Published: November 10, 2022
Author: Greg Erickson
In this new blog series, Centering Humans and Culture: Road from Intern to Full-time, we get to know employees who started at 3Q/DEPT as interns and have moved up the ranks by accepting no limits. First, let’s meet Greg Erickson, Manager of People Insight.
How did you find 3Q/DEPT to become an intern? What specifically drew you to the company?
I actually knew someone who worked at 3Q/DEPT before I started. I was working as an intern at the time for another company. The company was wonderful, but it wasn’t built for someone like me. They liked to keep things consistent and do things the way they’d always done them before. Innovative or creative ideas were something that they thought were interesting, but rarely felt they could implement them. The person I knew at 3Q/DEPT would always talk about the company in such a positive way. They mentioned that people loved innovative ideas and often implemented them at lightning speed. They mentioned that 3Q/Depsters were excited to collaborate on projects and jump in to support teammates with their creative ideas. I realized I wanted to talk about the place where I worked in that same way and set out to get hired here, or another place with that same culture.
How was your time as an intern and how were you trained or mentored during that time?
My time as an intern was wonderful. I was getting my masters in organizational psychology at that time and it totally changed my perspective as I took my courses. There are a lot of things that worked in theory but were much harder in practice. While I interned here, my manager and many mentors across the HR, People, Training, and Talent Acquisition team were excited to hear about my perspective, informed by my masters program, and how we might be able to translate into real-world changes at 3Q/DEPT. This extended beyond my own department. I was regularly given opportunities to meet with my peers and leaders across the company. They always welcomed my perspective as I explored the implementation of new People team programs and shared thoughtful and constructive feedback. The fact that I was an intern never bothered them – they cared about my work and my ideas and made sure I was learning and growing.
What is your role now and how did you grow into your current role at 3Q/DEPT from your internship?
As an intern, I was hired to apply my knowledge of statistics and my experience as an organizational psychologist to be our first ever People Data Analyst. Now, I wear two main hats. I’m still in charge of our People Analytics team, but I also work as our People Business Partner. The role has grown quite a bit over the past few years of working here. At the start I mostly worked in Google Sheets, researching how to calculate employee turnover metrics so I could pull stats requested by our leadership team, or I was helping craft and analyze employee experience surveys. Now, I manage a mighty team of two and craft regular reports that analyze many aspects of our organization with far deeper analysis. I also run several employee feedback systems in conjunction with others across the company. Over time, with my deep understanding of the employee experience, I began to craft programs and interventions that we regularly employ to improve the 3Q/Depster experience. I also help managers and employees navigate their life cycle at 3Q/DEPT. When you come to know the causes of positive and negative experiences of employees through data and surveys, you can start to coach managers who might appreciate some help.
When did you know you could accept no limits at 3Q/DEPT and move into a full-time role at the company? What about the company made you feel confident that this was the right choice for your career?
I knew fairly early on that 3Q/DEPT was right for me. From day one, when I was given space to take ownership and create imaginative new initiatives that were supported by teammates and leaders across the company, I knew. I had always wanted to work somewhere where my ambitious ideas were considered a strength and not something to be slowed down. Because so many 3Q/Depsters supported me in growing ideas into full-fledged programs that were impacting employees on a daily basis, it was clear that I could further accept no limits by moving into a full time role. Now, I’m hitting 5 years at 3Q/DEPT and the drive to accept no limits has only grown.