Working at makandra

When applying to a company, it can often feel like stepping into a black box. This is especially true with large corporations: you may know the company and its brand, but understanding the internal work culture or what it's like in specific departments is often a guessing game.

Platforms like Kununu or career pages on company websites now offer some transparency. Google reviews might give insights into how customers are treated or the prevailing tone and culture. Social media channels also provide a glimpse behind the scenes, with photos from team events or posts about company culture.

At makandra, it's important to us that applicants are a good fit and that they know what to expect when joining us. That’s why we want to give you an additional look at how we work together, what we value, and the work culture we aim to create for our employees through our benefits and offerings.

The following paragraphs outline our standards and how we strive to meet them.

We foster a hybrid work culture with a combination of home office and regular in-office work. We believe in knowing each other and benefiting from in-person interaction in the office while still offering flexibility. Although we have a predefined number of home office days allowed per week, if someone wants to work from home for two weeks, it's not a problem: they simply come into the office a bit more often in the following weeks.

This hybrid working model is not only advantageous for us and our employees but also benefits the environment. By working from home, the daily commute to the office is eliminated, which is especially beneficial for those who would otherwise have to travel long distances by car.

Our additional offerings for more flexibility include sabbaticals, workations, and part-time models for everyone.

Continuous learning is essential in the IT industry. That's why we at makandra have established a learning culture that not only supports aspiring developers and DevOps experts in their further training, but also gives all employees the opportunity to expand their knowledge.

Our trainee program specifically promotes young talent and makes it easier for them to enter the world of software development and IT infrastructure. At the same time, we offer the makandra academy, a format in which we also train external teams. Sharing and increasing knowledge is not only important to us internally, but also because we want to make a contribution as part of the IT community.

We provide our permanent employees with a generous training budget that can be used flexibly - be it for attending conferences, learning materials or participating in training courses. 

Lifelong learning ensures that we can grow not only as a company, but also as individuals and tackle the challenges of the future together.

To make the most of our office space, we have implemented a shared-desk system, organized through our DeskBot. No one has a fixed workspace, but at the start of each day, everyone is assigned a desk based on their preference for which colleagues they'd like to sit with. This way, you can work in the same room as your favorite colleagues or book a space as a project team. As a result, we don't need a massive office that remains half-empty most of the time due to home office.

We want to show who we are and place a high value on ensuring that everyone internally knows where we stand and what's on our minds. To achieve this, we utilize and promote various channels and formats. In our cross-team weekly meeting, colleagues regularly present projects so that other teams or someone in the back office can stay informed about current work. Regular lightning talks from team members offer insights into new technologies being tested, marketing updates, or even practical tips and tricks, such as a "How to cut wood" tutorial.

Regular feedback sessions also support communication and maintaining good collaboration. Every six months, an anonymous Ask Me Anything session is held with the management team.

We meet regularly in the office, have monthly feedback meetings and can always ask questions anonymously. This is because good communication often prevents problems from becoming serious in the first place and leaves less room for misunderstandings. Our “you” culture and flat hierarchies ensure that everyone is heard and knows that he or she is an important part of the team, who can make his or her own individual contribution and contribute his or her point of view. 

We want to work successfully together as a team while ensuring the flexibility that everyone needs for themselves. In challenging times, we adapt working conditions individually and support the development of our team members. For example, our team is aware that not everyone works full-time or that some people have to leave at certain times to pick up the children.

When our employees are in the office, we want them to focus entirely on their work and enjoy being with their colleagues. Since moving into our new office at TONI-Park in early 2023, we have benefited from the presence of a full-time chef. Sven creates culinary specialties for us daily. This idea came from our management when it became clear that the pandemic would delay the opening of restaurants and other dining options in TONI-Park.

Now, we’re no longer dependent on external dining services, and our employees don't have to worry about what to eat for lunch every day. Everyone comes together for lunch and can relax and enjoy the break. Meals are free for everyone at makandra.

The meal of the day can be reserved through DeskBot. There is a daily choice between a salad buffet, a vegan/vegetarian dish, and another meal. There's something for everyone!

We’ve written an entire blog post about our company culture without once mentioning the term "New Work." Yet, what we've described likely falls under this trend. Our society has changed over the last few decades, and that should be reflected in how we work together.

As a mid-sized IT company, we have the opportunity to help shape the modern work environment. We hope to make a difference for our team by making work as flexible and enjoyable as possible. This, in turn, helps them bring out their best, achieve professional success, and contribute to the ongoing success story of makandra.