As an engineer, my goal has always been to work in an environment that allows me to focus my time and expertise where they are most needed–solving complex challenges. This is exactly what I have at Forto. Here my time is well respected, my opinions are heard, I’m part of a talented team, and I’m well compensated. In my experience, getting the balance in all these segments in a company has been the hardest to find.
Having worked at Forto for a year-and-a-half now, I’ve realized that a culture that unites people behind a single goal, irrespective of whether they’re engineers, HR specialists, marketers, sales or communication experts, goes a long way towards getting the balance that is important to me.
The single goal that binds us and creates such a positive culture is the transformation of the logistics industry through digitalization. This is a very tough and complex challenge since this industry still uses lots of traditional processes. I couldn’t imagine doing my job and playing my part in achieving this in a company where the culture was not so strong, or the balance not quite right, since that would make it too stressful. Thankfully, Forto is not like that.
Here’s the thing: my job has felt more exciting because of the people, the culture, and the environment I work in. It allows an engineer like me to reach forward to find solutions, to have my say, to experiment and sometimes get things wrong, rather than stand back and wait to be told what to do or for other people to provide the answers.
Being an employee at Forto: help, understanding and hugs
Forto immediately made me comfortable when I joined through activities like newbie lunches (new employees meet people from different departments for lunch) and lunch roulettes (random employees go for lunch together). These activities helped me to get to know people personally as well as understand their areas of work. No longer were meetings in the kitchen awkward.
I was, in fact, surprised to see so much diversity – whether it be nationality, race, gender or age. I initially didn’t see the scope of diversity at Forto, thinking it was a social initiative. With time, I realized just how much that this diversity adds to the wealth of experience within the company. It is also very exciting to meet people from so many different places and learn so many new things.
The next thing I learned about being a Fortie, which is how we refer to ourselves, is that “We are one.” This may sound like some snappy phrase that looks good in the company’s marketing literature, but at Forto it’s really true. It’s natural for me to feel like I belong here since Forto is more a family than a bunch of robots. People go out of their way to help me out no matter how small my problem may be. The upper management takes issues like mental and physical health, gender, race and equality very seriously so it feels comforting to work with such like-minded people.
I found everyone here to be respectful and understanding. No problem is too small and other Forties are always ready and willing to help each other out. These attitudes of help, respect and understanding were really put to the test during the pandemic and there has been a huge effort made to ensure we have all the resources to work from home as well as ensuring that we feel mentally safe.
Sometimes it’s the little things that make a difference and I was amazed to see that good work is appreciated in so many beautiful ways. For example, when I help someone, they give me “virtual hugs” and every Friday the names of the people with the most hugs received and given are highlighted. There are no prizes but that subtle praise, that small gesture of appreciation, provides mental satisfaction that I’ve never seen anywhere else.
Being an engineer at Forto: everything’s an opportunity to improve
Working as an engineer at Forto has not just been personally refreshing and uplifting, it has expanded my horizons. I’ve met other engineers who are DJs and dancers, writers and singers, drummers and guitarists, hikers and surfers, boxers and athletes in their free time. They made use of their free time productively, making me think beyond the nine hours of office life.
I realized engineers at Forto think of bigger things, both professionally and personally because of the way culture influences them. I found myself exploring different passions that I never did before simply because the stress from work used to be too much. Apart from indulging myself in hobbies like dancing and writing, these engineers inspired me to look for diverse activities like board games, biking, bouldering and swimming.
On a professional level, Forto’s core values have caused a shift in my mentality – it’s great that good work is rewarded but I see now that mistakes can become opportunities. For instance, I once released a feature that caused a downtime for about half-an-hour. Instead of being rebuked – as I would have been in other companies where I’ve worked- I was offered a chance to investigate my mistake. Diving deeper into it constructively caused me to find the reason and understand how I could avoid such a thing in the future. It made me a better engineer.
At the heart of it, I feel respected for being an engineer, that my work matters, that my opinions are heard and that I have a chance to be in the limelight. I’ve been praised countless times for doing simple, good work, which in other places would just be looked over. That, in my opinion, is something that an engineer – in fact, any employee – is searching for.
If you’re an engineer, come and join us
Being at Forto has made me realize that I can be more responsible about my work, be a great listener, be able to make bold decisions, and be rewarded for every little thing I contribute to the company’s goals. It is amazing that I can meet people from all over the world and all departments and resonate in a way that I would not have believed unless I experienced it for myself.
Of course, not everything is perfect. But, if any engineer is looking for things that really matter in a company, Forto does a great job of involving them in their visions. This is why I feel like I belong as an engineer here.
