Benefits by Design — My Safety Chute
Going from a school environment to a work environment can be a bit of leap. For some, it is the natural next step following the conclusion of their education, and it’s as easy as putting one foot in front of the other. For others, that transition is not so much a leap as it is skydiving out of a plane and falling at breakneck speed, hoping to land safely.
A lot of the success or failure of this transition can be chalked up to the actual organization in which one ends up. Consider my previous (albeit poor) analogy of skydiving; if there’s no parachute to slow your fall and get you to land safely (or like in my waking nightmare, it doesn’t open), you’re going to have a bad time.
Benefits by Design was my parachute.
And while it’s true that I was a lot more comfortable than some when moving from school to a working environment, it must be said that I walked into the Benefits by Design (BBD) offices in Kingston with a certain amount of apprehension. What was it going to be like? What was my day-to-day going to be? What if they asked me to perform a breakeven or cost analysis, like in MATH 53? I hated MATH 53. I don’t remember how to do that!
I needn’t have worried, though. There was no breakeven analysis, no cost analysis. There was no intimidating first day of “welcome to BBD, here is everything we want you to do, okay — go”. There was no dizzyingly long, confusing or fast-paced company jargon thrown at me (you know, the kind of internal company jargon that you’re just meant to instinctively know).
Instead, I was welcomed with open arms, quite literally, as the Founder of BBD, Ron Southward, embraced me in a hug when I went in for a handshake. I was immediately made a part of the team when Jessica Bredschneider welcomed me to BBD and showed me to my very own desk (it sounds silly, I know, but at my previous placement I had to share a desk with someone, and it got very, very cramped). And when Julie Einarson took me around the office, showed me the standing desks for when sitting in one place gets to be too much, the treadmill desks for when you’re looking to get those steps in on your Fitbit, the brain-teasing puzzles for when you just need a break from work, I was astounded. Here was a company that had taken a conscious effort to benefit their employees, to inspire them to be better, and offer them real value in a workplace. Through these and so many other initiatives, BBD had invested in their employees, and the results were immediately obvious. Every team member was friendly and open, smiling, and actively engaged in their work. No one was milling around, pretending to do something, when really they were just checking their Facebook account. Everyone was fully invested in the company because the company was invested in them. It became obvious that BBD was not just another placement, nor even just another company.
It was a family.
And I was introduced to every member of that family, encouraged to ask about their lives and learn to get to know them — their dogs, their kids, their interests and hobbies, their dislikes — everything that makes them more than just “that woman who sits in the cubicle beside me” (her name is Susan, by the way, and she’s currently sporting a wicked tan from a Jamaican vacation that’s got me mad jealous). I felt inspired every day as I sat at my desk, and was immediately engulfed by the positive and upbeat corporate culture that permeates the halls here.
And it is that corporate culture that makes BBD something that is truly unique. Even at St. Lawrence College, BBD’s reputation as a fantastic place to work precedes itself. We are told that BBD is something special, and that their corporate culture is something any business should aspire to. Every single member of the family here is positive, upbeat, enthusiastic, and above all, invested in the company’s success. Truly, there could not be a finer example of invest in your employees and they’ll invest in you. And perhaps this is an obvious thing to do when you’re in the Employee Benefits and Insurance game, but by no means does that downplay its importance or its effectiveness.
From the moment I walked in the doors of BBD, I was told I was free to ask questions, be open and honest, and just be me. I was left to my own devices — never abandoned, but left to figure things out on my own, make mistakes and learn from them, and ask those crucial questions. Ultimately, it was a much more rewarding experience than if I had been regularly monitored and micro-managed. BBD and the people within it have truly helped me grow as a Marketing professional and as a person by letting me learn at my own pace and problem solve individually, all while being supported continuously through a strict open-door policy and an unwavering openness for asking questions and receiving feedback.
My time here at BBD has been a whirlwind adventure of positivity and learning, and I could not have asked for a better or more rewarding placement opportunity than the one I got.
So here’s my advice to those graduates desperately looking for a job. Take the next step forward at your own pace; walk, run or dive out of that plane as it suits you, just make sure you find somewhere you can proudly call your parachute.
Cheers,
Jacob Irwin
