As a child, my parents always told me I was going to college. I was very fortunate that college was never an if but always a when. College is expected in today’s culture and about 66% of graduating high school seniors in America pursue this higher degree.
I googled the sentence “why go to college” and the browser returned 366 million results. The first result explained how a college degree gives an individual more expertise, thus making them attractive to employers and enabling the individual to make more money. I did a little more digging and found a link to the Common Application’s website. The page was titled “Why Go to College” and the first two reasons mentioned earnings potential and networking. As I scrolled down the page, the author finally dove into other reasons individuals attend college. Some of these reasons include intellectual curiosity, fulfilling roles in society, and exceeding potential.
The message drilled in my head—by my parents and the internet—was I needed to go to college if I wanted to make money and be successful. Although this is important to me, I believe there are many other reasons to attend college. This message of money and success devalued the why behind a college degree. It was not until I was in my third year of college that I understood my purpose for college, and this newfound purpose is what motivated me in my time at school.
Know Your Purpose
I tell this story because we all work for a reason. Our purpose behind working can be anything: provide for family, serve the client, make a lot of money, be the CEO of a company, help the community—the list goes on. Your purpose(s) may change, but it consciously and subconsciously drives how you live your life.
Credera’s Purpose
At Credera, we work for a purpose that is greater than ourselves. Our vision calls us to “pursue a higher consulting standard with an eternal perspective,” and our mission statement is that we strive to “provide exceptional consulting services that create value for our clients and growth opportunities for our employees while serving our communities in life-impacting ways.” I have found a lot of purpose in both our vision and mission statements and this purpose-driven work environment Credera fosters enables us to be successful.
Serving our clients is one of my favorite parts of the job. Even though the work itself might not always be the most glamorous, I know I wake up with the opportunity to provide value to my client and this gives me a lot of purpose. At Credera, our “clients hire us to own their toughest challenges. They retain us because we keep our promises.” We want to provide for our clients because we value what they do and the products and services they provide their customers. Our goal is to provide more than monetary value to our clients, even though the consulting industry might say otherwise. Our higher purpose compels us to value the relationships we cultivate and the societal impact of our clients’ products and services.
Individual Purpose
Credera is better able to serve clients because we hire exceptional individuals who are passionate about what they do and who they do it with. On my first day with Credera, I was paired with a mentor, Bryan Plantes. From the first week, Bryan has gone out of his way to serve me. Whether I need help with a data migration or a difficult situation, Bryan makes himself available to me. This mentorship, which is much bigger than work itself, is extremely valuable and not only gives me purpose, but Bryan finds purpose in it as well.
Bryan is not the only person who has been helpful. Every coworker I email, text, call, or tap on the shoulder responds and is willing to help. Individuals go out of their way to serve me and because of this, I try to make myself more available to my coworkers. I want the people I work with to succeed, and others want the same for me. This gives me great purpose, because at the end of the day, I am working for something and someone that is much bigger than myself.
Looking Beyond Ourselves
Credera has been blessed with a lot, and to whom much is given, much is required. Because we believe this to be true, Credera strives to be active in the community. We have one company-wide service day a year and groups within the firm organize other smaller service opportunities throughout the year. Whether we are using our technical skills to develop an application for a local nonprofit or picking up trash in an underserved part of town, Credera is invested in the community. Serving causes that are much bigger than ourselves provides us with purpose, and this higher purpose is what makes Credera great.
I believe individuals who work at Credera consistently live out the firm’s mission. We aim to selflessly serve our clients, the people we work with, and our communities. Even though we all come from different backgrounds, are different ages, and have other purposes that help drive our lives, we are united by a common company vision and it is lived out from the top down. We are not a perfect company. We are an imperfect company composed of imperfect people, but we are driven by a strong purpose.
LIFE AT CREDERA
We’re “open-sourcing” the Credera culture in a series called Life at Credera. We are sharing an authentic perspective on what we are learning and where we are growing. We are talking about friendships and fun, growth, higher purpose, talent and character, leadership, and communication.
We hope this series is a helpful resource on the continuous pursuit of a great culture. And we hope the results are encouraging to our company, employees, clients, and friends.
Looking for more? Check out these great Life at Credera perspectives:
Contact Us
Ready to achieve your vision? We're here to help.
We'd love to start a conversation. Fill out the form and we'll connect you with the right person.
Searching for a new career?
View job openings
