E7 Awarded "Crain's 2020 Cool Places to Work"

On August 14, it was announced that E7 Solutions made the list for Crain’s Top 100 Cool Places to Work. We are super proud of this recognition and of the team. We spoke with a few folks about the news, and here is what we heard.

E7 Solutions - Where People Make the Difference

"Our people always come first," smiles CEO and Founder Edmond Delude. "The end result is they go far beyond the extra mile and treat our customers even better. And that makes us a very successful business."

That's E7’s commitment to the employees. You see it everywhere. From candidate interviews, to customer meetings, to employee interactions.

E7 doesn’t pander to the latest fads of fancy stocked kitchens, dedicated ping pong tables, and beer on tap. Instead, their down-to-earth approach is aimed at what they’ve learned matters most to their employees — a superior work experience.

Work/Life Balance

"My family is my highest priority," says Jonathan Madill, Director of Delivery. “At E7, I’m able to coach my girls, take them to dance classes, even work from home when I need to care for them. Work/life balance isn't lip service at E7. It's real. And it makes all the difference for me.”

Employees can work from home or in the office, as long as they’re available during the firm’s core work hours of 9 to 3 and get their work done. They stay in touch via Slack, Zoom, and collaborate to move projects forward with Atlassian tools such as Jira and Confluence.

Now that they’re all working remotely, playfulness has gone online. “Sometimes we get pretty goofy during Zoom meetings.” laughed Edmond. “During this difficult time, it’s a great way to let off steam and keep our sense of humor.”

Making an Impact

“Everyone at E7 has an opportunity to make an impact,” said Michael Abdelnour, Director of Solutions. “Everyone can make a significant contribution. We’re small and nimble enough that we can quickly pivot and make business decisions fast. No idea is ever just dismissed. Because we never know where that next great idea will show up.”

Michael acknowledges, “We all make mistakes. But the most important thing is to learn from them. We always ask ourselves ‘What can we learn and how can we grow from this experience?’”

Alisz Hatch, Sales Operations Coordinator confirms, “E7 is great at celebrating victories both large and small. And somehow any mistake is always turned into a positive learning experience.”

Creating a Level Playing Field

Managers and employees work collaboratively with clients to solve problems. That requires a culture of openness and honesty. It also requires the right technologies. As an Atlassian Platinum Partner, E7 not only implements collaborative technologies for their clients, they use those very same technologies themselves to enable their teams to achieve the best results.

“Transparency is key,” says Alisz. “Our Atlassian tools and E7’s culture keeps us on track, give us constant feedback. That makes it easy to collaborate. I feel very comfortable because I’m able to trust everyone. I can see that we’ve got each other’s’ backs. And I always feel I’ve been heard, my opinion matters, and how I’ve made a contribution. There’s never any judgment, only a joint commitment to create outstanding results for our clients.”

It All Starts with the Right Fit

“Our first priority when interviewing is ‘are they the right cultural fit’?” states Kim Burk, Employee Relations Manager. “We hire highly skilled and knowledgeable people who are self-sufficient and self-reliant. But that doesn’t matter if they can’t fit in.”

What does “fitting in” mean? “It’s about seeing how easily and well the candidate’s core values match E7’s core values,” says Burk.

Ana Galofre, Managing Atlassian Consultant, adds “Show me how you’ve gone the extra mile to exceed a customer’s expectations. Explain a new tool or technology you’ve learned. Tell me of a situation where you challenged a concept and what feedback you gave. That shows me what you’d be like as a colleague.”

E7 also provides career learning and education opportunities. Debbie Tamborra, E7’s staff accountant, stated, “Everyone takes online courses and tests for new certifications, does research, and delivers lunch and learns. I want to know what you’ve done to continue to add to your knowledge and capabilities. Because on-going personal development is a critical part of our culture.”

The Proof is in the Retention

Those who see themselves thriving in a fast-paced, nimble environment, chances you’ll be there for a long and happy time. “We have very low employee turnover,” says Edmond with a touch of pride, “Our employee surveys tell us they love being here. We’re not just work colleagues. We’re family.”