Entering through the glass doors of a corporate building, I expected nothing less than a dull monotony. However, I discovered upon closer inspection that instead of a boring office building, I had entered a comfortable, healthy, work environment. Rather than simply shadowing my dad on “take your kid to work day,” I took this as an opportunity to interview the employees of GMS on their thoughts about their work environment.
The response I received was overwhelmingly positive. One might expect Mike Kahoe, president of GMS, to speak highly of the company, calling it a “friendly, cheerful environment.” But what one might not always expect is for the rest of GMS to speak of it just as highly.
For example, I interviewed Director of Wellness Julie James. To paraphrase, she described the environment as a healthy, friendly place with countless amenities to allow people to feel less stressed and more disconnected from electronics in such a tech-heavy industry. These amenities include, but are not limited to a yoga room, a healthy kitchen, and a cafeteria that allows for socialization with fellow coworkers.
Others shared this sentiment, including Beth Kohmann, vice president of benefits. She described the culture at GMS as one of openness towards coworkers, where people view their colleagues as friends. She went on to describe the environment as being very fluid, meaning that while employees are obviously held accountable for their job, they are also free to socialize and move about the office and build these relationships.
Jumping off of that, one of the things I noticed was how friendly everyone was to someone younger than them. I felt welcomed and like I could carry a conversation with the people there without having them talk down to me because of my age. It felt good.
Tim Austin, vice president of sales, stated that the company was not only friendly, but also lively and energetic. I experienced this as well, seeing that among all the employees there, I was not significantly younger than a portion of their workforce.
There seemed to be a lot of commonalities in my conversations with employees across the board. It came off as a very supportive place where everyone worked to help each other succeed. Going along with this, Will Hart, vice president of tax, sees GMS as a place where the employees are very team oriented. I can’t help but agree with this, given the fact that throughout my day there I noticed a strong team dynamic amongst all the employees I met.
All in all, the response I received from the employees of GMS was an overwhelmingly positive one. Throughout all of my conversations, not one person had a single bad thing to say about the company. I couldn’t blame them for speaking so highly of their environment. In my experience there, the atmosphere was incredibly friendly and welcoming to someone who was so much younger than those around me.
No longer were the glass doors an entrance to a dreadfully dull monotony. They had become doors to a world of ambition. They were an entrance to a place of friendliness and comradery – a passage towards optimism and opportunity.
Want to join the GMS family? Check out our current openings and apply to GMS today!