10 Reasons Why Aware is a Top Place to Work

At Aware, we put our company culture first. That’s why we’ve been named one of 2023’s Best Workplaces by Inc. Magazine. Here are ten ways we prioritize company culture and celebrate our employees as people.

What does company culture look like to you? Is it words printed on a wall — a mission statement on your website — a motto or slogan? At Aware, we think it has to go deeper than that. To build a great company culture and become somewhere that people want to work, you have to define who you are, believe what you say, and then deliberately cultivate and protect your culture with every move you make.

Here are just ten of the ways we shape the award-winning culture at Aware.

1. We start with great leadership
2. We’re driven by our values
3. Our office is where employees want to be
4. We deliver on employee experience
5. We listen to what our people say
6. We get to push the envelope with cutting-edge tech and AI
7. Every day we’re working with world-class brands
8. Dogs. ‘Nuff said
9. We know how to unwind in style
10. We use our own product to protect our people

Reason 1: We start with great leadership

At Aware, we lead from the front. Transparency, trust, and empowerment aren’t just buzzwords, but a code we live by every day. That’s why Aware CEO and co-founder, Jeff Schumann, was recognized in the 2023 Purpose Awards as a top purpose-driven leader, and by Goldman Sachs as one of 2022’s Exceptional Entrepreneurs.

What does transparency, trust, and empowerment look like at Aware? It’s bi-weekly all-hands meetings where every employee has a voice and the achievements of individuals are celebrated by the entire company. It’s an open office environment where the leadership team rub shoulders with interns and the newest hires. It’s context-driven decisioning that lets the most informed person own the choices we make, not the most senior. And it’s following our company motto to “always assume positive intent.”

Reason 2: We’re driven by our values

From the very beginning, we’ve been clear about who we are and the kind of company we want to be. Coming from a highly corporate world, Aware’s founders felt the constraints of workplaces that demand conformity. We believe that people can’t perform at full capacity in environments that don’t let them be themselves.

One of the principles we follow at Aware is about living our values. As a technology company that’s on the cutting-edge of elevating the voice of the employee, we prioritize our employee experience above all else, and it has been the driving force behind our growth and success. Ultimately, if employees are happy, they’re getting the support they need, and they can feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work, they’re going to be more engaged and more productive. — Jeff Schumann

We’re all individuals, with unique skills and abilities, and to us it’s common sense to hire the best people and empower them to be who they are. It’s just one reason we were recently named a top mission-driven company. Every day, we strive to protect and improve on what we’ve built by letting our values inform everything we do.

Reason 3: Our office is where employees want to be

Recently voted one of Central Ohio’s coolest offices, the Aware HQ in Columbus’s historic brewery district marries the past and future in a dynamic space where everyone feels comfortable and inspired. We’re strong proponents of remote and hybrid work, and our employees live all across the USA and beyond. Rather than forcing our people into the office, we invested heavily in creating an environment where they choose to be.

That means a kitchen stocked with snacks and drinks. Ergonomic office spaces and cozy nooks. A living moss wall for a dramatic entrance, more plants and greenery to breathe life throughout, and a library where you can relax by the fire. And, in summer, there’s a rooftop patio with full internet access so employees can soak up the sun while they work.

Reason 4: We deliver on employee experience

One of the challenges of hiring a distributed workforce of dynamic individuals is bringing everyone together as a single team, driven toward the same goal. At Aware, that starts with providing an amazing employee experience.

I’m proud to work for a company that goes above and beyond to support its people. We’re not just colleagues, we’re friends. — Sarah Morgan, Onboarding & Employee Engagement

In addition to leadership recognition during our all-hands meetings, we also encourage our people to celebrate each other through our #kudos Slack channel. In the four years since the very first kudos was sent, Aware employees have celebrated wins big and small an average of 15 times per week. No matter how remote we are, we never forget that we’re #OneTeam, always ready to lift each other up.

Reason 5: We listen to what our people say

No company can meet the needs of all its employees all the time, no matter how awesome they are. Creating open channels for people to give feedback — good and bad — and make suggestions for how to improve and grow is vital to our mission and the future of Aware.

We solicit feedback actively and passively, through public, private, and anonymous channels. Then we hold ourselves accountable by responding publicly and being as open and transparent as possible with our answers.

Reason 6: We get to push the envelope with cutting-edge tech and AI

The best people want to work on the hottest technology, and at Aware, we’re pretty dang proud of the innovative AI Data Platform we’re building. Our proprietary artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP) models outperform all the leading competitors. Not even Microsoft or Google can beat us at sentiment scoring — and it’s not even close.

Every day I get to think about how we can use and improve the current state of AI. And then I get to build things that make it easier for others to do the same! — Mike Kearney, Data Scientist

Data scientists and engineers are choosing our tech over the best that Silicon Valley has to offer and constantly pushing the envelope on what’s possible. With the launch of the Aware Context API, we’re able to ingest collaboration data from anywhere and deliver the same incredible AI-infused insights into real-time context at scale.

Reason 7: Every day we’re working with world-class brands

Everybody wants to feel like their work makes a difference. At Aware, it really does. Our customers are among the most recognizable and iconic businesses in the world, and we’re helping them to become better versions of themselves by listening to their people and putting them first.

Partnering with iconic brands is so much fun and it's empowering knowing that my contribution is helping the success of an organization. I love being a part of a team that supports a brand's mission and values, ultimately helping to make a positive impact. — Ali Flynn, Customer Success

For our customers' employees, that means a better working experience at a company that listens to your voice, values your input, and ensures you’re protected and supported in the workplace. Check out some of our customer stories to hear firsthand how Aware is transforming the working lives of millions of people around the globe.

Reason 8: Dogs. ‘Nuff said

We run a dog-friendly office, and we love all our furry and feathered friends! (Just don’t ask us about the time someone brought their cat to work….)

Reason 9: We know how to unwind in style

However much our employees love their jobs, we know everyone needs downtime. To encourage employees to take a load off, we’ve built an office filled with relaxing spaces — including our exclusive bourbon room. There, anyone can kick back with a glass of premium whiskey and savor a moment.

I'm grateful to be part of a company that values the true secret to success: happy and healthy employees. As a proponent of mental health, it's helpful to have so many amenities that we may often take for granted. Individuals are in control of how they integrate work with their lifestyle, and we value output over hours.— Alex Weiker, Revenue Operations

Our rooftop patio is an amazing spot to watch Columbus’s Red, White, and BOOM! fireworks display, and we host regular events and outings throughout the year, from skiing and ax-throwing to dinners and dancing. And, of course, we offer unlimited PTO that really is unlimited — and we actively encourage everyone to use it.

Reason 10: We use our own product to protect our people

Our product is at the heart of everything we do. Aware’s collaboration intelligence platform helps major companies improve their employee experience at every level in the modern workplace. We’d be crazy not to use it ourselves! Every day, our technology provides valuable insights into even more ways we can challenge ourselves to be better and do more to support and protect our people.

Conclusion

We may be one of 2023’s Best Workplaces, but our work here is far from done. We’re always learning and growing and looking for new ways to empower our people to be the best they can be. We strongly believe that to create a great product and provide an exceptional customer experience, you need to hire the very best people and inspire them to be their best. To us that’s common sense, and it’s the philosophy the Aware platform was created to support.

Schedule a quick call to learn more about who we are and what we do — and yes, we are hiring!