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After reading through the observations of American corporate culture in class, I realized there were plenty of similarities and differences that I can apply to my own experiences at a British office over the past 3 weeks. My internship is at a marketing platform called Creativebrief, a company that strives to create meaningful relationships between advertising agencies and brands. I would say the values of the office can be seen directly through the cordial relationships that all employees in the office have with one another, as well as the young and vibrant energy that is maintained from 9 to 5 every day! I quickly realized that the business thrives the most when it’s employees enjoy conversing and being around each other, rather than siloed in their own private workstations. The leadership structure of the company is very relaxed as well, with an open office plan where the managing directors of the company sit at the same tables as the new employees. It was hard at first to tell who exactly was in a senior position at the office, because everyone was so young!
From the first day at the company I felt very much a part of the team, which certainly came as a surprise to me. All of my coworkers were very friendly, offering to make me tea or chat with me about the projects I am working on. I am not sure exactly how this laid back and fun company culture contributes to the success that the business is having, but it seems like there is always a positive vibe in the office when a new client is secured or when a meeting with an agency goes well! Overall, I have really enjoyed being a new member of the team, and getting to know the Britain’s corporate culture over the past few weeks.
Charlie, it's great to hear that you're enjoying your internship. I like that the company has an open floor plan so the higher ups aren't totally above everyone else. That might contribute to the positive energy in the office, since everyone feels a little more equal to each other in a way. It's good that there's a lot of positivity because it can be exhausting to be around negative coworkers!
I am happy to hear your internship got off to a good start. It will be interesting if you gain further insight into how they judge company success and tie that into they lack of official hierarchy in the culture.
It's really nice that everyone is vibrant all day in your office. Sometimes it feels like I work with corpses. I'm curious about what the average age of the people at your internship are. Is this a lot of your coworkers first professional job? I'm sure that contributes a lot to the vibe. It's awesome that they've welcomed you so well!
-Melissa D.
Solid observations. It's great that you don't feel a strong hierarchy in the company. That definitely helps in creating that relaxed environment that you mentioned. I'm surprised how friendly your coworkers seem to be. It could be that they just view you as a true colleague because of your close proximity in age. Glad you're assimilating into the culture well.