I would like to take this opportunity to tell a short story. It is a story about suits, clothing and the assumptions and expectations people have.
A few months ago, I was sitting in our lounge with a new employee. He had only just started with us and I wanted to hear how he was getting on and whether he felt at home with us after his first few weeks. We were sitting in a fairly busy lounge (some of our employees were having informal meetings, others were meeting up for a break), drinking coffee and talking about his experiences in his first weeks at Netstream. At some point, we got on to the subject of the executive board, because I wanted to know whether he had already met any of them. He answered the question rather puzzled, saying it was very strange because he had never even seen anyone from the executive board at Netstream. My reaction to this answer was even more puzzled, because two members of the executive board were sitting in the lounge at that very moment. I pointed them out to him and said: “But they’re right there. Alexis is sitting at the back and Dom is at that other table.” I had to smile when he said that he had somehow only ever been looking out for men in suits…
The moral of the story
There are two things I like to convey about Netstream with this story. First, the executive board lurks everywhere and watches everything and everyone! No, joking aside. Our executive board is among us; they do not set themselves apart with smart suits or flashy private offices. They have a role in our company just like every other team member, but that does not make them more important than other employees. They are still operationally involved and know what is going on. We all meet as equals and speak up when we disagree, without any fear of negative consequences. Second, we have no dress code and probably never will. If someone feels comfortable in a hoodie, we will not force them to wear a shirt every day. And the same goes the other way round. Of course, there are certain limits, and we would not exactly jump for joy if one of us received a customer in swimming trunks and flip-flops – but we trust very much that everyone has a well-functioning mind and is willing to use it 🙂
