New hire diary – Part I
Written by Lisa Duncan
I wasn’t looking for a new job. I had a job, one I was comfortable in and I liked what I was doing. I had been doing my job for 10+ years and the thought of starting over with a new company and in a new role was frightening, I was happy to just stay where I was.
I was busy going about my daily job duties one day when I got a meeting invite from a peer outside of my organization, the meeting title was “talk”, strange I thought to myself, what could she want? I accepted the invite and didn’t give it a second thought until the day the meeting was to happen. I visited her office and we started with the niceties and some casual banter. Then she got to the point – you need to check out a company; Apex Performance Solutions. She didn’t come out and say it but I knew she wanted me to check their job listings. I went home that night and started looking into who this company was and what they had to offer. I checked out the employee videos posted there, immediately I could feel the passion, the excitement and the commitment that not only the president of the company had but the employees. I could tell these people were excited about their work and about this company and they were out to make a difference! The attitude they have of giving people the chance they need to get their career started off spoke to me, it’s an attitude I feel more companies should adopt. I could tell this was a company that cared about its people and wanted to have a culture where their employees could thrive. Apex also wanted to make a difference in the community with their non-profit org Tech Is Good; this is awesome I thought!
I went about applying and interviewing for an available role. Thinking to myself if I don’t get this, no big deal, I’m glad to have the job that I do. In the back of my mind however I was extremely hopeful; I wanted to work for this company! It wasn’t long after my interview that I got a call from Diane offering me the role. Nobody knows this but I did a dance while I was talking to her on the phone, I was thrilled! I was more than excited to be working for what I felt would be and is a great company. The day before my start date I went to pick up my laptop thinking I would just get the computer and a power cord and scrounge for whatever else I needed. Instead, and much to my surprise, I was presented with a laptop bag which contained everything I needed to do my job! To say I was impressed is an understatement. From the very beginning this company was setting me up for success and this wasn’t the last of the help I have received from them.
My experience onboarding with Apex was seamless. I had what I needed when I needed it. I’ve also never seen the president of a company be so involved and constantly in touch with what is happening within the organization. Kurt wants to make sure his employees are happy and you can feel that from him. He will always ask, “how are things?” “do you need anything?” “can I do anything for you?” and the best part is that he means it. I’ve been presented with opportunities to grow, learn and stretch myself. I know I have a great support team in Kurt and Diane as well as my direct team and all the others who make this company a success. Apex is great at being resourceful, if someone on your immediate team doesn’t know how to resolve an issue there is likely someone within the org who does and even if they aren’t on your team they will make time to meet with you and teach you what you need to know.
My team in particular has to work a lot of hours and really late during month/quarter closes. How great is it that when we were prepping they asked us what snacks we wanted brought in? What? You are going to supply us with all the carbs and sugar we need to get through this? Yes! And trust me those snacks were appreciated! As we were working really late one night the team was joking about needing team shirts. One of the team members sketched out a logo on the white board; I took a picture of it and asked if we could get team shirts. The immediate answer was, Yes! I feel like Apex does the little things for their employees and they know it’s those little things that make a difference. Working for Apex has been nothing but a positive experience for me. I’m so excited to be part of this company. People ask me if I like my job, “Like my job? I love my job!” I know that it’s not just the job but Apex itself that makes me passionate about what I do and committed to seeing the company succeed.
