Ben Wiebers: What Culture Means to Me
In this series, PeopleFoundry employees share what our culture means to them. Ben Wiebers, one of our Sourcing Consultants, tells his story.
Starting a new job can be tough. There are logistics like compensation, benefits and whether or not your chair will be comfy, but there is also the weird thought of “Oh no, they won’t like me.” I’m obviously great, so I knew they would love me, but I was worried about fitting in.
Thankfully, before I’d even started working at PeopleFoundry, Kelly (our training lead) sent me an email with a GIF, and that’s how I knew I’d be fine. During my interviews I was able to be myself (read: weird). But I also understood that I was speaking with some impressive people. The knowledge about recruiting and the Chicago market rolled off their tongues, and during my final interview with Michelle, I could tell this was not just going to be a regular old job. So, when Kelly sent a moving picture of a small child kung fu fighting a dragon, I realized that .
PeopleFoundry has some of the most talented professionals I’ve ever met. One might hire a particularly difficult role one second, then burst out singing throughout the office the next. And that’s what I think really defines our culture; we are serious when necessary. Of course being in a startup with incredibly high standards, there are moments where we are stressed out. There are times when you have to buckle down and work on some complex problems. But when we finish our work or solve a new challenge, we take time to celebrate. Celebrations, I might add, are usually centered more around food than actually celebrating.
I now sit next to Kelly. During the fall we go on tea runs because we both have to constantly have a hot beverage on hand. I try to take advantage of her trusting nature with pranks or fictional stories; she makes sure that I have enough food to eat and do not struggle too hard at the job. But I also help when her computer breaks, and she chides me for not knowing how to be an adult. And that also summarizes how I feel about our culture at PeopleFoundry. We might give each other a hard time and enjoy pulling pranks, but it’s because we care deeply, and we always take care of each other- work related and otherwise.
Working for a company that is all about culture and building the best teams, we make sure to always treat people as people, not as business transactions. We keep the human element at the fore front, no matter how robotic and cold the voice coming through your headset may sound. And at PeopleFoundry, we do a good job to trust and respect one another because the people here are always trying their best when working with clients, candidates and teammates.
It seems too cliché to call PF a home. I also think some of my coworkers would be terrified to be related to me. But when you work hard together and trust each other this much, we are at least a group of distant cousins, if not a full blown family fueled by caffeine, wine, and GIFs.
