Good Company was founded in 2019 by Sille van Loon, Solveig Hvidtfeldt and Line Larsen. Our intention was to create ‘a good company’ – a place where ambition, passion and a sustainable work life are united. A company that collaborates with other ‘good companies’ to nurture positive change that contributes to society, the well-being of humans, and the flourishing of the world around us.
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou, American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist (1928-2014)
The Path We Follow
At Good Company we want to be a consultancy where creativity, happiness and good quality go hand in hand. We want to make a difference to the organisations we work with and create sustainable changes for the benefit of humans and the world around us.
We have named our company after our aspiration. If we want to be successful as consultants, we need the people we work with to perceive us as ‘Good Company’. We also want other Good Companies – the organisations we support – to become even better. This is only possible when we are competent and authentic, and give concrete, honest advice.
To put it simply: Our mission is to help your organisation or project flourish.
The People – Stronger Together
“If you play for yourself, you play for the opponent/competitor. If you play for your team, you also play for yourself” - Kasper Hjulmand (1972-), head coach for the Danish National male football team
Good Company is nothing without our people. Trust, openness, feedback and fairness is what forms our culture. We strive every day to be the best colleagues and consultants possible. But we also know some days we zing and other days we stumble out of bed – no one is at their best all of the time. We make sure our culture makes space for the good days and the not-so-good days.
We believe in goals that are reached together. This means we don’t have individual sales targets that appear every time we turn on our computers. The overall expectation for each consultant is to invoice twice their salary in a month.
We also believe that there is more to life than work.
The Business, Heart, Brain and Economy – Sustainable and Transparent
“Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring.” - Johan Cruyff (1947-2016), Dutch football player and manager.
We want to develop our customers, ourselves and our business. And we want to be experts within our field. Achieving this requires time to reflect and develop new theory and methods, as well as the ambition to apply them in the organisations we strive to change for the better. We aspire to leave a positive footprint wherever we go and always seek the best possible solutions within the circumstances we are given.
We work with a fixed yearly financial goal. We expect all – newbies as well as senior partners – to do their utmost to deliver high quality in everything they do, whether this is arranging the next summer party, writing an interesting article or being a project manager with a big client. This trust-based approach also sets high standards when it comes to critique and feedback. All employees are expected to raise a flag if they have concerns, notice unnecessary or irrelevant tasks, or spot anything else that could be done smarter.
Being a consultant is a job that requires a lot of flexibility – in both directions. Some periods of the year produce more intense work loads than others. We pay our consultants a salary that matches others in the industry and matches the flexibility required to meet our client’s needs. In quieter periods we offer as much free-time and flexibility as we can. We expect consultants to plan their ‘R&R’ with their manager, so that they get the most out of their own yearly wheel and prevent burnout.
We want a solid financial business as well as an excellent offering to all employees – this means we meet the highest standards when it comes to parental leave and are open to periods of unpaid leave. If people want to take time off to reflect and do something other than work, we’re good.
(Self-)Leadership in Good Company
“The true measure of your character is what you do when nobody’s watching” - Charles Caleb Colton, English writer and cleric (1777-1832)
Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, our consultancy is grounded in Scandinavian culture. This means a flat power structure and ambitious expectations of independence and self-leadership. We trust each other to fulfill our jobs and customer agreements within this wide frame.
We recognise the importance of feedback, discussion, reflection and co-creation and ensure it’s always easily accesible. We also expect every employee to react to any need they see – if you notice it, you own it. This means we don’t leave any rubbish behind in a meeting room or ignore a problem that needs to be addressed. If in doubt or unsure we ask each other, but we don’t wait for someone to tell us what to do. We act and take the decision that’s needed to move forward.
Low Complexity and Administration
“Some people say less is more, but I believe more is more” - Dolly Parton, singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist and businesswoman (1946-)
We aim to eliminate as much complexity and administration in our daily work as possible. We get our energy from being with our clients and colleagues, and making a difference. This also means that we keep our employee contracts and agreements as transparent and simple as possible. We believe in trust, generosity and autonomy. We don’t believe in clock-watching, or daily targets
