty to participate in and better the communities in which we work and live. Employees are encouraged to give an average of two working hours per week to the community service project of his/her choice. Furthermore, Homestead pledges to contribute a minimum of 5% pre-tax earnings to the KartoffelSoft Foundation, whose sole purpose is to support financially community organizations or causes in which Homestead employees are active participants.
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Our fourth and final responsibility is to our Shareholders. Our ultimate goal is to build a financially profitable and successful entity so that it may sustain itself and its business practices for decades to come. Without profit, all of the above responsibilities are impossible to realize. In the short term, we must justify a return on all investments, make only reasonable and necessary expenses, and strive for profitability every year. Meanwhile, we will invest in the long term. We will make decisions that will achieve maximum return in ten years, not two, and never pursue short term gain at the expense of long term sustainability.
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The success of Homestead—day to day, month to month, and year to year—shall be measured against our ability to live up to these four responsibilities; and its employees, founders, and directors shall now and for always work and act in accordance to this creed.
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