Why do corporate people want to work with us?

Working in a small company or a large corporation? More and more young people have to face this dilemma while looking for their first job. Corporations guarantee better payment, stable employment, the opportunity to travel, development, and other benefits. On the other hand, smaller companies guarantee flexibility, a family atmosphere, or a sense of community when co-creating a brand. And here comes a question – what to choose, what is important to us?

Some people cannot imagine any other career path than working for a large corporation. On the other side, some avoid large companies, for fear of bureaucracy. No matter what they say, the point of view depends on the seat – everything is based on personal preferences. The most important argument for corporations is money. Still, many people believe that a small company has less to offer its employees than a large corporation with a well-established ladder of promotions and a tempting “social”.

Then what should we choose? Where to start your career and what path to take, at the beginning of your professional path? It is worth looking at each of these options separately – what they offer, how they work, and what they require.

Organizational structure and culture

Corporate structures are based on highly hierarchical foundations. Each employee has strictly defined tasks and is responsible for a specific stage of a project. Therefore, working in a corporation can be associated with more or less repetitive routines and a stack of procedures. On the other hand,  a distinctive feature of small and medium-sized companies is a sort of freedom in the performance of tasks and the possibility to “prove themselves.” Work is usually less formalized, and this means more flexibility. Paradoxically, the lack of a hard line as to the principles of promotion in small businesses can help in faster and more efficient development.

Employee benefits and allowances

Corporations attract employees not only with their brand, but also with their onboarding training package and organizational culture, and all this corresponds to financial stability. At the same time, large companies have a multi-level decision-making process, which affects, e.g. the issue of payment during recruitment, which they often compensate later with more and more benefits (attractive bonus system, health-care, multi-sports cards; integration trips).

In small businesses, one person is often responsible for many different tasks. Some may be tired of it, but some find themselves in such a system like a duck takes to water. Small and medium-sized companies attract by a more comfortable and familiar atmosphere, direct relations, and much less formalism, but on the other hand, they rarely have their offer attractive allowances for employees.

Earnings

What’s interesting, recent years have shown that the difference in payments between a person employed in a corporation and a person working in a smaller company has slowly begun to decrease.

However, there’s still an opinion that a small business = low earnings, but this is no longer the truth. The salary depends on the profile of the position, the type of tasks, the kind of responsibilities, and, above all, the specifics of the organization. Following this path, a larger company is not always a guarantee of higher payments for the same work – often it is quite the opposite.

No matter which side we take and what we consider to be beneficial for us, we cannot notice an interesting trend – more and more young people puts jobs at smaller companies. This trend also did not avoid KIDS&Co. In the ranks of our small community, you can meet not only representatives of different countries and nationalities but also people with big corporate experience.

Was it worth it? Do they feel good in this educational reality? Do they miss the corporation life and its procedures?

We interviewed some of our employees

Where have you been working before KIDS & Co.?

– Just before KIDS&Co. I worked for a big company, AmRest, which was the operator of the Starbucks store. – says Karolina Kopff-Głowacka, Business Development Manager at KIDS&Co. – I worked there as a Category Manager and also as a New Product Development Manager. I was involved in the development of new products and launching them to the network in Poland and 7 other countries in Europe, e.g. the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania.

Katarzyna Jabłońska, Headmaster of a Non-public Bilingual Kindergarten and Nursery in Warsaw: I’ve been working in a bank for many years. I graduated from university with a degree in psychology and pedagogy, but it so happened that after graduating, I started working in a bank. I started from the lowest rank and slowly climbed up to the position of Regional Director. For the next few years, my professional life was connected with finance. It can be said that this is my second direction in which I developed until 2019 when I completely changed my professional paths and switched from finance to the educational industry.

– I was born in Chile. After graduating from university with my master’s degree in Europe, I worked for a corporation in Chile for seven years. Everything was great until the pandemic came, and with it a lot of changes – both professional ones and those more meaningful to me – well, I became a dad. – Gerardo Pujado, a Spanish teacher at KIDS & Co. in Warsaw – My wife is Polish and when the baby came, we both decided to move to Poland. Then It was time for us to go back to Europe and get to know my wife’s country and culture together.

Why you decided to change company and start to work at KIDS&Co.?

Karolina Kopff-Głowacka: My life changed – I became a mother. Thus, the previous dynamics of work, as well as long-distance business trips were no longer possible for me. In addition, the pandemic has had a very big impact on the food industry. A lot of companies were more focused on survival than development – which also help me with this decision. In addition, as a young mother, the subject of the business tendency that we as KIDS&Co. are doing, became much closer to me.

Katarzyna Jabłońska: I’m a mother of four. Therefore, the education industry has become very close to me. I looked closely at what was happening in this area. I became interested in it, also for the sake of my children. As I mentioned earlier, I graduated with psychological and pedagogical studies, so this topic interested me very much, somewhere it was around me. I was wondering how the nursery and school work, and what obstacles they face. What impact do teachers and headmasters have on the development of young children? And it just so happened that there appear people in my life who used to work with me and knew that I could handle management. I have achieved a lot in finance and banking and I knew I wanted to change my professional path. I wanted to start something new and develop into something else. Then I found KIDS & Co. which at that time was also at the development stage, so I thought why not try?

Gerardo Pujado: First of all, with my wife. we wanted to give our daughter a European education. Fortunately, my wife managed to find a job in Poland and everything was going in the right direction. I have held various corporate positions. I was satisfied, but being in Poland, at the same time I wanted to do something meaningful, and in addition, for a long time my professional life revolved around the educational industry. Among other things, I work as a Spanish language teacher for adults. Besides, I love working with kids. I believe that they are the future that we have in our hands and we must do everything to make them succeed. One day I met Magda (headmaster of nursery and kindergarten KIDS&Co. in Warsaw), and with her came the opportunity to work at Kids&Co. the Elektrownia Powiśle.

What are the main differences you see between working in a corporation and a smaller company?

Karolina Kopff-Głowacka: A huge plus of working here, in KIDS&Co. is that we are a premium brand. There is no other edu-operator on the market that provides such good services on such a scale, in such a unique business model as we operate. On the other side, looking at KIDS&Co. business-wise, the fact that we are a small company and this structure is not so much expanded makes the work much easier, e.g. all processes are quickly accepted. We work locally not only with the board but also with people with a lot of experience and this gives me an incredible opportunity to develop and gain knowledge in such an easy, accessible way. In the corporation, everything is formalized, and in KIDS&Co. I’m practically next to the people on the board. We can always talk about something, and discuss it. Besides, in KIDS&Co. you’re not anonymous. You are treated very individually as an employee. In my previous company, I worked mostly at home and rarely saw my colleagues.

Katarzyna Jabłońska: I returned to my learned profession because here I can combine the best experiences of both places. Besides, I appreciate meeting wonderful people here, with whom you feel good, and who also push you to gain new experiences, to gain new skills. Both jobs enriched me and they showed me different horizons and different perspectives. It was easier for me to find myself in management. KIDS&Co. but I also had some difficulties, for example, related to pedagogical supervision, with plans that need to be written and for which you are also responsible as the headmaster. As a manager, I’m also a support person, and that required me to listen to the people I hire, to learn how to solve everyday problems. This is a job that gives me a lot of satisfaction, and the fact that I had to change my habits and completely requalify did not bother me.

Gerardo Pujado: For me, flexibility is very important – because I also work in other places and I wanted to make sure that if I needed a few days off, it was not a big problem. In a corporation, this is not always possible. In addition, the people with whom we create a wonderful and well-coordinated team – all of us are caring about each other. We’re almost like a family, after all, we spend eight hours together every day. Because of my previous job, I traveled a lot in Latin America, the USA, and Europe. I’ve done a lot of great things that I’m proud of. But my priorities have changed. What do I value now? First of all, the time spent with my daughter. I appreciate the opportunity to be close to her. I want to be an important part of her life. Relations between employees are also important. I appreciate that we can all enjoy each other, both at home and work.

Was it worth it?

Karolina Kopff-Głowacka: I think this is an individual issue. I like the warm and familiar atmosphere in KIDS&Co. we all know each other personally, by name. We know who is interested in what and in general I think that the company itself also carries very good values. At KIDS&Co. we do fantastic things. Giving children the opportunity for education at a very high-level thanks to great, interesting classes, we work on good materials, we equip kindergartens with cool toys and nice furniture. In addition, our original educational program, bilingualism, Spanish – These are the things that if you think that you work for such a company and do such good things for children it is cool. In a corporation, you do really big things. And it’s satisfying when you later see on the posters the product that you recently launched. However, at the end of the day, you realize it wasn’t that important. I think that working in education is much more valuable, especially when you realize what you have done. What did you do? And to be clear, it’s not that I see one company better than another. A corporation and a small business are two different worlds. This is completely different. The mission of the company is important to me. I think more about what this company can do than whether it is big or small because each has its pros and cons.

Katarzyna Jabłońska: In the last 4 years since I’ve been here, KIDS&Co. as a company has changed a lot. We have developed a lot. Larger companies attract employees with the possibility of development and benefits. But it’s happening to us too! For example, the Medicover package, which until now was available mainly in large companies. We are opening more and more kindergartens, employing more and more people, and with that comes employee benefits. Is additional insurance or private health care packages something that distinguishes us on the market now? Yes, people will come here more willingly if they can at least make use of these benefits. I think every change is important. If it wasn’t worth it, I certainly wouldn’t be here. I am a person who likes my job!

Gerardo Pujado: I believe that each person experiences their journey. Many people who have not had the chance to travel the world, to experience other cultures, may need it in their lives and will look for such a job that it will provide them. For me, it is important to have the freedom and flexibility to work on other projects. To make time for family and friends. Those are my priorities right now.

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Regardless of our position and professional preferences, it is good to have in mind that priorities change depending on the situation in which we currently find ourselves. Working in a corporation can be an interesting start to adult life, which later can result in a better position in small and medium-sized enterprises.

– From my perspective, I think it’s worth starting in a corporation, because you can quickly learn there and become a specialist in a particular field – Karolina Kopff-Głowacka – Then, after working in a corporation, as a specialist and expert, you can suggest interesting solutions in a smaller company. In such moments, you get great satisfaction, because you know that the knowledge you already have help in the development of something new and truly valuable.