Shiftgig is considered to have a "meritocratic culture”,
which means that employees progress and move up the corporate ladder based on
talent and individual ability. One of the co-founders sent out an email
recently reiterating that it doesn’t matter what position a person was hired
for or their past experience because roles and responsibilities change
constantly and we all have to adapt to make the company flow smoothly.
Since
my first week interning I’ve been aware of the casual workplace environment,
but as the summer’s gone on I’ve realized that the hierarchy of the company is
relaxed as well. The three founders of the company don’t act like “bosses” in
any way; they’re in our office everyday working alongside everyone else. Everybody
in the office sees one another as equals (even the interns), which is really
nice because it means that all types of opinions and ideas are
encouraged and utilized. There are often difficulties that accompany the casual environment. The people I work with tend to assume I have a handle
on all my projects, even though as a first-time intern I oftentimes need
direction about what I should be doing.
Before this summer I had a
preconceived notion that most bosses didn’t interact much with their
underlings. Working at this company has definitely dispelled this idea, as my
boss is constantly coming over to where the interns work to see how we’re doing
and respond to any questions, concerns or ideas that we have. The culture of this company has changed my perspective on myself as well. I've realized that being intern doesn't mean just doing the assignments and tasks you're given, but taking initiative and getting creative in any way possible. My hard work and input are just as important as full-time employees even though I'm just an intern because it takes group effort to run a successful company.
It's awesome that you are able to see and understand the type of environment your company is like. I have some similar experiences to this as well due to my time at my internship. As an intern, I realize that I should be taking initiative whenever possible and not be afraid to add my input into any discussion.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that your company values every member equally and recognizes that everyones experiences can be helpful regardless of what their formal job title says. Obviously in large companies it's harder to be structured this way, but just because you're an intern or entry level employee doesn't mean you don't have great ideas that the company could benefit from.
ReplyDeleteThe notion of everyone being treated as equals, and the fact that the 'bosses' don't really do too much bossing sounds like an interesting place to work, intern, or to get involved generally. It seems like the structure we've come to know and presuppose is unnecessary if everyone is working toward the same goal.
ReplyDelete