I tend to get attracted to places where I can see a well-thought-out and clear strategy or roadmap. To me, Tarpo happened to be that place: so I dived right in when the opportunity arose.
Obviously, you want to be at your best from the start. You need a way to harness your peak performance at will from the moment you enter Tarpo – even if your commute was stressful, even if your nerves don’t cooperate. You need a trigger that instantly focuses you on this high stake career move and commands you to perform at your best.
My belief in Tarpo was reaffirmed when Myra and I were introduced to the team and shown the cool parts of the company, not only the paperwork. These involved a physical tour, a Wiki of history and fun Tarpo lore, a February ‘babies’ birthday cake, ooh and a mouthwatering welcome-to-Tarpo Lunch. Without a doubt, there are a million low bandwidth ways to make newbies here feel at home. Mr Asim walks us through the importance of Tarpo’s cultural values. The company’s powerful visions and consistent behaviour makes it win. He emphasizes on the need to focus on cementing a culture of people all trying to do the same thing, so when a curveball comes – good or bad – he knows how to handle it. I find this quite unique.
Mornings here are like daily newsroom meetings for Journalists. We call it 8:08. It begins in prayer and is officiated by the Operations Manager, who chairs and adjourns the meeting.
Team members are disciplined and respect one another. The meeting is not a boudoir where everybody is free to chatter inanely. One only speaks when handed over the ‘toss and talk ball’ to state the previous day’s actioned tasks and a brief to-do-list. This lasts between 10 minutes and half an hour, so that the team can get to work as quick as possible. Everybody gets their brains to work. It’s so exhilarating.
A personalized onboarding template was handed to me by the Head of Human Resource, with all documents and resources, to guide me in understanding my scope of work and what team to work with. This is an organized way of saving time and avoiding mistakes.
The oriental activities here have helped me learn that my new routine and culture is more than just a new day job. It’s like a repetition in my head of, “Hey Camille, Tarpo is awesome. The company is happy to have you on board.”
To quote the venerable Sheryl Sandberg, if you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.
No matter where you are in your career, chances are you’re in need of a little motivation to get to the next step—to go for the job you’ll actually love waking up for, to ask for that promotion, or to just push through a rough day.
For anyone looking to join Tarpo, this is not a place for the fainthearted. The environment here demands total commitment to set objectives, a fighter spirit, innovativeness and delivery of results. If you can achieve all these, are self-driven and can thrive in a team context, then this is the place for you.