Here’s A Peek Through The Epic Gates Of One Of Malta’s Most Creative Companies
They say first impressions are everything, and when it comes to the Malta offices of Casumo, the first thing you see is a grand wooden door entrance straight out of Lord of the Rings. This already says a lot about this forward-thinking company that was founded on the island six years ago.
“We call it our castle,” says the Casumo website about their HQ. And they’ve taken that spirit quite literally.
As you walk through the gates, it kind of feels like you’re passing through a super secret entrance to Narnia. Not a bad way to kickstart your day.
Casumo’s mantra is to ensure that employees are encouraged to get their creative juices flowing and the HQ is their sanctuary. So once you’re through the gates, you’re met with a super funky jelly-bean reception area.
The first thing we notice once inside are the colourful carpets. It turns out they’re a heatmap of the most walked on paths. How cool is that?
We also spot a few giant helium-balloon numbers floating around. These are for employees celebrating their work-aversary, and the number correlates to the amount of years they’ve been working there. Because any excuse is a good excuse to celebrate with balloons!
Plants, plants and more plants!
Plants in the working environment brighten up your day (we’re not lying, it’s science) and the Casumo office definitely has its plant game on point, with over 600 plants.
Casumo also has a dedicated Employee Experience Department that is solely focused on, well, making the employees’ experience great. It has HR professionals, Story-Tellers who are responsible with getting peoples’ stories and sharing them across the company, and the Unforgettable Journey team, which includes an interior designer, chefs and event planners.
Add to that some in-house chefs and event planners, and Casumo is basically guaranteeing an unforgettable experience for anyone who works here.
Breakfast, the most important meal of the day
Breakfast is served every morning at the amazing canteen, the Odditorium Eatery. Workers get fresh fruit, nuts (all throughout the day), juices and infused water. Meanwhile, the chef starts working on lunch. The only downside is the aroma that will have you salivating.
We were also told about their regular Friday afternoon fika, the Swedish socialising tradition (though we were told they actually have beer for this one).
We said this before and we’ll say it again: attention to detail is key and pleasantly appreciated
Casumo has its own Odditorium, a place that is used for company presentations and, wait for it, playing video games. Under the theatre, there is a little black room which is both a meeting space and an area used to showcase Casumo artefacts, such as awards and trophies. The black, soundproof velvet curtains which encase this room, are the same as used in the Oslo Opera House.
They’re definitely all for that ‘hard work and hard play’ culture
And this is evident throughout the whole office. There is a pool and ping pong table, video games and guitars to play with.
The guys at Casumo strongly believe that play encourages creativity and talent. This level of trust places responsibility on the staff and in turn yields more respect and employee retention.
Plus, who wouldn’t want the opportunity to settle an argument with a colleague over some table tennis?!
Working lunch is a real thing, and it’s amazing
At 1pm, we headed to the much anticipated Casumo lunch.
The company chef cooks a super gourmet lunch two to three times a week, ringing the bell so that everyone comes to the common area to play, eat and socialise.
Time to chill out
The Eatery has an area which is perfect for anyone who wants to lay off some steam. There is also a first aid station which is great because it caters for the 200+ staff and also expecting mothers who feel safe in working for as long as they want into their pregnancy.
Then, we grabbed our laptop and some slippers we found and had a real zen work mode moment.
Time to leave…
All good things must come to an end, so at 4pm we had to bounce.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to do yoga with everyone (yes, they have team yoga), but before we left we got to speak to Dan, who is the Design Lead.
“The office aims to inspire creativity and make employees feel at home since people spend so much of their time at work- it’s a large percentage of their life,” he told Lovin Malta.
It’s clear that Casumo, which also has offices in Barcelona, prioritises its employees over anything else. They are encouraged to rotate and try different roles within the company for their personal growth. The office is open plan to encourage discussion, but there are also focus pods for those who need to sit down and concentrate on their tasks.
Employees are encouraged to go to conferences locally and abroad, and Casumo itself holds in-house sessions for their staff to flourish.
If that’s not mentoring, I don’t know what is.
It’s not just about the snazzy offices though. What’s really important is their work ethos and how they treat staff. They focus on value produced rather than hours put in, and the employees are encouraged to come up with crazy ideas and pursue them. The offices are ever-changing to reflect the team’s new ideas.
Want to work here? Get in line!