Urban Toilet Visits & Magic Kitchens

One word? B.I.G.

BIG Buildings, BIG Office, BIG Food Portions, BIG Cars, BIG Views and a lot of Urban & Hip Hop! Not sure though if I already heard BIG(GIE)

Once arrived at the office on Monday morning there is a line to get in and I’m wondering if the average age in here is even younger than in the Amsterdam Village, which is around 28. When the concierge asks me if I’m an intern as well my day cannot be ruined anymore. Stepping out of the elevator is an experience by itself. The ceiling is a huge lighted picture of New York, Urban music all over in combination with a very charming (slightly older) lady at the reception desk, who apparently works at Havas for more than 25 years!

While my day goes by, I already gain so many great new HR insights and a lot of ideas that I can implement in Amsterdam. Motivational awards, volunteer charity days, interesting training sessions and all based on the values of Havas; Entrepreneurial, Collaborative, Accountable, Committed, Innovative and Generous. These values are also clearly showed in the office culture. Besides the fact everybody is collaborative, you also find the generous aspect all over. The most obvious example must be the “Magic Kitchen” where you can grab coffee, tea, milk, plenty of different cereals to choose from and way too many nice snacks like chips, chocolate almonds or jelly beans. Oh yesss, within a month I will be BIG myself!

Another noteworthy aspect at the NY Village are the toilets. Instead of hearing you co-worker pee, you are listening to some Urban music, I must say it is an upgrade.

To finish it all up, we end the Monday with an awesome hip hop class. Despite my lack of knowledge about hip hop and the absolute lack of my rhythm feeling, I can get used to this!