I believe at the heart of every company with a strong and positive culture, lies purpose.
Perhaps now more than ever, purpose is on people’s minds. We all have the burden of the world resting on our shoulders, from worrying about environmental changes, to the recent pandemic. Far from just transitioning from office to remote working, the pandemic specifically has brought the need to rethink how we approach work. Millennials and Gen Z members are less and less inclined to participate in what I like to call ‘traditional work’, with halogen lit office spaces crammed with cubicles, timed toilet breaks and meaningless day to day drudgery. Purpose driven companies in such a climate are standing out more than ever.
My Amiqus experience
As someone who is inherently interested in personal growth, I felt very strongly about finding a place of work with a dedication for nurturing a healthy internal culture. It is a vital aspect of any job and it can lead to increased growth for the company itself. But it can also be the key to making your new hires feel welcome and give them a sense of belonging.
From the interview process onward, Amiqus stood out to me. Not only did it boast impactful values that could hint at a well developed and healthy culture. But I saw those values reflected through the interview process itself. When the job was offered to me, it was through a phone call. No beating around the bush, Lisa (my interviewer and now line manager) started with: “Taja, I have some good news for you.” Earlier in the process she reiterated to me that she is very aware how stressful and anxiety-inducing interviewing can be. Straightforward communication was important to her. I thought at that time:
“If this person is any indication of what the company is like, I want to work for this company.”
So I already had a bit of an inkling that Amiqus was quite serious about their culture from the very beginning. I learned more about it through my process of being onboarded. From trying to truly understand their employees by creating ‘user guides’ in which each new hire outlines exactly how they work and what they struggle with, to injecting organic fun and non work-related communication through various channels on their Slack messaging app. Amiqus clearly thought about what was important for their employees to not only feel part of the team but to feel understood and enabled to make their work life optimal in their own way.
The company goes beyond merely creating structural items such as these. Its values permeate every conversation that I have had; from trust to accessibility and privacy. When speaking to other team members, they all practice kindness and positive communication which is so important to a company’s culture. As an example, I was not only told but shown through action that being a ‘sponge’ for the first weeks of my new job was okay. More than okay, it was encouraged. I was able to observe, learn and have time to play around with the systems Amiqus uses on a daily basis. That greatly contributed to my organic integration into the company as a valued team member.
In my first week in my new role I had a session booked with the CEO Callum Murray. He truly dived deep into the origins of the company, what was important to him and the growth he anticipated in the future. It was refreshing to see the CEO being so open about the whole process. He showed me detailed plans and full team structures and shared the minutiae of life at Amiqus through the years. It made me feel like a trusted and valued employee that is listened to in spite of being new to the role.
Culture and purpose go hand in hand
Moving away from worshiping big successful giants for their ruthless business practices, people are more likely to believe that businesses should improve society, not merely amass wealth. If you ask my peers nowadays what would make them work hard for a company they just joined, they are most likely to say something akin to:
“I want to create value. I want to know what I am building or helping to build, what I am working towards.”
Amiqus is improving access to justice and legal services. Its software-as-a-service product is inherently tech for good. Upon joining, I realised how much pride I felt in that.
I did not expect to care so much about the company’s purpose prior to this, in my years-long process of job searching. But I found that everything I loved about my new role was tied to the healthy internal culture. One that has been pre-determined by the type of people that started this company alongside the purpose that drove them.
Finally
For me, getting the job at Amiqus was first and foremost an important starting point in my career. But once I was there, that primary reason took a background step. What became important to me for showing up on a daily basis and delivering good work was purpose, supported by company culture that made me feel respected and trusted.
Conscious purpose is transformative not just for the company itself but for its employees too – and long term, that reflects in growth for both.
Having been up and running for 6 years now and seeing increasing healthy growth is commendable. It is also truly indicative of Amiqus’ deeply rooted purpose. Always improving, learning, growing into itself – that is what Amiqus does best. And it is what I strive to do best too. Perhaps that is why I feel right at home here.
