It’s been a year since Emilia Raappana, Product Owner (previously Subject Matter Expert and Scrum Master) at Enfuce, started working in one of our payment teams. Now she shares her thoughts on the first weeks at Enfuce, and looks back at the first year in a hypergrowth fintech company.
What do you do here at Enfuce?
I started here as a Subject Matter Expert and later took a role as a Scrum Master in our team as well. My team is responsible for developing and maintaining our invoicing, reminder and collection processes, and systems related to those. We also take care of customer payments, notifications, and bookkeeping processes.
How did you end up working for Enfuce?
Actually, Enfuce contacted me and asked if I would be willing to join the great journey. Didn’t have to ask twice – just a quick googling and the decision was made. A startup company within the same line of business I worked before and with amazing plans – how could I resist!
One thing that made me think a bit was the pace and hypergrowth – it can also be a risk. But now that I’m here, it has been one of the things why I love working here. We get things done.
Everyone was so welcoming and willing to help me to get started.
Had you heard of Enfuce before joining? What was your outside impression of the company?
One of my former colleagues decided to join Enfuce so I had heard about it, but I knew really nothing about it. After a short investigation, everything seemed very good – almost too good! I was thinking that there must be something wrong and I just don’t see it, as I’m a typical skeptical Finn. Now that I have been working here for almost a year, I still don’t have anything bad to say about the company.
What’s the one thing that stood out for you in your first weeks working at Enfuce?
I was so amazed how Enfuce treats its employees. Right after signing my work agreement, I was contacted and asked about my preferences for ways of working, type of laptop (PC or Apple), remote working and so on. I was also told that if the Covid situation gets very bad, the IT guy can also come to my home and install everything so that I can get started! That really made me feel that I’ve made the right choice when I joined Enfuce.
I was a bit hesitant to start at a new workplace during the pandemic. It turned out that there was no need to worry about that. There was a great onboarding plan already made for me. It was nice that different people all around the company held me different onboarding sessions – I got the chance to get to know my new colleagues from the get-go. Everyone was so welcoming and willing to help me to get started.
What do you like the best in your current job?
Definitely the people. The atmosphere here at Enfuce is something I could only have dreamt of before. Everyone is willing to share their knowledge and support me and my growth journey. When you show interest towards something, you will be pushed towards it.
I haven’t met a single person here that would be bored of their work. And with this amazing attitude of Enfucers the company is heading towards something great. I’m really grateful that I can be a part of this journey.
Even after a year, I haven’t had one boring day working here.
How would you describe your team?
A bunch of talents aiming to the same goal. Everyone is so committed to deliver. We’re focused on the task but also agile enough to inspect and adapt whenever needed. Team spirit is high, and we can trust each other. It is also nice that we are all so different people in our team, it creates diversity.
What do the pay teams do?
We are “the factory” where all the magic happens. We develop and maintain our payment products and make Enfuce an even better companion to our existing and new customers. We create value for our customers. We’re also here to help our internal stakeholders with whatever payment question they might have on their minds.
What’s it like to work in a hypergrowth company?
At first, I was a bit spooked by the pace – am I able to keep up? But it has turned out that our hypergrowth enables so much! If I see a problem somewhere, I don’t need to wait half a year to get it fixed – in the best case scenario the issue will be fixed within hours.
That also means that every day is different at Enfuce, which I love. Even after a year, I haven’t had one boring day working here.
The atmosphere here at Enfuce is something I could only have dreamt of before.
How’s the work-life balance in a hypergrowth company?
Couldn’t be any better! I would describe it as flexible – in both ways. If I have a project with a tight timeline, I don’t mind working a bit longer. And once that project is finished, I can then have shorter working days. But the main thing is that I can make that decision, no one is required or pushed to work longer than your working agreement says. Also, I can choose when to go to the office and when to work remotely (or if I want to be fully remote) makes the whole life so much easier.
For example, during the summer when my son was on his summer holiday, we went to our summer cottage, and I was able to work from there as well. My son was able to enjoy his holidays by swimming in the lake the whole summer, and I was able to work at the same time. What is really important to me, is that when I close my laptop, the workday is over and then my family time starts.
This might be my first working place where this actually happens – I’m not stressing if something was left undone as I know that we have a good plan and it can always be adjusted according to the situation in hand.
As the atmosphere’s so great, everyone dares to be transparent and doesn’t need to be afraid to share their mistakes. That’s life and we’re human beings.
How’s it like to work in a team that has people in different locations?
We have great tools for remote work, and I haven’t seen any difficulties. Of course, for example having an afterwork with your teammates requires some planning beforehand. We have company-wide get-togethers a couple times a year and then separate company paid team events three times a year.
We also agreed with our team to go to the office once a week, so that we can keep the team spirit up. But so far, I haven’t seen any issues, despite that one week when my neighbour started renovating their bathroom. It was quite awful for an extrovert like me to sit in meetings with mute button on.
What has been the best thing you’ve learned while working at Enfuce?
Even though sometimes sh*t hits the fan, everyone’s still positive and doing their best to solve the issue. There’s no finger pointing or accusations, but everyone’s eager to help one another and fix the problem.
As the atmosphere’s so great, everyone dares to be transparent and doesn’t need to be afraid to share their mistakes. That’s life and we’re human beings. Everyone seems to understand that very well here, which creates an environment of trust and respect.
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