Earlier this year, I found myself looking for the next step in my career. While researching organizations, I was introduced to Modus Create through Fiorella Montero, our People Operations Generalist. I was impressed to learn that Modus was an incredibly diverse company, with team members from over 50 different countries. Distributed, multicultural organizations are rare in much of the world, including Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, we generally co-work in an office, or, at least, are time zone aligned. Many businesses can find managing diverse, co-located teams difficult. However, Modus has honed effective distributed work over its nine years of existence.
That distributed model reveals one of the most striking characteristics of the organization: getting to experience multiculturalism among your peers. The team at Modus Create represents their cultural heritage and are replicators of culture, and they bring that culture to their user-centric creations. In order to do this, they must understand their customer’s tastes, beliefs, and values. People from different nationalities working together turn Modus Create into a multicultural team that can help customers around the world. Taking inspiration from different cultures increases the perspective of people and, in the end, the products created will be more meaningful because of this.
For its part, Human Resources has the challenge of being able to successfully approach any subject from a multicultural perspective. This is something that I have been able to observe and apply in the short time I’ve been at the company as a People Operations Intern. Each learning process we go through varies according to the country we come from and how we are taught. The ability to carry out these processes, fluid, and constant communication is necessary. In the case of Modus, this is facilitated using a common language – English. This common communication platform allows people who have different native languages to communicate with each other fluently. We use English as something that unites us rather than divides us.
In addition to being able to learn about the different processes that are carried out within Human Resources, the ability to communicate with people from different cultures who are thousands of miles away is a highly enriching experience that I am extremely grateful to be part of. Thanks to this department, communication is not limited strictly to work, they also aim to create activities that help the team at Modus get to know each other better and interact with each other regularly.
I feel a major differentiator at Modus is that we are not just here to cross objectives off a to-do list. The team cares about the work they are doing for customers and they care about each other. This is reflected in the great partners that Modus Create has and the positive work environment. We can do one better: the work environment is not only positive but also multicultural.
Being able to learn from other cultures at a time when traveling has been extremely limited is a possibility that very few people have. Most don’t have the ability to say that their work environment is multicultural, let alone be in a meeting with a person from the United States, another person from India, Costa Rica, and a variety of other countries; at the same time. You must know how to take advantage of these types of opportunities and recognize the personal impact they afford us.
Conclusion
A Great Opportunity for Modites
Working with different people around the world can be a challenge. However, with the challenge comes an opportunity to not only improve as professionals within the fields we specialize in, but to be better people. We learn different ways of thinking and seeing the world. In the end, we not only see it through glasses that our own culture has created but through other lenses of other cultures.
Being an intern within the Human Resources department of Modus Create is an experience that I will not forget. The ability to interact with people of so many nationalities while acquiring knowledge in different human resources processes is a great opportunity. I hope not only to acquire professional knowledge but more knowledge about the world in these difficult times.
