This was my first day at Mindnow
Despite years of experience in HR, loving this job, and being excited about the new work environment, I felt insecure and nervous at the beginning. Never had I worked in the IT industry before, and never had my son not been the center of my attention throughout the whole day. This is how it went.
Before joining mindnow, I had the most beautiful but also toughest “work environment” you can imagine: being a mother. It’s a full-time commitment, something where you don’t have working hours but are involved physically and mentally 24/7. After enjoying one and a half years with my baby, I was ready for a new challenge and very happy about starting a new job at a Swiss product development company.
One always has some expectations about the first day at work. You hope that it will be pleasant, that you won’t get “lost in space” or that you will have someone to rely on. You want to get familiar with the office space, the equipment, the people, and the work atmosphere at your new company. The first day I entered the building of the mindnow office in Belgrade, two colleagues welcomed me with a strong handshake and support. Throughout my career I had always been the one to help new colleagues integrate, now I found myself in their shoes.
I don’t have an IT background, but luckily, my new colleagues were there to erase all my doubts and I did not feel the slightest ridicule about my questions, even though I realized that some of them must have been pretty funny for IT professionals. I got to know the mindnow team as very friendly people who are there to give you the guidance you need to do your job. The feeling that I wouldn’t be left by myself with my struggles meant the most to me on my first day.
Trust as the foundation of success
When I entered the mindnow world, I was introduced to the concept of flexible working hours and got to know that remote work is extremely popular here. Trust is the foundation of success at mindnow – and it’s built from day one. The colleagues and the management believe in you even though they’ve never seen you before. Nobody is breathing down your neck and checking every move you make. Instead, you are encouraged to work independently and be your own boss. On my first day, I also learned that mistakes are allowed here. In fact, making mistakes is how you grow.
Even though many people are working remotely, we organized a face-to-face gathering with the whole Belgrade team within the first week. I got to know ambitious and proactive people who are eager to learn and acquire new skills, all with the common goal of being better today than they were yesterday. Everyone is treated with respect and gets the chance to express ideas and everyone’s opinion is heard. Everything is done in teamwork and you always have someone you can rely on – which is the most important to me.
I believe I’m here at the beginning of a brilliant success story, a big thing we are creating together with positive thoughts and great aspirations. As mindnow’s HR and culture manager for our three offices in Switzerland, Serbia, and Ukraine, I see it as my mission to continue working on this kind and warm onboarding process, so our new teammates can get the assistance and advice they need. It is of the utmost importance for new colleagues to feel welcome and not get overwhelmed with new information, especially when they are onboarded remotely. Working from home is our future, but we must not forget that we are still people who need a human connection and friendly guidance that supports all aspects of Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM).
