Active Oversight

Apr 29, 2019

Leveraging software that combines blockchain, wearables and machine learning, Finalze is helping businesses rebuild aging civil infrastructure and complete projects with greater transparency, communication and speed. Senior Product Manager Kimberly Gant shared how a shortened work week helps her be more present in the office and at home with her family. What is your all-time favorite perk your company offers, and why? Working for a small startup has many perks of its own, but my all-time favorite perk of working at Finalze is our four-day work week. This is not your average 10-hours-per-day four-day work week that most people would assume. It’s a 32-hour week that gives all employees Fridays off. The reason why this is my favorite perk is that I get to spend Fridays with my two kiddos! Working only four days ensures Finalze employees a good work-life balance and, personally, allows me the satisfaction of being able to work and spend more quality time with my little ones. I am a busy mom to a sassy toddler and an infant boy, and only working four days a week allows me to be more present when at home and in the office.” How does this perk make you a better employee? Working only four days a week has had a tremendous impact on my life. I am a busy mom to a sassy toddler and an infant boy, and only working four days a week allows me to be more present when at home and in the office. Being able to focus on my family and enjoy all of my youngsters’ milestones has brought such joy and less stress in my life. The emotional well-being of that work-life balance has a direct impact on what type of employee I am. I am less distracted at work, more creative, exceptionally motivated to meet the high productivity requirements of a small startup, and even look forward to Mondays (crazy right?). I’d truly say that it’s a win-win for everyone! Pax8 helps businesses achieve more with the cloud by aggregating and distributing best-in-class cloud solutions for managed service providers that work with small- and medium-sized business. Director of Human Resources Lauren Riley said having flexible time off — without limitations — helps her maintain a healthy work-life balance and come to work each day energized. What is your all-time favorite perk your company offers, and why? My all-time favorite perk that Pax8 offers is open PTO. I have to admit that, when I started here as an HR leader, I was skeptical as to how this could really work. I’ve never been a part of an organization that walks the talk when it comes to not only allowing but properly enabling their employees to take and enjoy time off without many limitations. One of our core values is “We Celebr8 Life,” and Pax8 puts an emphasis on this every day. I’ve never been a part of an organization that walks the talk when it comes to not only allowing but properly enabling their employees to take and enjoy time off without many limitations.” How does this perk make you a better employee? Having open PTO makes it easy to be dedicated to Pax8 and my job because I know that my family time and personal life are equally valued here. I get my job done, then decide how I want to enjoy my time away from the office and not how many hours I have to use. Work-life balance used to just be buzz words but Pax8 makes it a priority and a reality. What is your all-time favorite perk your company offers, and why? Since I started at StickerGiant, my favorite perk has been our weekly huddle meetings. These are our weekly all-employee meetings where we highlight everything we do in 30 minutes. We get to review our sales, revenue and spending budget. The meeting also keeps us up to date on local community and marketing events, benefits and employee appreciations. We always walk away knowing how we are doing and the goals we can achieve for the next week. The weekly huddle creates a placeholder to discuss our mutual goals, things we can improve on and things we are involved in, and allows us to recognize and celebrate our accomplishments.” How does this perk make you a better employee? The weekly huddle creates a placeholder to discuss our mutual goals, things we can improve on and things we are involved in, and allows us to recognize and celebrate our accomplishments.