By Natalie Koh, Customer Success at SafetyCulture
I left university with a Commerce degree in hand and typical career aspirations.
Like the rest of my graduating class, I hoped to climb the corporate ladder in a top tier firm, work with Fortune 500 companies, do an international stint and soak up the structured on-the-job and formal training. Maybe even complete my CA or CFA.
When I was presented with this exact opportunity, I thought, “this is it.” I was this close. But along came SafetyCulture. Out of nowhere.
An initial scoping call (I blame my innate curiosity) turned into meetings with management, which then led to lunch with the Sydney office.
Before I knew it, and in true Robert Frost ‘The Road Not Taken’ fashion, I was presented with two completely different options.
Do a quick search of start-ups and for every success story you’ll find at least 10 that failed so the analyst in me dictated that I do my due diligence (which meant a pro/con list):
Do I play it safe and pick corporate over start-up?
Do I pick the global recognizable brand with thousands of employees over one that is less known and had only 60 employees? (and didn’t pass the family/friends recognition test)
Do I forgo the clear and steady career path and structure for anything could happen?
Do I give up the perks of corporate life for tech toys and a ping pong table?
Tough decision.
I love technology as much as the next person. Where would I be without Whatsapp and Yelp? Probably paying too much in phone bills and eating sub-par food.
But more than that I love the potential of technology to empower people and revolutionise the way that they work and do business. The ability of technology to simplify the most frustrating of tasks.
As I did more research into SafetyCulture, got my bearings with iAuditor, read about how customers across industries and geographies were using iAuditor to ensure safety and quality standards, and learned about the long term play for SafetyCulture, I was intrigued and excited.
A checklist app—what a brilliant idea! Everyone needs to do checks.
Having spent a few years in finance where I did my fair share of due diligence and compliance processes via paper and pen and clunky software, iAuditor, a digital and easy to use solution, was mind blowing.
You mean checklists, a traditionally inefficient business process, could be faster, easier and more intuitive?! If only I had this back in the day.
As a numbers person, even more captivating was the data aspect. Here is a product that is facilitating the collection of massive amounts of data, and helping businesses generate key insights so that they can recognize what is going right and what is going wrong that much quicker. We talk about the age of Big Data and predictive analytics—this is it.
So back to my dilemma. Do I pick the safe option and head back into the corporate world, knowing where I’d be in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years? Or do I take a chance on the unfamiliar? Well I jumped.
The prospect of swapping high heels for Converse sneakers and tea and biscuits for a fully stocked kitchen was highly attractive, but SafetyCulture presented much more.
It was the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a rapidly growing company, one that had up until recently been growing organically, to help grow the company and the Customer Success team (first Success team member here!).
Every day I speak to Heads of Transformation, COOs, CTOs, Directors at companies across industries and around the world about how SafetyCulture is streamlining and integrating complex processes and tasks.
In previous jobs being able to get in the same room as C-Suiters was unheard of and only to be expected after a few more title changes.
I learn from customers like Schneider Electric and Marriott about how iAuditor has driven organizational change, and I use this information to influence company strategy and product development (which moves fast).
Seat at the table and decisions don’t get road blocked by layers of bureaucracy. Crazy!
That’s not all. I have helped develop company processes. I have easy access to our Executive team (like a few work stations or a phone call away easy).
I work with and learn from every team, from engineering to marketing (how’s that for cross-functional learning?).
I have even been seconded to one of our growing international offices. Not bad for my first year at SafetyCulture.
Sure I gave up a job at a company that many dream of joining, but I have no regrets.
I work in a dynamic environment where things are constantly changing. I’m not only talking about the increase in headcount.
I’m surrounded by a great bunch of people who are passionate about technology and driven to transform the way that people work.
SafetyCulture has been a hell of a ride so far. With the company going from strength to strength (evidenced by our cool US$23m in the bank) and a ton of developments in the works, I’m excited to see how the next year unfolds.
