Q&A With Peloton’s HR Team
Partner Content
Below is an article originally written by PowerToFly Partner Peloton, and published on February 11, 2016. Go to Peloton's page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
Company culture is important and when it comes to developing a collaborative, interesting, fun and smart work environment, Peloton's HR team are experts at this. We talked more with our VP of Human Resources Amy Stoldt and Human Resources Manager Kristy Foss to learn more about what they believe makes the Peloton employee experience stand out amongst others and their goals for continuing to support an expanding team.
What is your favorite thing about working at Peloton?
Amy: My favorite thing about working at Peloton would be the autonomy and ability to take a project and continue it on your own, with guidance of course and the ability to bounce it off of people of course, but generally having ownership of something and carrying it through. To me, that is very exciting and it's something that is very different from other positions I've been in.
Kristy: I would agree. I think the freedom to really to collaborate with other departments and really have other people listen to what you say in addition to how smart and ambitious everyone in the company is, I think that's really unique.
How would you describe the Peloton culture?
Kristy: It's changing a little bit as we grow, but basically, "work hard, play hard". I think a lot of people here are passionate about what they do and very engaged with their work environment but I think at the same time we do really value the fun parts. Group spin classes, happy hours and company parties are a few examples of how we like to have fun here.
Amy: I think everyone genuinely likes to be together. You have more excitement about coming to work. You don't feel like you're on your own and it makes doing great work that much better.
Describe in 3 words the Peloton work environment.
Amy & Kristy: Collaborative, inclusive and goal oriented.
Do you think there's a direct correlation between a fun work environment and productivity?
Amy: Absolutely. I feel like an unhappy employee is way less productive. There definitely is a correlation between feeling valued, feeling like you're part of a team, not feeling isolated and performing well in your position. The people around you are the ones who will make you want to be more creative, go the extra mile and think outside of the box. We find this going on constantly in the office, which is amazing.
Kristy: I think our managers make the work environments really fun. I think they set really clear expectations and make people feel like they can achieve things that actually make a difference in their company. The type of person our company attracts is a very ambitious, very goal oriented person, which makes for a fun work environment. People here really value recognition, not in a greedy or selfish way, but in a way where they feel appreciated by their work rather than their reputation. I think the fact that we're a company of over 200 people and we still send out e-mails celebrating big achievements is a huge indicator of what our culture is like.
How does the Peloton work environment benefit the employee skill set?
Amy: I think when you get a lot of positive reinforcement that makes you want to do your job that much better, no matter what skills you're using. Your skills can only improve from there.
What has been the most fun team outing or experience so far?
All of our happy hours are always great. Our holiday parties are the best – They're amazing and no matter how large of a group we become, we'll always try to make them special. Other events that we're looking forward to that should be awesome are group ski trips, tech talks, and possibly a team scavenger hunt throughout NYC. We're always trying to find fun and unique ways to bring departments together.
What makes Peloton different than any other company?
Kristy: There's just an overall sense of great energy in every way. We're working on something that's really really cool. We have this amazing product that actually makes people's live's better which makes our employees really passionate since it's an inspiring thing to work on in all departments. Knowing that you're making something from scratch.
Amy: What I hear from a lot of people who have crossed that line and accepted a Peloton offer is that they made the decision based off the fact that we're creating something from scratch that didn't exist before and that's really exciting.
What are your goals for continuing to develop the Peloton team and community?
Working with recruiters to attract new talent which we've found is a refined art, training development and rolling out our new internship program for this summer, 2016!
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