Working Life Blog
A Commendable Cause and an Equally Commendable Culture.
Joy Mamplekou – Business Operations Support
Hi! My name is Joy Mamplekou, and I recently joined Aridhia in a Business Operations Support role. My role is multifaceted, but generally centres around Aridhia’s workforce – either by helping it expand through recruiting talented individuals to join the company, or by providing the necessary administrative support to its existing workforce, wherever and whenever needed.
What first intrigued me about Aridhia was its commendable cause, which is to provide a Digital Research Environment that facilitates data sharing and data collaboration in the context of health and bio-medical research. The idea that I can support a team that creates a product that can eventually change real peoples’ lives around the world for the better truly resonated with me and sparked my interest in the company. However, my decision to join Aridhia was solidified through my interaction with its employees, who I am now happy and proud to call my colleagues.
What is interesting about my personal journey with Aridhia, is that I joined the company during 2021, one of the years that was marked by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, my onboarding with Aridhia, as well as the entirety of my working life up to this date have taken place – and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future, entirely remotely. Having a supportive environment was of extreme importance in my case, as working from home can at times impose challenges, especially for a new starter.
I found the environment that I was looking for in Aridhia, with the notions of collaboration and openness being deeply embedded in the company’s culture and, most importantly, in its people. Everyone has welcomed me in the company and have gone out of their way to support me, from the induction process onward. My onboarding was organised and implemented in such a way that would ensure I have everything I need to be able to perform well in my role, while also encouraging me to engage with the process as much as possible and understand the wider organisational context. This was achieved through regular one-to-one meetings with my manager, who made sure that my every question was answered and invested time and effort into making me feel confident to perform every aspect of my new role. Additionally, even in my early days, I was prompted to provide feedback regarding existing processes and express my own aspirations for my personal development within the company, highlighting Aridhia’s ethos, which is palpably geared towards its people.
Outside of my immediate team, communication with everyone in Aridhia has continuously flourished. Microsoft Teams has now become an integral tool in our everyday working lives, while weekly coffee mornings, monthly pub quizzes, and regular company stand-ups have made me feel like a part of the Aridhia team, despite me still being new to the company. We also have the option to physically attend co-working spaces to meet and work together with our colleagues if we so desire, while the ability to adjust our own working schedule to our personal needs underlines that adaptability and flexibility are core tenets within Aridhia.