By Brendan Delumpa, Senior UI Developer

Before coming to SuccessFactors, I had worked in a variety of environments, ranging from small start-ups with less than ten people, to large, established companies composed of thousands of people. While many of those places claimed to have “open door” policies and said they embraced collaboration, innovation, and creativity, in reality, most engaged in various forms of knowledge hoarding and turf protection, and had cultures that were happy maintaining the status quo, wary of new or groundbreaking approaches to solving problems. So it was a bit unsettling for me to come to SuccessFactors where everyone collaborates, communication is generally direct and always honest, and where creativity and innovation are the norm rather than the exception.

There are many things we do here on a daily basis that support what I’ve mentioned above. For instance, in the engineering department, before we can check in any files we’ve worked on, we have to get another person to review our changes and demonstrate what effect they have on the application. While this is to ensure quality, it is also an opportunity to collaborate and share knowledge, as the reviewer may know of a more efficient method to accomplish some operation, or may provide insight into a possible enhancement in addition to your change. To me, this is phenomenal! I’ve never been in an organization that turns what is normally a very tedious task into an opportunity to be better – and it happens all the time!

I honestly spent the first few weeks of my employment saying to myself that this work environment was too good to be true. But over time, as I settled into my new role, I realized that it is good, and it is true. I work in a truly awesome culture! Now, I just couldn’t work in any organization that doesn’t operate this way! SuccessFactors has set a new standard for me.