Capturing the Heartbeat of Cisco

You often hear that one of the top reasons Cisco employees love coming to work is our people. The people are, to our core, the heartbeat of Cisco. From the individual personalities that fill the wide open, brightly lit offices to those authentic co-workers who never pass up an opportunity to stop in the inviting coffee areas on their way to the leading tech equipped conference rooms – our people bring life to what we do.

It is no different here in Lisbon, Portugal – our team simply makes coming to the office something we look forward to daily as we all seek to innovate and change the world

What drives this kind of environment that embraces you the moment you enter it? I can only speak from my own experiences.

I am a passionate photographer. It is something I love to do, but – of course – it is not part of my role here at Cisco. Or is it? I started to take pictures of my colleagues for their Linked in profiles as I wanted them to have nice, strong representations of who they are, and soon after that I was photographing all kinds of events here for our offices in Lisbon. From #FridayFeeling to helping our teams share why they #LoveWhereYouWork – suddenly, my personal passion for photography and my role here at Cisco began to blend.

Through Cisco, and our @WeAreCisco social media accounts that help to tell our employee stories, I was encouraged and empowered to continue bringing one of my highest passions of photography into the workplace.  And because of this, I have been able to connect with other teams – onsite and worldwide! – which has helped to grow my network and connections with others! This has enriched my work experience even further and I feel I am not just part of my core team, but also the larger Cisco team as I help to share our experiences through imagery.

For this post, I wanted to dig deeper still.  So, I asked some of my colleagues what they feel is special about Cisco, about our hub in Lisbon, and what drives them in telling the world why they #LoveWhereYouWork.

 

Stefina Goorhuis, Working Team Lead – Virtual Partner Account Manager

“Actually money is not the reason I am staying here, it is the people, the vibe, and the good feeling I have when coming to work. After so many years, many of these colleagues became friends! Hence, I am excited to come to work and see them again. On top of having a role I really enjoy, interacting with partners, and seeing I make a difference in their company is totally why I love working for Cisco.”

 

Sara Valentim, Virtual Line Manager

”We have an open space here at our office where we share knowledge and some fun moments during our day. Our office is close to nice gardens and the beach, which allows us to organize great activities like picnics during lunch and hanging out after work due to our great weather and proximity to these locations in Lisbon. ”

Danila Pesacane – Virtual Partner Account Manager for Italy

“Keep calm, listen carefully, and treasure every word. Immerse yourself entirely in your job role and know that you can learn a lot by facing the challenges you come across directly. The help of the Cisco Partners’ experience is always available too. Love what you do – we do!”

 

In the spirit of collaboration and accepting new challenges, some of the virtual teams based in Lisbon, took on the #LoveWhereYouWork contest wholeheartedly and came up with some brilliant ideas. My own team, of course, was easy to convince – they already had their own ideas about what they wanted to convey. Other teams were really creative as well – one team even did a photo shoot on Cisco’s rooftop to try a brand new, never used location.

For so many, the diversity of people around the office, the human factor in a corporate world, and being part of  company that celebrates humanity and embraces our differences is invaluable. This work frame offers the opportunity to meet and develop healthy, actual human working relationships, while sharing your own values, skills, and knowledge. We learn from each other here at Cisco – and because of this, we grow together too!

At Cisco, our culture allows us to be human. Instead of being told to leave the parts of us that don’t apply to our jobs at the office door, Cisco embraces us entirely – from our families and hobbies to passions and skills we’re hoping to learn and grow. Cisco embraces the atmosphere of wholeness and integrates other talents, skills, and knowledge beyond ones job role capabilities. If you don’t know something, but want to learn more – Cisco enables that to happen, and because of their dedication to employees being their authentic selves – you feel you can become even MORE yourself.

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