A Series: What it’s like to work at Wejungo – Lindsay Coffey

Which of the core values of Wejungo resonate most with you?

There are two values of our five that resonate the most with me- Learning Mindset and Empowerment.

With Learning Mindset, I think internal at our company first. Our team is always learning, trying to be better and thinking about intentional ways to do that; whether that is improving a process, or sharing a success so others can learn from it too. The way we structure our trainings are actionable, you get to learn by doing, iterating, self-assessing and observing others, and challenge yourself to see the positives and celebrate progress, and balance that with enthusiastically trying something different next time to be even better.

Externally, we use our curiosity and Learning Mindset to understand how we can best help our clients because each client is unique. We never assume that our clients will share the same problem, situation, or structure. We seek to first understand so we can provide the most relevant advice and support depending on the client’s challenges, desire to do something different, and plan for the future.

We Empower each other at Wejungo through our training and support. All our trainings are created to set us up for success and are grounded in real experiences so we know we will be prepared for anything. That allows us in turn to Empower our clients to make real lasting changes. We provide our clients with strategy, plans, tactics, and roadmaps to help them improve how they do business.

Why did you choose to work at Wejungo?

I was in sales operations in best practice advisory work, managing a team of people when I recognized that I really enjoyed helping figure out how to develop and progress people in their career. Getting the opportunity to hire, manage and build a team of people, I realized I wanted to get into people operations and really learn how to build and support other teams. Wejungo offered me the opportunity to develop and grow those skills and that was very appealing to me.

What do you like best about working at Wejungo?

I am constantly impressed with the clients that we work with at Wejungo. They are smart, successful, and truly open to seeing where their areas of opportunity are when it comes to talent strategy and our processes. It is fun to work with them because they seek to do things differently, and give us the opportunity to build trust and rapport with them and give advice and guidance knowing we are experts in this space of talent strategy, workforce planning and succession planning.

We also have such a variety of clients across industries and states. Some clients share industries, some clients share painpoints but their journey, growth, long-term goals and pathway to get there is different which is the fun part of my job. It is a unique and fun experience to find what works best for each client depending on their successes so far, and areas of opportunity. It keeps things interesting.

How has Wejungo helped you grow as a professional?

I am innately a very tactical person; I want to problem solves and get into the weeds right away. Wejungo has made me slow down and has challenged me to really understand the root and cause of a problem before getting into a solution. Sometimes the solution you immediately think of is not actually the right solution because you actually don’t have all the information yet.

It’s been fun to really lean into my natural curiosity and analytical nature and pair that with active listening to ensure I am giving the right solution and guidance.

What are your favorite projects to work on and why?

I really enjoy succession planning projects, because I get to understand the vision and direction that the company wants to go and help business owners and leadership conceptualize how to develop their team and identify where to put different players to continue the company’s success and how to best maintain their legacy. I get to exercise my natural curiosity muscles to uncover the different puzzle pieces, and then I can put a few different puzzles together, growth scenarios over multiple years that can help get the business get to their business and growth plans with a people plan.

Another project I really enjoy is helping our clients create Wejungo Talent Profiles. Through this process I love learning the ins and outs of all the different positions at our clients’ companies. It is also so great to see what happens in our 90 min intake meetings. There are those a-ha moments I get to see when the client uncovers what they want a role(s) to do. It gives the client confidence and clarify in what they are looking for and most clients say they would never have thought of it if we didn’t ask. I always feel like it is a worthwhile conversation when I come out of it. 

What is your proudest moment at Wejungo?

That is a tough question to answer, because there are lots of moments over the years that I’m proud of actually! With clients, it’s really exciting and proud when we’re able to bring together the right candidate with the right job and company with our hiring projects. That feels good to know we helped them find each other. It’s also really exciting to see our clients take our recommendations reports from a hiring or retention audit and it’s their go-to checklist and timeline. That makes me proud that the value of their investment is being realized and implemented.

What is a favorite memory you have at Wejungo so far?

We did volunteer work at Father Joe’s Villages in San Diego, helping the staff prepare for Thanksgiving meals for the community, we were peeling potatoes, cutting bread, cutting onions, etc. and we bonded as a team, and it felt nice to contribute to people having a warm and caring meal during the holiday.

Another is when I got to go onsite with one of our manufacturing clients in Orange County, it was fun to meet everyone in person (and the owner’s very tall standard poodle), and really get to see the people in the role’s they were wanting to develop and also hire for regularly.

Why is the work that Wejungo does with companies so impactful?

We give our clients actionable roadmaps of how to do things differently. Our clients typically work with us because they realize something is not working quite right or they want to be more strategic with their talent strategy. Our work is to investigate, analyze, and use data to back our recommendations and then architect actionable plans. Hearing how clients have used our work, guidance and trainings for years and how those have been the single biggest game changer to their success and growth is so rewarding to be a part of.

What are the reasons you choose to stay at Wejungo?

I love the variety in the work we do, the team of people I get to work with, and the accountability that we have as a business allows me to feel like I am successful at work and at home. I want to work hard, and I know that I am valued as a person here. I think we as a leadership team do a great job empowering one another while holding us and our clients accountable to the high standards we have at Wejungo.