The company moves its office every four months to encourage outdoor excursions

A young Quebec technology company has taken on the challenge of no longer having a fixed office and moving its employees according to the seasons, taking advantage of the fresh air to stand out among the workforce and combine business with pleasure.

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In 2020, Alexandre Grenier started Pointe Laz, a technology company in Quebec with two partners, with the goal of improving the safety and productivity of mining producers.

But after his partners exited last year, the 29-year-old decided to establish a whole new corporate culture.

An outdoor enthusiast, he left the monotonous cubicle to become a travel agency.

Nothing is better for entrepreneurs than working on the side of a snowy mountain, in the heart of a fishing village or even on the edge of a warm sandy beach.

“It’s hard to recruit people today, and I wondered how I could differentiate myself from others by having fun with my employees,” he says, having already attracted some programmers and engineers with his concept.

Build team spirit

Her company rented the first house in the Chic-Choux Mountains of the Gaspé for four months last winter, before settling on the Magdalen Islands, where she still lives. Next stop: the beaches of Mexico or Costa Rica.

Its employees are paid in addition to salary, accommodation and travel.

All they have to do is enjoy the activities of their host country when they are not working. As long as the project is in progress, everyone is also free to arrange their schedule as they wish.

“For youngsters who need adventure and don’t want to know anything about the 9 to 5, this is the ideal model. And there is nothing like that to build a good team spirit”, Alexandre Grenier notes that his product can be shipped from anywhere in the world.

Global goals

But the latter knows that work-family balance is more complicated with this business model. Always on the lookout for new talent, he doesn’t rule out the possibility of telecommuting for prospective employees he wants.

Point Lodge believes the device it has conceptualized and manufactured is “groundbreaking” and aims to deploy its product in every mine in the world.

It’s actually a scanner called “Lazarus” that makes it possible to analyze and inspect mine shafts – a sort of elevator that brings ore and workers up – in just one hour.

Efficient

These mandatory inspections, which must be conducted weekly, usually take about eight hours when performed by humans.

“In addition to getting more objective and accurate data, it saved just seven hours of mining production per week,” said Mr. Grenier, whose product has already been tested in some Canadian mines and is in the process of being marketed.