Culture story

Culture story: First Impressions Speak Volumes About the Culture

On November 2nd, 2015, I joined ZS as a Consultant (a senior position at the floor level). After completing my orientation and HR formalities, I went to meet the 10+ team members at 7:30 PM in the evening. This was our first meeting.

When I arrived, all the team members stood up and formed a semi-circle. While I can recall all their names, I'll use initials for privacy (RN, SG, NG, VA, DM, KM, Sur, JJ, AH, Roh, Abh). We exchanged names, and I cracked a few lousy jokes like, "I'm another addition to work with you late nights" and "I'll try to keep up with you." To my surprise, everyone laughed. For a moment, I felt like I was on cloud nine, thinking I could go home and tell my wife that people actually laugh at my jokes (she often says I should point to her that I have cracked joke, so she knows when to laugh).

This wasn't just a one-time thing. Every day, the team would laugh at my jokes or one-liners. Their laughter was genuine, and not out of fear or respect. I also laughed a lot at their jokes or stories. 

This experience spoke volumes about the culture—it was inclusive, cooperative, and most importantly, we had a lot of fun while doing cutting-edge work.

The only thing that has changed since leaving ZS is that now, the team members don't laugh at my jokes, but I still do!

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Read past stories like above at https://lnkd.in/d9ijze8r