IT Milk: entry

Not surprisingly, Happenings Magazine recently showered an award on Pepperjam as The Best Company To Work For in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Though that does not encompass the East Coast speculated by me in an earlier post, this still is a great achievement for such a young company.

Commemorating this event, the following is a more thoughtful and careful analysis of the Pepperplex. Usually my posts about Pepperjam are filled with hype and excitement, but here is some more concrete proof so that you will really believe me.

First of all, I have no idea how much the average employee earns at Pepperjam, but I strongly believe that Pepperjammers do not work there for the money. The creative environment of the office structured by Kris Jones and fellow executives is obviously the main perk. Pepperjam seems to closely follow Google’s philosophy that brilliant ideas are generated by the freedom for creativity.

This freedom does include the ping pong table, Nintendo Wii, and the extremely casual dress code, but those are merely side effects of the concept. As Kris Jones mentions in his video, he hires individuals who are smarter than he is (very modest statement) and then hands over to them the power of creativity. Although this non-conventional management practice may sound easy in theory, it is difficult to do in practice, and yet Kris has effectively adjusted to a practical balance.

Here is a word of advice to future employees or interns at Pepperjam. Although this easy-going environment at Pepperjam seems like all fun and play, it is not for everyone. Just as some people can’t be forced into the city or the boons, your personality has to be adaptable to the culture at Pepperjam. As Pepperjam grows larger, I think that they will become more selective in the hiring process to look for individuals who can think freely AND are able to express those ideas. From my observations, employees who are not like this seem awkwardly out of place and uncomfortable working at Pepperjam. They themselves may not realize it at the moment, but they are. And for Pepperjam to continue to blaze the trail as a leading force in search engine marketing, these traits are a necessity for all the employees — organizational synergy cannot be overlooked.

The most fundamental aspect of the Pepperjam company is the concept of flat organization. There are job titles and senior positions, but these are merely rudimentary factors necessary for a sizable company to function. In the actual working environment, you will be hard-pressed to find any great differences between an executive and an employee (of course, the same does not completely apply for an intern like me).

Next, the office itself is organized so that it encourages employee interaction. Cubicles are a foreign term in the Pepperplex. When you walk in, you can see past every employee’s head to the back of the building. And the desks are arranged in such a manner in each department so that employees feel a sense of closeness and teamwork that would be missing in a cubicle environment. To top it all off, each employee has a Gtalk instant messaging account, so there is an overflow of communication going on all the time, which has impressive benefits that outweigh the potential problems.

Another point that I must mention about the Pepperjam company is that the employees all have an overwhelming sense of pride about their organization. Some departments have pep rally-like chants each morning for an adrenaline rush of motivation which surprised me. The most formidable case of morning rumble and roar come from behind the glass confines of the executive office. Also, wherever the Pepperjammers go, they always wear their black Inc. 500 t-shirts so that they let the world know: I work for a better company than you do.