In a world where hybrid working is becoming the norm, one tech company is breaking boundaries in employee engagement and fostering a culture of growth, well-being, and happiness. During the pandemic, companies let go of office spaces and made drastic changes to how they operate all while increasing the workforce to meet demand, especially in the tech sector. Creative Software is moving against the tide by redefining workplace culture and defying these trends while enhancing employee engagement through constant interaction and support that walks the talk.
Having already embraced a flexible hybrid work environment, the company also took a bold step to move into a new nine-story office space in Colombo in 2021 to offer better and safe on-site experiences for its employees during challenging times. The new office provides state-of-the-art facilities and a vibrant space for its workforce to socialise, collaborate and build great tech together.
With these decisions, Creative Software has driven several positive changes for the well-being and happiness of its employees. Now charting its course into the future, the company is transforming the way they engage and work from the virtual age to a more personalised age as the world of work and human interaction dramatically changes.
Bringing the team closer while embracing change
While the pandemic disrupted the global workspace and the volatility of the local economy took a prominent place, none of this stopped Creative Software’s vision to move ahead and build a productive and attractive work environment by understanding the employee experience gap.
When most companies took a few steps back and focused on remote work, Creative Software also invested in their new office space located at the heart of Colombo, that complements Creative Software’s growth plan. As a result, the company’s new premises is now an exciting hub for colleagues to meet, work, and engage.
Providing a safe space for employees to grow and thrive was the key priority for the company’s leadership. In addition, with employee numbers rising, fostering a culture of togetherness and creating an inclusive community within the team was imperative.
While establishing a sense of community, the new physical premises are a step towards smoother hybrid working. It has enabled the operational teams at Creative Software to plan, strategize and offer all possible benefits to ensure a remarkable work-life blend to all its team members. So, whether it’s working from home or at the office, the company has been able to tailor interventions that support everyone meaningfully. Thus, the hybrid working model adopted by Creative Software future-proofs its operations by helping its employees embrace change and reduce uncertainty as the world moves to hybrid.
Inside the ‘Creative Family’ culture for a happier workplace
L-R: Channa de Silva, Nuwan Gurusinghe, Damitha Liyanage, Peumi Rodrigo
With a strong sense of community and togetherness, this fast-growing team at Creative Software has several positive aspirations for the company’s future. In conversations with the leadership team, we found some common threads between them all. Namely, to maintain its positioning as a top-tier employer of choice with great focus on work-life blend.
Channa de Silva, Director of Software Engineering at Creative Software, believes that the close-knit team spirit and teamwork make Creative who they are and have enabled the company to build high-performing teams for their clients for over 23+ years under multiple tech verticals.
Elaborating on this, Channa shared, “In any organization, engaged and empowered employees consistently perform at their best. We are giving our employees the flexibility to learn and grow to bring out the best in them by collaborating with each other. In doing so, we aim to nourish the Creative culture further while working towards building a stronger and more resilient Sri Lanka.”
Adding on to this, the Director of Marketing at Creative Software, Peumi Rodrigo, shared, “We believe in inspiring employees to co-create our workplace experience and culture together to make the resulting experience as credible and personal as possible for them at Creative Software. This is key to our long-term objective of further enhancing the hybrid working model in order to make the work-life blend a positive experience for all our employees. In addition, we are enhancing our engagement with local academia to strengthen R&D education for a stronger and more resilient workforce to uplift the nation as we power the next generation of innovators.” The company has also initiated many initiatives to give back to the community, cultivating a strong shared social responsibility amongst employees by harnessing the power of Creative Software’s culture of togetherness.
Aspiration for the future
Damitha Liyanage, the Director of Software Engineering at Creative Software, expressed his views on the significance of experiential learning, versatility, and building relationships to make employees feel valued; “We continually seek and explore ways to capitalize on the post-pandemic era, providing our employees with opportunities to bring their ideas to fruition through new product development. By sharing successes and milestones through initiatives like the ‘wow factor’ and #kudos channels, we foster a culture that encourages our teams to make things happen. We take employee engagement seriously, which has allowed us to connect and value our employees, regardless of their position in the company, and make work-life fun at Creative with activities such as social Wednesdays and other recreational experiences.”
As a pioneer in the Sri Lankan technology industry, Creative Software is committed to empowering the country’s youth through a harmonious blend of work and play. This approach not only maintains the high quality of their technology solutions but also creates a positive and motivated workforce, resulting in satisfied clients and content employees. The company’s culture aligns well with that of its Scandinavian clients, who form a significant portion of its clientele. This has allowed Creative Software to consistently deliver world-class technology solutions using local talent in Sri Lanka, contributing to elevated client satisfaction and solidifying the company’s brand confidence.
Director of Software Engineering at Creative Software, Nuwan Gurusinghe, said, “As we continue to maintain our ranks as one of the best tech employers to work for, we will further strengthen our global presence as we grow exponentially year on year. Thereby enabling us to provide the best benefits and opportunities to our employees as we grow together.”
Ultimately, the collective strength of its people is what defines Creative Software as a company. In this rapidly evolving landscape of work, it is essential to reimagine the workforce and its needs. Creative Software is at the forefront of this change, offering a secure environment for its teams to thrive and fostering an inclusive, creative, and enjoyable work experience that promotes effective collaboration. Join their journey as they take on the world as one of the best tech companies to work for in Sri Lanka with their one-of-a-kind people-first culture.