Hoxby: Refreshing Work by Trading Conformity for Аutonomy

This blog post is part of 50+ case studies of self-managing organizations we created for the 2024 inaugural ZeroDX awards. These organizations embody the principles of RenDanHeYi in their work structures:

• Zero Distance to customer: Decision what to build is based on insights from the marketplace

• Autonomy: Small teams with full decision-making autonomy enable speed in execution

• Shared Rewards: Everyone in the micro-enterprise participates in its financial success.

Introducing Hoxby

Hoxby is a community-based B-Corp with no offices, no employees, and no fixed working hours. Since its founding in 2015, Hoxby has been a trailblazer for autonomous “workstyle” working, delivering exceptional projects for major clients like Unilever, AIA, Merck, and AWS. Comprising over 500 team members across 43 countries, Hoxby strives to create a more inclusive, bias-free world of work.

Guided by its organizational purpose of fostering a happier and more fulfilled society, Hoxby is committed to high social and environmental standards. Co-founders Alex Hirst and Lizzie Penny further championed the "workstyle" movement through their Sunday Times No.1 bestselling book, advocating for inclusivity and flexibility in modern workplaces. Today, they collaborate with leading charities, employers, and policymakers to embed these principles across organizations.

Hoxby is a stellar example of how autonomous micro-teams can come together to deliver highly customized solutions. Each team has the freedom to shape its work while aligning with the company's overarching mission: achieving outstanding client outcomes and a more inclusive workforce.

Organizational Structure

Hoxby operates with a decentralized, self-managing structure that eliminates traditional hierarchies. At its core is the principle of "workstyle," which empowers individuals to decide when, where, and how they work. Here’s how this structure functions:

• Flexible teams: Internal and client-facing teams are curated based on project needs, drawing on a global talent pool of over 500 freelancers.
• Accountability over hierarchy: Team members are assigned specific accountabilities, enabling them to make decisions independently while being supported by a feedback-driven culture.
• Profit sharing: Hoxbies are paid based on deliverables and share equally in the company’s total profits at the end of each year.

Hoxby’s globally distributed model spans multiple time zones, allowing it to serve clients in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Finland, Denmark, Germany, USA, and at home in the UK. To foster inclusion across this dispersed workforce, Hoxby uses hashtags like #respecttheworkstyle and #bettertogether to embed its core values into everyday operations.

Customer Centricity and Autonomy

At Hoxby, client satisfaction drives every decision. By tailoring project teams to client needs, Hoxby ensures the right expertise is applied to each task. This client-first approach is enhanced by:

• Autonomy for teams: Teams have the freedom to shape their approach to projects, empowering them to act quickly and deliver exceptional results.
• Custom team charters: Before each project, teams establish charters outlining responsibilities, deliverables, and commitments, ensuring clarity and alignment.
• Micro-communities: Members of the Hoxby community, known as Hoxbies, organize into micro-communities and talent pools based on skills, passions, or life experiences, making collaboration more effective and client outcomes more targeted.

Through its unique approach, Hoxby delivers customized, high-value solutions that build long-term client relationships while fostering innovation and adaptability.

Internal Culture and Employee Engagement

Hoxby’s internal culture is built on flexibility, transparency, and inclusivity. The "workstyle" philosophy ensures that individuals can design their work around their lives, fostering better productivity and well-being. Key cultural elements include:

• Autonomy and accountability: Work is judged on results, not hours, creating a meritocratic environment where contributions are valued over presenteeism.
• Diversity and inclusion: Hoxby actively promotes a diverse workforce, believing that varied perspectives enhance collective intelligence and drive better client outcomes.
• Continuous improvement: Values like #alwaysimproving encourage a growth mindset, ensuring Hoxby’s teams remain at the forefront of innovation.

This pioneering approach not only supports employee engagement but also forms the basis of a new Hoxby service: helping clients adopt inclusive, autonomous working practices to strengthen their own organizational cultures.

Conclusion

Hoxby’s groundbreaking approach to workstyle has demonstrated that when people have the freedom to choose how, when, and where they work, they are happier and more productive. This inclusive model fosters diversity, enhances well-being, and creates a ripple effect that benefits clients, society, and the economy.

By focusing on autonomy, inclusion, and customer centricity, Hoxby has proven that decentralized, self-managing organizations can deliver outstanding value while creating a more fulfilling world of work.