1. HANDBOOK FOR NEW EMPLOYEES
============================================================
2. HANDBOOK FOR NEW EMPLOYEES
========================================================
3. A fearless adventure in knowing what to do when no one’s there telling you what to do
4. FIRST EDITION 2012
5. Dedicated to the families of all Valve employees.
6. Thank you for helping us make such an incredible place.
7. Table of Contents
8. Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
9. How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
10. Part 1: Welcome to Valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
11. Your First Day
12. Valve Facts That Matter
13. Welcome to Flatland
14. Part 2: Settling In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
15. Your First Month
16. What to Work On
17. Why do I need to pick my own projects? But how do I decide which things to work on? How do I find out what projects are under way? Short-term vs. long-term goals What about all the things that I’m not getting done? How does Valve decide what to work on? Can I be included the next time Valve is deciding X?
18. Teams Hours and the Office
19. Cabals Team leads Structure happens Hours The office
20. Risks
21. What if I screw up? But what if we ALL screw up?
22. Part 3: How Am I Doing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
23. Your Peers and Your Performance
24. Peer reviews Stack ranking (and compensation)
25. Part 4: Choose Your Own Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
26. Your First Six Months
27. Roles Advancement vs. growth Putting more tools in your toolbox
28. Part 5: Valve Is Growing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
29. Your Most Important Role
30. Hiring Why is hiring well so important at Valve? How do we choose the right people to hire? We value “T-shaped” people We’re looking for people stronger than ourselves Hiring is fundamentally the same across all disciplines
31. Part 6: Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
32. What Is Valve Not Good At?
33. What Happens When All This Stuff Doesn’t Work?
34. Where Will Y ou Take Us?
35. Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
36. © 2012 Valve Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
37. This handbook does not constitute an employment contract or binding policy and is subject to change at any time. Either Valve or an employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time with or without cause with or without notice. Employment with Valve is at-will and nothing in this handbook will alter that status.
38. First edition: March 2012
39. Valve Corporation Bellevue Washington USA www.valvesoftware.com
40. Designed by Valve Typeface: ITC New Baskerville
41. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
42. Preface In 1996 we set out to make great games but we knew back then that we had to first create a place that was designed to foster that greatness. A place where incredibly talented individuals are empowered to put their best work into the hands of millions of people with very little in their way. This book is an abbreviated encapsulation of our guiding principles. As Valve continues to grow we hope that these principles will serve each new person joining our ranks. If you are new to Valve welcome. Although the goals in this book are important it’s really your ideas talent and energy that will keep Valve shining in the years ahead. Thanks for being here. Let’s make great things.
43. – vii –
44. VALVE: HANDBOOK FOR NEW EMPLOYEES
45. How to Use This Book
46. This book isn’t about fringe benefits or how to set up your workstation or where to find source code. Valve works in ways that might seem counterintuitive at first. This handbook is about the choices you’re going to be making and how to think about them. Mainly it’s about how not to freak out now that you’re here.
47. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
48. For more nuts-and-bolts information there’s an official Valve intranet (http://intranet). Look for stuff there like how to build a Steam depot or whether eyeglasses are covered by your Flex Spending plan. This book is on the intranet so you can edit it. Once you’ve read it help us make it better for other new people. Suggest new sections or change the existing ones. Add to the Glossary. Or if you’re not all that comfortable editing it annotate it: make comments and suggestions. We’ll collectively review the changes and fold them into future revisions.
49. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
