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Meet Erika – Head of People and Culture

Years at Metasite

3+

In one word

Upbeat

Next to learn

Mindfulness

After leading one of Metasite’s engineering teams, Erika transitioned into her current role as Head of People and Culture. A truly nurturing spirit, she expertly guides colleagues to improve their skills and advance their careers. Read on to learn what inspires Erika.

Erika Samuolė - Head Of People and Culture at Metasite

The world of work was redefined last year. How has your team adapted?

The main change is that everyone – not just HR teams – must now be more flexible and open to new ideas, potential improvements, and alternative ways of working. In 2020, we all had to quickly adapt to the new reality, especially in terms of working remotely.

It’s continuous learning while doing. We constantly improve the way we work together and adjust internal initiatives so that our people don’t lose that great feeling of being part of the Metasite family and remember to have fun while working. Now more than ever, creating an inclusive internal culture is essential.

Teamwork, being able to utilise professional skills, and feeling that we contribute to a mutual goal are the factors that create our strong culture. That’s why my team focuses so much on nurturing our people – supporting their professional growth and providing an encouraging environment where feedback and new ideas can be confidently voiced.

Erika Samuolė - Head Of People and Culture at Metasite

What fuels professional growth at Metasite?

I believe curiosity is among the key things that fuels growth – no wonder it is one of the core values at Metasite!

Our people are encouraged to share their experience and insights in internal workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions on a regular basis. The topics vary greatly – from broad post-project discussions featuring lessons learned to in-depth architecture and technical setup reviews. For example, the most recent sessions covered the best practices of testing with Cypress and the upcoming changes in Google Web Analytics.

We’re also proud of competence communities at Metasite – such as QA, JAVA, .NET and others – where competence-related topics are discussed. In these sessions, colleagues share about adapting specific tools, libraries or skills while working on different projects for our clients.

Some teams set their own goals in relation to trying something new and thus contribute to R&D activities, such as:

  • Using a new UI kit, Flutter, for one of the projects;
  • Developing a bespoke Application Tracking System so that our IT recruiters sharpen their project management skills while frontend engineers gain some backend development experience;
  • Exploring the different CMS options and building a POC using Strapi, etc.

People and Culture Team at Metasite

Why does HR tickle your fancy?

Unleashing other people’s potential is a key motivator for me! :) Usually, it’s not difficult to help someone grow within their area of expertise – it’s all about mutual trust and open communication. By carefully listening to a colleague, I identify the “blockers” that prevent progress. These are typically related to soft skills such as planning, prioritisation and communication skills, or hard skills, which are competence-related. Once the “blockers” are identified, it is relatively easy to come up with a plan to eliminate them.

What’s next on your “to-learn” bucket list?

There’s a fairly new buzzword in business: mindfulness in the workplace. I’d like to learn the basics of what it is and apply it to my everyday work. Also, I’ve discovered a new hobby and have recently started growing grapevines! No doubt, there’s a lot to learn – constructing a trellis, pruning, cluster thinning, and more 😉

Who/what inspires you?

I’m inspired by nature. At first glance, it looks peaceful and calm. However, nature is very determined (think about how grass or a tree can grow through a pavement), yet it is fragile and beautiful. I feel both “recharged” and inspired by observing how something grows or how leaves move when the wind blows. Many ideas come to my mind or are decided upon while I’m outside in a park or a forest.

What does #metasitelife feel like for you?

I feel comfort knowing that I’m surrounded by dedicated, smart, and helpful colleagues.

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