Behind the scenes at Kadonation: how did we build our company culture around appreciation?

COO Sven De Langhe confirms: ​“Mindset is more important than skills. We primarily focus on potential employees who want to help build something great. People with a long-term vision, who believe that you can go much further together than alone. It’s no coin­ci­dence that innovation, col­lab­o­ra­tion and ownership are our three core values. That’s why I always start by assessing a candidate’s intrinsic motivation during job interviews.”

Appreciation propels us forward

Colleagues Sare Van Keymeulen and Jochen Veys are two of the many employees who can attest to this emphasis on motivation. ​“As an employer, Kadonation takes ​‘practice what you preach’ very seriously”, says marketing project manager Jochen. ​“All employees regularly receive a fun gift or a gift card. Not just at fixed moments or milestones, but also unex­pect­ed­ly. A while ago, a team dinner happened to be on my birthday. In front of everyone, I suddenly received a surprise gift!”

“The holidays are always very busy and require you to go the extra mile”, says Teamlead CCOPS Sare. ​“But afterwards we received a little extra appre­ci­a­tion for that, of course in the form of a nice gift voucher!”

At Kadonation, we also value our employees in other ways. We believe that appre­ci­a­tion has many different dimensions. ​“It’s a relief to get so much trust. That also shows appre­ci­a­tion, for me,” confirms Sare. ​“I have been given the oppor­tu­ni­ty and freedom to focus on my strengths and to further develop myself. I’ve been working here for about a year, and have been able to really shape my career. I feel like I have grown with the company in that short time.

”The conviction behind Kadonation Select is anchored in the corporate culture. Front-end developer Yoshi Mannaert backs this up: ​“Using your own product is one thing, but Kadonation shows appre­ci­a­tion in many different ways,” he says. ​“For example, there is an open culture here without any hier­ar­chi­cal hassle. Everyone is on the same level, and gets the same voice and room for input.”

Pats on the back all around

As a truly innovative company, we know that sometimes things change at a fast pace. That kind of speed can be a challenge, even though you never have to face it on your own. Around here, everyone works together toward a higher purpose. Within the Kadonation team, there is a lot of mutual appre­ci­a­tion and recog­ni­tion.

A pat on the back may seem futile, but it can be incredibly meaningful. ​“When we expanded our business to the Nether­lands, we made sure that nothing changed in that regard. Even though a milestone like that would come with a culture shift in many other companies,” continues Yoshi. ​“At Kadonation, that evolution mainly means that we can now exchange with people who have completely different cultures or back­grounds. I personally find that very inspiring.”

And Yoshi is not the only one. As one of the first employees in the Nether­lands, sales executive Nicky van Ooijen enjoys col­lab­o­rat­ing with Belgian team member and account manager Aron D’hooge. ​“We are working hard to put Kadonation on the Dutch map”, van Ooijen enthu­si­as­ti­cal­ly illus­trates. ​“Aron and I work closely together and we constantly evaluate how we can apply the lessons learned in Belgium to the Dutch market.”

“When a customer signs with us, the team often explodes with enthusiasm”, account manager Aron agrees. ​“There is a lot of cheering involved, or – if we are working remotely – a series of gifs sent back and forth.

“There is no question: the contagious enthusiasm of the team makes us extremely happy. Our employees see their role at Kadonation as a long-term ful­fill­ment. And that imme­di­ate­ly confirms our conviction that employee appre­ci­a­tion is a dynamic factor. ​“As a modern employer, you want to create a pro­fes­sion­al envi­ron­ment where people feel at home – especially with the war for talent raging so fiercely,” adds Sven. ​“We want to offer the business world the tools to do this. There is still a lot to be done with Kadonation, and the ambitions are sky-high. Which means that we are currently looking for a lot of talent that is eager to just go for it.”