Monin – and Cronos by extension – is fully committed to giving enough attention to the mental and physical wellbeing of the team. We understand that people only grow if you provide the best circumstances possible as employers. We asked Erik Riemis, Database Engineer, to give us his two cents on the matter. Some people might be looking for exciting team events or fancy company cars, but what is a senior database professional looking for and (how) does he witness us meeting their expectations? 

“They keep their promises”

Like everybody else, Erik’s working life changed when the pandemic hit the world. However, workwise it was one of the best things that could have happened to him. He felt that before, he was often losing time, driving across the country from one client to another and spending hours in traffic jams. “Even though there were days that I could work from home, the other ones started to weigh me down a bit”, he says. “But then we were suddenly forced to work from home fulltime, and – to my surprise – I noticed quite a few advantages. Most of all, I felt more rested. When we started to come back to the office, Dries and Kristof asked us whether we’d like to work more from home. I happily took them up on their offer and now work at home most of the time and only go to the office or to the client one or two days a week.” Erik also turned 60 last year and started working parttime. In his opinion, he now has the working scheme that he needs to be happy and energised.  

When you visit our website, you can read all about our values. We asked Erik if he felt that those were truly carried out. He nods: “They promise to watch over your work-life balance and like I just explained, they truly do.” To Erik, it was important to be able to ask for less travel time and to start working parttime. He says that he understands that others probably don’t mind spending time in traffic as much and subsequently ask for a flashy company car. To him though, those things don’t really matter. Having different priorities isn’t illogical, but he admits that it’s nice that Monin tries to meet everyone’s needs. 

“They invest in my health” 

There are quite a few ‘older’ people at Monin. Erik shrugs: “The sector we’re in, working with databases, is quite complex. It is dependent on thorough knowledge and experience. It’s not that strange in that sense that most of us are senior profiles.” The reality is of course that there’s a difference between the health requirements of juniors and seniors. That is why, when Cronos Care offered a health check (for 45-plus people) Erik gladly took that chance. He says you receive an extensive report that you can bring with you to a fitness or sports centre. You can ask for personal training that considers the findings in the report, such as your blood pressure, ECG findings, and so on. A big plus, according to him. 

Don’t be fooled, though. It’s not as if there’s a clear division in the team between ‘young’ and ‘old’. “The person I connect with most is someone who’s in his twenties. We’ve gone biking together in our spare time, and we always have a great time at the office.” Age doesn’t matter here, or at least not for the team spirit. Besides, as Erik noted delicately, we’re all in sedentary professions: the new smoking. Consequently, we could all benefit from a health check. It is an added value for everyone, not just for over –45s. Something to think about. 

“They offer innovation within a stable environment” 

Erik was used to working for a multinational and had to adapt at first when joining Monin. That being said, he concurs that as we are a part of The Cronos Group, you get all the dynamics and innovation from a smaller, more agile company within a stable environment. The nice thing about being part of such a system is that the projects you get to work on are often shorter and varied. Furthermore, Erik says that he started looking at the IT sector very differently since working here. He repeats that it is great that there is a great variety in projects at Monin and that, if one doesn’t match you as much as you thought it would, Monin will do all they can to make sure your next project suits you better. Same goes for our internal teams: there’s an Oracle team, an open source and a MSSQL team. Whoever wants to switch things up and try the other one at some point, is welcome to do so (and stay there or switch back if so desired). 

Monin also provides training budget for all who wish to follow a course or go on a training. Erik explains that, at this stage of his career, it’s not that relevant anymore for him to invest in exams and new state-of-the-art technologies. What is true, is that it is a testimony to the fact that Monin keeps their promises. They offer all those who are interested the chances and opportunities to develop your skills and knowledge in this fast-paced sector in which you just can’t get rusty. You must keep on learning and adapt if you want to keep up. If Erik had more years to go still, he states, he would definitely do it too. 

We’d like to thank Erik for his honest testimonial, and we promise, as ever, to keep up the values that make Monin stronger! 

Did reading Erik’s article stir up a desire to explore Monin as your next working place? Don’t hesitate to reach out and get in touch; we’d love to get to know you over a cup of coffee!