My Favorite Places to Work in the Office

By Sara Gehrdes

My name is Sara Gehrdes and I’ve been a Senior Recruiter at Enova for almost three years. 

Enova moved to a 100% remote workforce this past week in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has been great seeing our team adapting to our ‘new normal’. Leadership is sending out business updates even more frequently than usual, teams and departments have been creating their own community traditions like ‘emoji check-ins’ and we’ve held a company-wide competition that recognizes the best, and most unique remote desk setups. As a company that prides itself on our in-office, face-to-face culture, I’ve been nothing but impressed with how everyone has made the transition to home offices and video calls. 

At times, though, I’ve been feeling nostalgic about our office and the variety of workspaces designed to help team members produce our best work. I consider this post a humble ode to those spaces. They’re not gone, and we’ll be working out of them again soon enough, but for now, we can only wistfully look at pictures. Let me give you a tour. 

The 5th Floor Kitchen

We have kitchens on each of our floors, but our 5th floor kitchen is my favorite. On any given day the kitchen could be host to company or department meetings, one-on-ones between managers and their team members, affinity group events, or team members looking for a change of scenery from their normal desk. It also comes in handy to be so close to the snacks! Whenever I work in the kitchen, I’ll typically run into one of my hiring managers or another stakeholder. Those off-the-cuff conversations can sometimes be the most productive.

Cabanas 

My team makes frequent use of the cabanas around the office for quick round-ups or any non-sensitive conversations. Meetings don’t always have to happen in conference rooms at Enova, and all cabanas are equipped with white-boards or monitors to help make them effective workspaces. Some days, I like to camp out in the cabanas near my hiring teams so I can observe how team members are interacting with each other. As a recruiter, getting that insight into team cultures helps me make sure I’m accurately describing it to candidates. 

My Actual Desk

While I do like changing things up and working in various nooks and crannies around the office, there’s nothing quite like my home away from home, my desk. I’ve decked it out with personal photos, photos of my team and me at company events, motivational phrases, and more. Desk size at Enova is generous and Enovians are encouraged to make their space their own. I’ve seen desks covered in plants or Funko Pops and I’ve seen some desks with more of a minimalistic look. We’re able to make our desk space whatever works the best for each of us! 

This is just a small selection of the variety of workspaces in the office —not to mention some of the fun spaces like our game and perks rooms for when team members want a quick break from their work. While we may not be able to work out of the office for now, it certainly hasn’t been forgotten!