CGM has made its new concept of Mobile Work official, and here is the latest news

We already all know that we work well in a team and do amazing things together. But today we will talk about where we work and not about how we do it. Since the start of the pandemic, we put the main emphasis on safety and let our employees choose whether to continue work at the office or, if they preferred so, to work remotely. So now it is time we have made the new concept of Mobile Work official, which enables our employees to work from where they want and where they feel they are most productive.

In the past months, 80% of the CGM Romania employees decided to work outside the office for various reasons: most of them being married and having children, they prefer to get in contact with less people; they feel more productive at home, or live far from the office, so working from home saves them a lot of time.

Loredana Armanu has been in the CGM team since the foundation of the company in Iasi, when there were only 50 employees, and they all knew each other well. Two years ago she went on maternity leave, and when she came back in January 2021, due to the pandemic, she met most of her workmates via Zoom.   

Having a small child, being taken care of by his grandmother, Loredana prefers to work from home in order to protect her little boy and keep him safe by not getting in touch with too many people. But she misses a lot the life at the office, the interaction, socialization, the vibe specific to CGM. She manages to do more work-related tasks from home although she spends hours in her chair, and she knows that it is not going to be good in the long-term. 

„From now on I want a mix of the two: three days at home and two days at the office. I am going to do the most difficult and demanding work from home, and the simplest task at the office, and I am going to enjoy the interaction with the colleagues and the CGM’s atmosphere, which I miss so much.”

She reports being oriented more towards going to the office, but the pandemic brought several limitations in this sense. She has recollections of a job that she used to have in London for a while, when employers encouraged their employees to work from home, and she opted for working at the office. Now, with the new pandemic rules, things have changed and she prefers to work more from home, where she does her tasks efficiently and with pleasure both as FrontEnd Functional Lead and Team Lead of the CLICKDOC Pro V3 Project. 

On the other hand, there are employees who prefer to come every day to the office and work mainly from here. And they also have several reasons for that: getting in touch with the team, getting the support of their colleagues when they need it, benefitting from the working conditions and the atmosphere of a more productive working environment.

Adrian Corozel joined the CGM team a year and a half ago, in the middle of a full pandemic. Since then, nothing could keep him away from the office, not even the rules imposed by the pandemic. Only from time to time, once in two months, and just for a day or two, he hides away in the countryside, and works from there to change the scenery and recharge his batteries.  

He lives within a 7-minute walk from the office, so he prefers to work from here as he gets to the office in an instant. Plus, as he lives alone, he prefers to be at the office where he meets his team, and where he can talk to the others and benefit from what the company has to offer.

„I don’t like working from home. It’s not my style to stay home, it is not my kind of work. I like the environment here at CGM. Compared to the office at home, here I have two monitors, a docking station, a better chair, air conditioning in summer and heat in winter, I can go out with somebody and have a chat over a lunch break, and anytime I feel like and have a free moment, I can have a rest and play on the upper floor.”

Adrian is thrilled that he can choose to work at the office where he enjoys working on the company projects as a NET Full Stack Developer.

Mihai Andrei Straticianu, employed just a few months ago at CGM Romania as a BackEnd Developer, also enjoys working from the office:

„I just like working at the office. At home, I am distracted by other things and the high number of TV series, while here I am able to focus on work, and the atmosphere and the interaction with the team are the main reasons why I choose to come to the office every day.”

Bogdan Ciobotaru worked for 12 years abroad, and a few years ago went through a professional conversion. He studied hard, did an internship at CGM, then he enjoyed it so much that he decided to stay. For over two years, he has been a Junior FrontEnd Developer at CGM, and has tested both working from home and at the office.

„As a Junior, I prefer to come to the office as I always get the support of my colleagues, and there is no comparison between the discussions on Zoom and the face-to-face interaction. In addition, at home I feel attracted to other things, while here I can be more productive and work better.  Not to mention the talk with the team, the good times in the resting area and the excellent working conditions.”

Irrespective of what the employees choose, the CGM management respects and trusts  the choices of its employees. As Christopher Roy Turner says, the General Manager of CGM Romania, it doesn't matter where people work as long as they do the work.

„I myself prefer to come to the office 5 days a week, talk to people, feel the company’s vibe, belong to the place, and to the team. I know that no screen can replace face-to-face human interaction, but I also admit that there are excellent experts who work very well remotely and I respect that. I believe you can manage to work from anywhere as long as there is planning and discipline. I don’t care where people work as long as the work is done. I encourage them to take the best decisions for them because I trust them.”

We created Mobile Work to provide a proper framework for the employees of CGM. We rely on flexibility and balance between work and private life, and the development of digitalization, modern working conditions and channels of communication enabled us to efficiently implement the concept of Mobile Work for the employees who decide to work remotely.  

What is very important to us is that the employees who choose to work remotely maintain a work-life balance, continue to interact with the team and understand the difference between working outside the office and being on holiday. Also, another important issue for us is data protection and safety of information, so we count on our employees for keeping the confidentiality   when they decide to work remotely on the CGM’s projects.

As we focus on open and active communication, we would like to remind our employees that they can discuss with the HR Team and the Team Leaders any change in their schedule or workplace, and together they can find the best solutions for efficient and pleasant work for both sides.

Also, the employees who will opt for working remotely, will also be able to come to the office from time to time, whether upon the request of the HR Team or Team Leads, or if they decide to do so.  In any of these situations, the decision will be notified in advance and appointments will be made for the meetings.

The employees who decide to work remotely undertake both the work opportunities, as well as the risks related to working in public spaces, or in other places outside the office. That is why we recommend that our employees be responsible and careful, and pay attention to criteria of ergonomic work, work safety and equipment needed for safe completion of work.  

Regarding equipment, the employees who decide to work remotely can receive CGM equipment that they could use for working outside the office only if it is used for doing the business, and they receive the approval of the Team Lead and the equipment is properly configured by the IT Team.

The employees have access and can read the official document about Mobile Work any time on the company’s website. Also, the employees can openly discuss any matter with the HR Team, company management and their team leads.  We are here to choose together the best working solution for any employee of CGM. Because wherever we are, we are ALL IN for health, for success, for community. We are ALL IN for our people.