Hiring dilemma. That’s how our story began back in 2011. One of our founders owned a development company in the Netherlands but couldn’t find the right local talent. They decided to visit Moldova and open their development center here. Along the way, the founder understood that in order to maintain a healthy and effective collaboration, people needed to know more about each other’s culture, traditions, and way of thinking. Employees from both countries (Netherlands and Moldova) started to exchange experiences with the help of business trips, local traditions, and even culinary tastings.
BackstageIT was founded based on a shared vision: create an alternative to outsourcing and outstaffing, create extended teams that would collaborate and feel part of the in-house team of foreign businesses, with the help of a double culture ring.
“Double organizational culture” can seem a little confusing, but we are here to explain the term more clearly.
A double culture refers to a situation where team members come from different cultural backgrounds and work together on a long-term project, app, or platform. While this type of culture may be hard to initiate, and most companies are struggling to maintain it, it can be extremely rewarding in the end.
Although some might not like it, we found that our developers actually enjoy being part of both sides of BackstageIT culture in Moldova and the culture of the companies they work for. It offers them a great sense of belonging. But how do we do that?
- Permanent trips of the team to the office of the partner company. So we encourage the exchange of experience between the in-house team and the remote one and facilitate good cooperation and friendship between them.
- Holidays spent together. Being Christmas spent in the Austrian mountains, or International Developers’ Day celebrated in sunny Barcelona, our partners try to keep the team spirit alive.
- Involve team members in improving company processes. What could be better than a hackathon spent in a villa in Belgium, where in a relaxing atmosphere, are discussed and implemented company improvement strategies? This will strengthen their feelings of self-confidence and motivation and will reinforce their sense of purpose working for your company.
- Appreciation. Who doesn’t like to be appreciated and feel that what he does brings value? Thank-you notes, thank-you gifts, kudos, mentions in testimonials, etc. We are working with partners who are not shy but are proud to recognize the efforts of their extended teams and praise their efforts and their well-done job. This is what creates a close connection between developers and the company they work for. They feel they are part of a team, of a family who appreciates them.
- Connect the team from Moldova to the partners’ country traditions and vice versa. Be it chocolate letters for Sinterklaas (Dutch tradition) or Martisor for March 1st (symbol of spring in Moldova), how cool is it when you can expand your cultural horizons and learn the traditions and customs of other countries?
To maximize the benefits of a double culture, it’s also important to foster an inclusive and respectful work environment, encourage open and honest communication, and provide opportunities for team members to learn about each other’s cultures. This can help the teams build trust and cohesion, which, over time, can improve performance.