During my first weeks, I got to meet many of my new colleagues fast, as I was fortunate to begin my journey at our all-employee Kick-Off. Again and again, I heard the same thing: Fotoware being on the list of best workplaces was one of the reasons they had applied to work here in the first place. That told me something important; those plaques were not decoration. They were part of who we are, and part of why people chose us.
With that, we set the course for getting recertified.
I am therefore proud to share that Fotoware is once again certified as a Great Place to Work®.
The numbers tell one part of the story
This year, 94% of our colleagues took the time to answer the Great Place to Work® survey. For me, that number alone says a lot. People do not answer surveys because they have to. They answer because they believe their voice matters, and because they trust that someone is listening. (Admittedly, we sweetened the reminder to participate with Twist chocolate and fresh watermelon. What people chose to share, however, was entirely up to them.)
What they told us was powerful. Across 59 statements, most of our scores landed well above 90%, and a many scores reached 100%. But numbers only tell one part of the story. The people tell the rest.
The headline is trust
When I read through the comments, one word kept coming back: trust.
Our colleagues describe a workplace where ideas are heard, where colleagues step in to help one another, and where people are given real room to make decisions. One of them put it like this:
"There is a high level of trust in employees. You are given room to make decisions and take ownership rather than having everything dictated from above."
Another wrote:
"Trust and care are a very big thing here. I can always talk to my manager and feel like my ideas are really heard."
Reading feedback like this is the best part of my job. It confirms what we work towards every day: a workplace where people not only do their jobs, but feel genuinely seen while doing it.
Values you can feel, not just read
I have worked in HR long enough to know that values are often something a company truly believes in but struggles to live every day, or the top management decides while the employees don’t really relate to the values. They end up in presentations, on websites and on posters, while everyday life sometimes looks a little different. That is one of the things that sets Fotoware apart.
Here, our values (Bold, Accountable, Caring and Innovative) are not just nice names on our meeting rooms and fancy quotes in a PowerPoint deck. They show up in how people talk to each other, how decisions are made and how we treat the people who join us.
What makes me most proud this year is that our employees did not only describe a good workplace. They described the behaviors behind it. As one colleague summed it up: "We truly embody our values." I could not have said it better myself.
Everyone should feel welcome
A great place to work should feel like a great workplace for everyone. That means feeling welcome, being treated fairly and being able to be yourself. At Fotoware, 100% of respondents said people are treated fairly regardless of gender, age, cultural background or sexual orientation, and that new colleagues are made to feel welcome. 98% said they can be themselves at work.
This does not happen by accident. We review applications anonymously in the first round, so every candidate is assessed on their skills, experience and potential. How we treat people before they join us says just as much about our culture as how we treat them once they are here.
A strong culture does not stay inside our walls
Remember those plaques on the wall, and the colleagues who told me they applied because of them? That is exactly the point. Culture is not only an internal matter. It is one of the most visible things about a company.
When 98% of employees are proud to tell others where they work, they do exactly that. When we, as the first DAM vendor, launched Content Authenticity with complete end-to-end support for C2PA last month, my colleagues proudly shared the news on LinkedIn and ensured that the news reached more than 14700 people.
We see the effect most clearly in recruitment. Over the past months, we have worked hard to show what life at Fotoware really looks like, with real colleagues, honest job ads and a career site built around our people. The result has been a record number of highly relevant applicants for our open positions, and our job conversion rate has improved from 10% to 31%.
A strong culture also attracts the right people. The right people strengthen our culture. And our customers feel the difference when they work with teams who care, take ownership and are not afraid to try something new.
Five times, and we are not done
A certification is a snapshot. Culture is something we build, protect and improve every single day. The survey also shows us where we can do better, and we take that just as seriously as the things we celebrate.
To every colleague who answered the survey: thank you for your honesty and your engagement.
When I think back to those plaques on the wall that first day in March, I am reminded that this work started long before I got here. It was built by the people who have shaped Fotoware's culture year after year. Now I am proud and excited to be part of the journey, and to help develop Fotoware even further, together with the extraordinary people who make it a great place to work.
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