As we enter 2023 and think about our priorities for the new year, one of the topics on our minds is company culture. We sat down with a few of our leaders to ask for their perspective of Enervee’s culture and how they keep it alive and thriving in their respective teams.
Describe your team's remote work culture. How do you help remote employees feel connected, engaged and supported?
As technologists, we are constantly looking for ways to make our jobs efficient so that we can continue to add new tools, skills, and responsibilities, and not get “trapped” by too much inefficient, manual or repetitive work. We thrive when we lean into principles of continuous improvement, transparency, and use these to drive more and more innovative and efficient solutions. Complimentary to continuous improvement is our culture of continuous learning and helping out our coworkers! We show our improvements transparently, and extend an open offer to educate and share knowledge with peers as well as outside departments and teams so that others can leverage our successes.
What are some of the unique things your team does to drive company culture?
Enervee tech uses an onboarding buddy system for new hires that helps us develop strong peer connections right from the start, and get support from a human instead of struggling to find your own answers as a new starter, which can be stressful. We also use different ways to connect for collaborative work, such as technical or process-oriented book clubs, and pair or mob programming sessions. We also use a concept called “Guilds” as a way of allowing communities of practice to spring up around technical interests and specialties. And there are also plenty of ways of connecting just to bond with our coworkers, like the monthly “Water Cooler Hangout” implemented by our Agile Project Management team, various types of gaming clubs, and Slack channels dedicated to non-work-related topics like our pets, plants and favorite hobbies.
Describe your team's remote work culture. How do you help remote employees feel connected, engaged and supported?
A friend and mentor of mine once told me that company culture is not something I alone can create on my team nor is it something that happens overnight. Culture, he explained, is a set of shared beliefs, values and experiences we learn together over time. This still strikes me, because it means culture is something we co-create together over time.
I see my role in this process as setting the tone by modeling to others about things that are important to me and facilitating conversations about what is important to them so we can be more intentional and expedite the creation process. We actively talk about what we want our work environment to be like, who we want to be for one another and preferences, both team and individual, around communication and behavior. Some things that are important to us include:
- Having a growth mindset
- Giving space to test and fail
- Focusing on outcomes
- Prioritizing our well being and families
- Showing up on the same team, always
- Being candid, even if we have differing viewpoints
- Having fun
What are some of the unique things your team does to drive company culture?
Working remotely means we miss out on those organic moments to connect, like hallway conversations, pre-meeting banter, or happy hour gatherings where we would be creative, debrief, catch up, and learn about each other on a more personal level. This connection is critical to our engagement and success, so the bottom line for us is to foster connection in a very intentional way.
It is the little things that count. We prioritize checking in to see how we are doing and give space for the ups and downs of life and work. We build in time for ice breakers during team meetings to get to know each other on a more personal level, even when we are so busy it feels like the last thing we should do. We celebrate each other - birthdays, anniversaries and achievements - in and outside of the workplace. We have mindfulness moments to kick off meetings to set things on the right tone. We do regular kudos and thank each other in a variety of other ways to acknowledge our contributions. And we always encourage each other to take the space we need to be well.
Through these types of moments, we build trust and develop friendships that enable our success and make work more fun.
Why are those values so important to you / your team / company?
It's pretty simple. Happy, engaged employees that feel valued and connected are more productive, creative, and invested in their company’s success. And we spend so much time at work so we believe it should be fun!
Describe your team's remote work culture. How do you help remote employees feel connected, engaged and supported?
Our Finance & PeopleOps team members are open & inclusive, engaged and supportive of each other. Our teams have a tremendously high EQ! We have regular & ad hoc syncs for both fun and work related activities! We celebrate each other as needed and we keep in touch for significant work & life milestones. We have plenty of slack channels for our shared & varied interests in addition to work related channels
What are some of the unique things your team does to drive company culture? Why are those values so important to you / your team / company?
Our Finance & PeopleOps teams get together monthly to play games, catch up, welcome new team members and find creative ways to bond & get to know each other. We observe Wellness Wednesdays by engaging in activities that promote well being. Our PeopleOps & Recruiting team connect weekly to talk about current & future projects. In our recruiting team, we reinforce our learning & growth via Trending Tuesday activities. We have frequent syncs to understand how we can help support each other with challenges throughout the week!
Are you a culture champion and interested in joining Enervee? Keep an eye on our careers page, for upcoming opportunities!
