Recently, there was an interesting discussion on LinkedIn among HR professionals, recruiters, and possibly a few headhunters. It was about the benefits companies offer their employees. To sum it up, the conversation touched on fruit baskets, foosball tables, and sometimes free parking or company pension plans. It quickly became clear that these aren’t the “big benefits” that can attract new colleagues. So, what are they, then?
Ample parking, free drinks, breakfast, fruit baskets, private internet use, home office, flexible working hours, sports programs, yoga, company pension plans, communication cost allowances, profit sharing, employee events, and flat hierarchies are at least things we can easily list. If you’re interested and this is a deciding factor for you, you can stop reading here: We have all of this—topic closed.
But does this make Pentacor special? Does it make us Pentacornesen?
Hmm... Maybe it's part of the secret recipe, the ingredients of which we might not all know in detail. It’s the mix, the individual spice each person brings. It’s the mindset and the collaboration.
We don’t have a strictly defined feel-good management system. And yet, we do a lot of things that other companies might categorize under that heading, sometimes even more. We often call it something else because, well, we’re different. And we love wordplay.
For some time now, we've been trying out an OKR process to help shape the company's strategy. However, it doesn’t quite work for us—we are, after all, different. For us, it’s called pOKeR (and it’s continuously rethought and redefined with each iteration). We love to discuss and exchange ideas. When it comes to technical or, for example, technological questions, we have what we call "Mexican Round" discussions. For suggestions on changes or decisions that need to be made within the team, we hold a weekly Lean Coffee.
At regular intervals, we take things to a larger scale. We come together for Team Development Days or Business Development Days, for workshops to help shape the company’s direction or to develop ourselves and our teamwork. This also includes team events, retrospectives, and refinements on internal, administrative, or strategic topics. We want to work well together and, in a way, also live together. After work, we meet for (remote) game nights or go bouldering together. For our new office, it was important that there’s a kitchen where we can cook together.
If you’re quieter than usual in the morning, you’re immediately asked if everything is okay. We look out for each other. For this, we have our "Happy Bears," a group of Pentacornesen who have voluntarily committed to lending a listening ear or a shoulder to lean on for team members dealing with conflicts or problems of any kind. To meet the trust placed in us, we also continue our education. One of our focus groups specifically addresses soft skills, a topic that interests us beyond just this group. Anyone who’s interested is invited to join our regular "Psycho-Social Coffee Circle": In half an hour, someone presents a topic that was a “gamechanger” for them. Whether it’s about self and time management, decision-making, or mindfulness – we learn from each other, exchange ideas, and discuss.
It’s important to us to communicate openly with one another. We are happy to give feedback and we also actively seek it. To facilitate this, we’ve established a process where everyone is regularly encouraged to both give and receive feedback.
And whether we are still on the right path with all of this, or if we’ve drifted a bit from our values and need to recalibrate, we regularly check with the Pentascore, our survey tool for value alignment.
The real “benefit,” besides the ones listed above, is the team itself – and what it makes of its ideas. "We offer a great team!" might sound odd in job postings, and in the end, no one really believes it. You have to experience it for yourself – especially the interesting dynamic the team can develop. Or which company collects not only photos of team activities in the kitchen but also quotes and sayings from colleagues? Where, without any reason, cake is brought into the office by multiple people, independently, on the same day? Or where interns are almost part of the furniture and eventually realize they’ll probably never work in a “normal company”? And where the marketing team (Viola) surprises everyone with a personalized Penty?
We’re just a little different.
But we do have a foosball table. Our two bosses started setting it up, then the project suddenly stalled. For weeks. A spontaneously formed working group eventually took over the task – and quickly realized what might have caused the hold-up: the assembly instructions were, let’s say, open to interpretation. With combined efforts, a spirit level (and the included spare parts), we finally managed to open the Pentacor stadium. The first match was a friendly game from the back office: Christina versus Viola. However, the match was played as a ghost game without spectators. Who won is not recorded. And, honestly, it’s not that important.
In the end, maybe it’s not so much about the foosball table, or the fruit basket. The bananas are already gone again anyway.
