The perks of being a Pomegranite

By Sarah

Every time we go through the hiring process (which, luckily, isn’t very often as our staff turnover is quite low), we get asked new and sometimes surprising questions. One question that’s as reliable as Eskom se Push, though, is, “What perks do you get if you work at Pomegranite?”

As one of the founders, I know I’m biased. So I decided to poll our team and ask what their favourite thing was. They initially had to choose one, but that was negotiated up to two from this list:

It’s interesting what people value most – it’s really things that aren’t technically “perks” as such. Although a Calm subscription is nice, for example (I do love a sleep story), it’s the bigger picture things that mean a lot.

Here are a few that I’d add to that list:

How mistakes are managed (including our own)
There will always be mistakes – if there aren’t any, you should start to worry, actually, because that generally means there’s no stretching, no trying, no learning, no growing. It never feels great when they do happen, but it’s how they’re handled that matters.

We like to look at them as an opportunity to build a relationship – whether it’s with a client or the team. There are so many examples that I can think of where honesty, openness, accountability and forward-thinking have turned a difficult situation into a stronger bond, founded on a deeper respect.

Always giving team members credit
I worked at an organisation once where every triumph was claimed by the boss. It didn’t feel great. I think it came from a place of fear – if a team member who got credit for doing great work left, then would the clients still value the organisation? While I (sort of) understand the thought process, I didn’t like how it sat with the team.

We are very conscious of giving credit where it’s due at Pomegranite. If a win is yours, it’s yours.

A lovely side effect of that is the culture of generosity that filters through the team. If someone gets praise, they’re often so quick to say, “Thanks! I couldn’t have done it without [insert Pomegranite].”

Celebrating positive feedback with everyone
Those shout-outs often emerge from our “good-vibes” Slack channel, where positive client feedback is shared with everyone. So, even if you haven’t been involved in a project, you still have an idea of how it’s turning out.

It doesn’t sound like a big thing, but in our current setup where we primarily work remotely (with a co-working stint every few weeks), it’s channels like these that maintain a connection and build our culture.

Handling hard things like loss and grief
We’ve been through some big life things with our team – both wonderful and impossible. When team members have experienced loss, we always try to make as much space for them as we can. And when our policies don’t reflect real-life practices, we change them. For example, we decided to extend our compassionate leave to allow people to take a full week off without having to use their annual leave.

This is not to say that we’re perfect – we get it wrong from time to time. But one thing that’s for sure is that we will always try to make Pomegranite the kind of place where you can be a whole person, a place that allows for life to crash into work sometimes (it always does), and that leaves room for exciting individual growth.

For example. As directors, it gives us a real kick to ask team members, “Who’s your dream client?” And then the next week, say, “Guess who we’re working on a proposal for?”

Also though – have you heard Mathew Mcconaughey’s sleep story, guys?