I only recently joined Red Gate, and when I found out I was being offered the job I was already pretty excited. After all, they’ve actually got awards for being a great place to work. But then, something happened which completely changed how I thought about the company. Specifically, I stopped thinking about it as a company, and started thinking about it as a collection of people. That might sound small, but to an individual it makes a world of difference to be joining a group of human beings, rather than a faceless corporation. Two weeks before I actually joined the company, I got a call from a courier service asking me when it would be convenient for them to drop off my parcel.

“Huh? What parcel?“

“It’s from ‘Red Gate Software’… I think it’s a uniform or something.“

Now, having been to the company offices for my interviews, I already knew that Red Gate was not a “matching jumpsuits” kind of place, but I HAD seen a few people walking around with branded T-shirts. Ah, a little welcoming gift – that’s nice of them.

What actually arrived on my doorstep was a huge gift wrapped box containing, amongst other things, a helium balloon, a bottle of wine and a card with a hand-written message welcoming me to the company. And a T-shirt.

Now, I realise this makes it look I’m easily bought by anyone with a helium balloon and a bottle of wine, but that’s not the point. The point is that before I’d got anywhere near my desk, my team or my work, they were already taking steps to make sure I felt welcomed, appreciated and anticipated. And it worked; when I finally came into the office, spoke to people here and saw the (second) card on my desk, I realised that they were all genuinely glad to meet me. This is a place where people are not just employed, they’re celebrated. What is interesting is that I’ve discovered that there are shelves rammed full of the stuff used to fill the goodie boxes, so they clearly aren’t that expensive or difficult to organise. Yet nobody I’ve spoken to in other companies can share a similar experience with me. If this stuff is so easy and cheap to do, why aren’t more companies taking this small step to make their new employees feel that little bit more welcomed?

I think it fundamentally boils down to the company culture as a whole. Red Gate seems to value its people as people, not just money-making cube-monkeys, and by doing so it gets the best performance it can from them. And as a culture, it’s shared by each individual, as well as the whole. I’ve had people I’ve never met stop and ask me how I’m getting on, and inviting me to go and chat to them whenever I have a question they can help with. Sure, I could probably go and do that anyway, but I’m constantly being invited to do so, and that just makes it easy for ideas to move around.

However, it’s not JUST all friendly and fluffy here – Red Gate subscribes to the ‘Deep-End’ style of learning, which is exactly as challenging as it sounds. That doesn’t mean it’s not rewarding, though – far from it. I’ve learned a huge amount about developing code, marketing and publishing, often from the same people, and I know I’ve got a huge amount more to take in. But because I’ve had to find that information out for myself, it’s infinitely more satisfying to me. Let’s just say that being thrown in at the deep end isn’t the only way to learn, but it’s a very effective way to learn.

If I’m going to sum up what it’s like to be the new recruit at Red Gate in a few words, I’d say these are the words with the most mileage:

Exciting, rewarding, challenging, relaxed, fun.

Even now, months after I got my box of freebies, whenever I speak to anyone about this place the first thing I say is

“The people are awesome!“

I know that I sound like a walking endorsement, but let’s check the facts:

A company culture completely orientated towards valuing people as people.
– Check

Working with people who are friendly and collectively motivated to achieving the best they can.
– Check

Work which challenges me, and allows me to develop.
– Check

Seriously, what’s not to like?

– Posted by Chris Massey