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Having worked in three different sectors (aviation, education, and telecommunication) and four different organisations, working at UpGrad came to me as a cultural shock. Most of the big companies have a set hierarchy, rules and instructions. You have a lot of resources at your disposal, which according to me, limit your learning experience as you don’t learn by doing things. If you have an idea, you spend months on months discussing it with your bosses or their bosses which becomes frustrating. You have very little authority or visibility, especially if you join at the bottom of the organisation, as a fresher. Irrespective of the field of work, entry-level jobs are pretty similar: You are assigned a specific task. You are expected to complete the given task and be predictable in your approach. You are supposed to do the same work day in and day out and the growth or learning curve moves at snail’s pace. What I like about UpGrad is the feeling of close community and collaboration which I have not experienced in other organisations. I feel that when companies grow exponentially they lose their unique identity and shared values. Instead at UpGrad, there is a sense of free-spiritedness and flexibility, the feedback is direct and you get recognised for good work through rewards and recognition, townhall mentions (being appreciated for your work in front of the entire organisation), team lunches, etc. UpGrad believes in building a community by stressing the importance of listening and taking action. The organisation has an open-door policy and you will always have someone or the other to listen to your woes and provide solutions, unlike other organisations which only see their employees as a means to achieve their end goal: revenue. The company stresses the importance of celebrating even the smallest of accomplishments with one and all (it throws some great parties!) The perception that a corner office or a big cubicle makes you better than someone in the hall does not exist here (it doesn’t have any compartmentalised offices, so I am not sure what that makes us!) Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success. – Henry Ford UpGrad gives you scope to do something more, something different every day. It gives you an opportunity to experiment using your skills and strengths. It’s a place where your opinion matters and you have a sense of doing something bigger than your everyday tasks. Navy to UpGrad – From Locking Files in Cupboards to Saving in Google Drive! In the end, I would like to say that UpGrad as an organisation believes in the immense power of building a healthy community at work because they know that is how they will deliver what they stand for, i.e; Building careers of tomorrow.  

by Mishtha Wadhwa

19 Dec 2017