ISLAMABAD ( BMZ REPORT )
It comes as no surprise that Google ranked first in Fortune’s top 100 best companies to work with for the sixth time in a row. With their breathtaking Googleplex campus featuring free gourmet meals, haircuts, medical facilities, gyms, swimming pools, nap pods, video games and many other incredible perks – working at Google is on every professional’s wish list.
Lamudi.pk, a start-up venture headquartered in Europe’s Silicon Valley – Berlin, firmly believes in Google’s employee-centric approach and strives in a similar way to create a happy and productive work environment to stimulate creativity.
Let’s go behind the scenes with Lamudi.pk, one of the fastest-growing start-ups in Pakistan. This is what makes working at Lamudi different to a more traditional workplace
Flat Management Structure: To start with, Lamudi has an open work environment. The company does not believe in hierarchy of any sort, so all employees from the CEO to the sales, marketing, finance, human resources and customer services departments sit together in an open-plan office. Moreover, employees at Lamudi have no fixed seating arrangement – they can sit wherever they want, at any table or bean bag as long as they are in their comfort zone.
Free Snacks and TV time: Be it during the Cricket World Cup or following any political sit-ins, Lamudi’s employees know how to maintain a balance between work and leisure. Staff have access to a TV to take a break at various intervals throughout the day. They also have unlimited tea, cappuccinos, frappes, espressos, an assortment of biscuits, chocolates and comfy bean bags.
Cricket Matches: Lamudi has its own cricket team which plays matches every weekend against different squads – and they are victorious most of the time!
Employee of the Month and Entertainment Budget: Lamudi realizes the importance of keeping its employees motivated and the impact this can have on their productivity. For this reason, the company awards its outstanding employees by choosing an employee of the month. Not only does he or she get a cash prize, but the entire office gets together and cuts a cake and that employee’s picture is posted on the Top Performer’s board for an entire month. Moreover, Lamudi has an entertainment budget set aside each month, allowing all employees dine out together, or engage in fun activities like sightseeing or a picnic. This is to encourage interaction between different departments and to spark conversations about work and play.
Birthdays: These are indeed special occasions for employees and Lamudi realizes that the secret recipe behind any company’s success is happy employees who feel cared for by the business. So Lamudi does its best to make its workers feel they are an integral part of the organization. Birthdays are purely for celebration with the employee’s chair decorated with balloons, a fun lunch with the entire team – and of course the cutting of a cake.
Connectivity: Lamudi is headquartered in Berlin and has offices in eight cities across Pakistan. For this reason, Lamudi.pk knows the importance of connectivity to creating a strong company culture. There are weekly Skype team huddles of employees from all over Pakistan where everyone pitches in ideas, which very often leads to innovative outcomes. The teams are also in constant touch with Berlin and the other Lamudi offices worldwide, which ensures that everyone right across the company gets to know each other, no matter where they are in the world.