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Last Saturday’s Unforgettable Team Building Event: Paintball and Dinner!

Last Saturday, we had an epic team building event that combined paintball adventure with a relaxed outdoor dinner. It was a day filled with laughter, camaraderie, and some unforgettable battle scars (aka bruises!)

We even invited our Crossers’ partners to join in the fun because, hey, Saturdays are all about family time!
Armed with paintball gear and fueled by excitement, we formed teams and strategized for an intense battle. And guess what? To double the fun, partners joined in too, playing on opposing teams!

The games were fierce but also showed off our team’s amazing teamwork and determination. After all the excitement, our growling stomachs led us to an outdoor dining area right where the paintball action took place. Picture long tables, great food, and a laid-back atmosphere where we laughed, shared stories, and relived the awesome moments of the day. Sounds great, right?

This day reminded us that we’re not just colleagues, but a tight-knit family on this journey together. It’s all about building connections, having a blast, and creating memories that will bond us forever.

Focus on well-being and Personal development
Crossjoin presents a culture focused on people, their well-being, and their development.

In addition to the investment in training, through the Crossmind Academy, there is a series of initiatives and benefits that aim to improve the experience of employees inside and outside the company. At Crossjoin, personal development gains increased importance, because this fact contributes to the performance of employees.
Susana Pires, a senior consultant in the area of Recruitment, Fidelization & Recognition at Crossjoin, explains to Human the different elements that make this company a Great Place to Work.

How does Crossjoin distinguish itself as a great place to work?

Everything starts with a differentiating Welcome on Board and an Integration process that aims to reinforce our history, culture, conduct, policies, and DNA. In this welcome, we give a tour of the center, introduce our new colleagues and hand out a welcome kit. The arrival of a new Crosser is communicated to the whole company through a welcome e-mail and publication in the internal chat.

Our technology center was created to provide the best experience, with excellent working conditions, and is located in a place with good access and parking, outside the hustle and bustle of Lisbon. We have a gym right across the street. We recently expanded our space in Almada and improved our Hub in Aveiro to have exactly the same working conditions and for everyone to feel comfortable in what is “their second home”.

Besides, we have several benefits, such as a training plan, health insurance extendible to the family, the offer of monthly gym fees, and a network of partners with online pharmacies, opticians, MEO, dentists and restaurants. We also have six consultations a year in five different specialties – nutrition, psychology, legal/legal, financial/tax, and psychosocial support – for Crosser’s family.

On birthdays we send a congratulatory e-mail and offer a gift check. We also have snacks and Nespresso coffee available to all employees in our pantry every day. We organize several events so that we can get to know each other better in a more informal atmosphere, such as Christmas events where employees bring their families, summer events with team building activities, and happy hours. Some of these events are face-to-face, while others are remote so that we can have the participation of colleagues who are geographically dispersed. Team unity and cohesion are fundamental for us. We also hold our kick-offs every three months, where we have several communications from our CEO and the people in charge of some areas to the employees.

What is the company’s current People Management strategy?

When we talk about people management at Crossjoin, we talk about attracting talent, keeping and continuously recognizing our people, and investing in their growth and development. It is fundamental to surround ourselves with people with the same cultural fit and the training in our CrossMind Academy is essential, because it is during this period that the employee gets to know our culture, practices, and methodologies. Crossjoin’s CEO makes a point of being, every Friday, at the Academy, in order to listen to each new employee and share his experience, valuing the practicality of the values, principles, tools, and methodologies that constitute the teachings of the Academy’s program.

The alignment of our people is essential for their retention and productivity. In addition to alignment, the Crosser needs to feel motivated and challenged. The nature of our business helps here. We are an international company focused on the performance of information systems, and we operate in several industries.
Our Crossers are constantly challenged with multiple technologies, and there is a world of opportunity for skill development. We do not follow a hierarchical pyramid organization model. We are a self-managed company and this makes everyone feel more committed, and we are much more agile in managing change. We have an informal, collaborative, and attractive environment.

What are the best practices that have been highlighted in this area?

Professional development is becoming increasingly important in our lives, and our company takes this into account. We have a single, cross-company career plan (CP) and an individual development plan (IDP) that aim to help our co-workers progress and ensure timely recognition for all Crossers. Our career plan contains clear, objective, and transparent criteria for promotion and different benefits depending on the level. For example, electric cars, bonuses, and bonuses/profit sharing. So that everyone can feel part of the company and also feel that we are here paying attention to all the factors that may affect their personal and professional performance, we created the performance coaching sessions, where employees are guided by a professional in the area who will help unblock challenges, bring clarity and even solutions so that the Crosser can perform his function motivated and in balance. We promote the development and growth of technology but also social skills.
Such practices allow our people to believe in and manage their careers and, consequently, their recognition.

How does the introduction of new working models relate to these good practices?

The opening of our technology hub allowed us to streamline and better structure the process, and it is definitely paying off. As long as there is transparent communication, an alignment regarding the purpose is easily adjusted. The new graduates that enter our Academy have face-to-face training. Considering that they are starting their professional career, the accompaniment of a mentor is essential to prepare and integrate them into projects. They themselves recognize and value it. With the other employees, it is up to the teams to manage and decide on the working model according to individual needs, clients, or projects. They can be onsite, remote, or hybrid. There is flexibility and freedom with responsibility for the delivery that impacts our client.

What challenges do these new work models present to your People Management area?

We have geographically dispersed teams and therefore our People Management area has always been attentive and sought to implement follow-up and engagement measures. The way to respond to these challenges is to maintain workforce management policies aimed at maximizing work productivity and team cohesion, always respecting the life balance of our employees.
Regular and transparent monitoring and communication are crucial. At Crossjoin we have a Quality Management department that supports our employees in ensuring quality from four quadrants: client, staff, budget, and documentation compliance.

We also have a specific department where we analyze our employees’ satisfaction regarding life balance, recognition, work environment, and communication. Quarterly, we collect feedback from all Crossers so we can act immediately, raising actions for the improvement and well-being of employees without jeopardizing the performance of the projects and our clients.

In the current context, what kind of programs are promoted in the area of People Management?

As for programs, we maintain CrossMind, a personal development project started last year that aims to develop and achieve a High-Performance mentality through coaching tools. We also continue to have a major investment in the areas of innovation and research development, where we allocate employees to maturing ideas and own initiatives. Innovation and Research Development are the areas that Crossers most value, and the CrossMind project also promises to continue to bear good fruit.

What programs/benefits do employees value most?

Without a doubt, the investment made by Cross in the training plan established for each person is recognized as being a tool for career growth, as are the moments of evaluation that provide a better understanding and direction in each person’s career progression. They also value internal training given by colleagues so that they can learn more about a particular technology developed by a colleague. We give them the opportunity to develop different projects, get to know different technologies, and thus easily adapt to different contexts. Learning and evolution are constant.

How do you see the issue of work-life balance at a time when many employees’ homes are also their offices?

Since we have a self-managed oriented organization, Crossers gain the power and responsibility of managing their own time and work which together with the values of integrity, sustainability, communication, transparency, diligence, and company principles make them responsible for ensuring and managing their own life balance.

How does this People Management strategy serve to circumvent the talent shortage?

We reinforce the investment in our Academy to provide our “One Team” with qualified talent. However, we work to ensure that our employees identify with the company’s purpose and culture and that they feel, in fact, in the Best Workplace. We also recognize the growing challenge of maintaining a cohesive company identity and culture, to which we respond by adapting and strengthening the practices described here.

Human Resources Portugal Magazine
April 2023

“Cybersecurity is a never-ending marathon”

A good knowledge of defense and attack techniques is fundamental to guarantee security in companies, regardless of their size and sector of activity. To win this race it is necessary to create a culture of knowledge in society.

The topic of cybersecurity gained relevance with the pandemic and with a greater digitalization of companies and processes. As an IT consultant, how does Crossjoin evaluate the current panorama of cybersecurity in companies in Portugal?

Portugal has been no exception when it comes to increased investment in cybersecurity. With Covid-19, companies were forced to adapt to a new reality, reinventing how they work and how they relate. This new normal has potentialized risks, often overlooked, and introduced challenges to operations, such as the massification of remote work, adoption of collaborative tools, software/infrastructure as a service (SaaS/IaaS), Cloud Computing, among others. With increased exposure and the escalation of cyber threats, there has been a trend of increased visibility of the population regarding the dangers in the use of technology, a greater attention to the risks of leakage and loss of information, especially in light of regulations such as the RGPD, and the impact that may have on business. This justifies, in part, the increased demand for information security professionals, especially in the area of cybersecurity, as well as the adoption of international standards as a reference of best practices, for example ISO/IEC 27001, which is an international reference standard for information security management. Crossjoin understands that it is imperative to protect against cyber and information security risks and, for this reason, we invest in improvements with the adoption of an information security culture, demonstrated with the continuous audits under our ISO/IEC 27001 certification. In addition, we reinforce this need with our customers and partners, since an increase in investments in this area is perceptible, but still insufficient against the level of attacks to which they are subject.

Is there a growing awareness of the dangers and an increased investment in cybersecurity solutions in organizations?

We consider that there has been progress in society’s self-awareness, as a result of their experience as victims of cyberattacks/burglars, but also thanks to the increase in media coverage of cyberattacks. However, in general, society is still not properly aware of the precautions to take regarding data exposure and transmission, nor of the impact that certain cybersecurity attacks can have on their lives. For this reason, we still see a lot of cases due to lack of attention or carelessness. Unfortunately, many companies do not pay enough attention to the topic of cybersecurity, data privacy and/or do not have the financial capacity to educate themselves or prepare for threats, for example, exposure of critical customer data.

Is the myth that cyberattacks only happen in big companies outdated?

Attacks on large companies end up gaining greater notoriety in the media for their direct impact, seen in the financial values and users affected. On the other hand, small companies are not immune, suffer from attacks at scale and become the choice of strategy by opportunistic attackers who exploit technical vulnerabilities, especially with the lack of capacity to invest in technology, as well as social engineering attacks and with the lack of an information security culture.

Portugal has been one of the countries in the world with the most cyberattacks. Why does this happen?

In 2022, Portugal was the third country in Europe with the most cyberattacks, with those with the greatest impact having the purpose of exfiltrating information. This is due to a sum of several factors, among the main ones being the lack of awareness of the care to be taken regarding the exposure and transmission of data or its impacts by the Portuguese. In addition, outdated or discontinued/unmaintained or improperly maintained software increases the attack surface. However, it was not only our country that was the target of an increase in cyberattacks, in fact, this phenomenon was observed worldwide.

There is a lot of talk about the lack of literacy of users who continue to be the ‘weakest link’ in cyberattacks. What can and should be done to change this picture?

The truth is that a large portion of cyberattacks stem from social engineering, such as phishing attacks. These attacks have a high success rate, because the digital society is not sufficiently prepared to recognize them. Although the investment required to mitigate these types of attacks is low compared to other types of attack, it is an action that requires the creation of a culture of care with information security, in which concerns are daily and continuous. Thus, the best defense against social engineering attacks, more specifically phishing, is awareness. But this awareness should not be restricted to corporate environments and companies. Awareness about information security principles, safe surfing, social networking security, as well as the possible threats, types of attacks and effects, should start as early as possible. Exposure to the Internet and the digital world starts earlier and earlier, so care and awareness should start with the youngest, in public society, schools, universities, etc.

What support can Crossjoin provide to companies in this regard?

In the same way that technology is constantly evolving, forcing a rapid response when it comes to cybersecurity, the services provided in this area also evolve. We continuously evolve our information security and cybersecurity services in order to incorporate this component in any kind of project. Thus, we help our clients with an Information Security By Default & By Design approach, with the integration of information security into processes, as well as development security audits and consulting, with integration of security into the application flow. With current trends, we can also assist with the integration of SaaS and Cloud solutions, with ‘Cloud Security’ analysis and diagnostics, as well as a dedicated information security management service (‘Information Management Security Check’).

Internally, Crossjoin has a security skills center. What is the role of this center?

Internally, we have our own cybersecurity competence center (SIG = Special Interest Group) that allows us to constantly update and improve on cybersecurity issues, both for internal consumption and for our customers. Our responsibilities are the security of our information, investing in a highly specialized team in this area, raising awareness among our employees and preventing threats, with the aim of minimizing the risks of possible attacks and their respective impacts.

What differentiates your offer in such a competitive sector?

Our offer differs from the rest of the industry in the methodology and culture that defines the approach to problems. We define the goal, what we need to achieve that goal, and then the path to the goal, never making assumptions. This approach allows us to arrive at the most viable solution and to be able to solve problems considered impossible by many others in our industry.

What are your internal challenges, and what are the challenges facing organizations in general when it comes to cybersecurity?

Our challenges are the same as in other organizations: keeping up to date with the new technologies that are developed every day, and keeping all our employees prepared for possible attack attempts.

What warnings would you leave to entrepreneurs on the subject of security?

The warning we leave is to always be on alert and in continuous evolution. Cybersecurity is a never-ending marathon, in which our adversary only has to outrun us by a millimeter, once, to win it. We have to be always ready and always on the alert when using cyberspace. That’s why it’s necessary to always be up-to-date with new technologies and new methods of defense and attack that are developed.

SIG team in Exame Informática

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“Crossjoin’s Competence Center has grown over the years”

The European Commission has designated 2023 as the European Year of Skills. The goal is to promote lifelong learning and the development of important skills in the labor market. As an Architect & Academy Mentor at Crossjoin, and aware of the rapid changes in the market, how important will this year be for professionals, companies, and sectors?

The referred goal of the European Commission to promote lifelong learning reinforces what Crossjoin believes, that the challenge of training must be continuous in the information age in which we live.
Crossjoin has long been committed to the continuous learning of its employees, in order to ensure its growth and to provide our customers with the solutions that are best for their needs.
This need for continuous training arose naturally in Crossjoin, due to who we are and what we do. We are a company that optimizes the performance of information systems, operating in various sectors, such as telecommunications, health, automotive, insurance, among others, and in several countries, both in Europe and abroad. The adaptation and learning to new systems, platforms, work tools, multiple technologies, ways to communicate and better manage time and work is constant.
Our talents need to be constantly updated and up to date with market trends.
This year, the trend in IT continues to be disruptive technologies such as those associated with machine learning and blockchain, in addition to changes in the deployment model of information systems with the growth of “Software as a Service” and other cloud-based services. Based on this trend, Crossjoin invests, above all, in the training and development of its people.
Companies that do not yet share this mindset of constant adaptation and training will not be able to compete with other companies, where this awareness is already rooted and where they already put it into practice. There is a shortage of professionals in several areas and especially in the IT area, and as such it is necessary to develop new skills in professionals to be able to fill certain needs. The Z and Milliennials generations are generations where this adaptability is more normalized and where they themselves have sought constant learning, so it is necessary to support some companies to change the mindset by developing their people.
The aforementioned goal of promoting lifelong learning highlights that the challenge of training is continuous, in the information age in which we live, hence Crossjoin’s investment in the continuous learning and growth of its employees, in order to provide our customers with solutions that are the best fit for their needs.

Right is, long before 2023 was established as the European Year of Skills, Crossjoin was already walking hand in hand with the proposed goals for the coming months. As part of the company’s success, in what ways has the Competence Center been the key change in approaching multi-technological challenges?

Crossjoin’s Competence Center has grown over the years in its ability to provide, with its multidisciplinary team, best of breed solutions. In place of segregation by mission, the skills center allows for rapid scaling of effort when missions demand it, and facilitates the sharing of multi-technological and multi-project knowledge and experience. Additionally, it allows for nurturing and development of more junior staff, working side by side with more experienced team members. We believe that the Academy is also an essential factor in this approach, in that it trains the most recent arrivals at Crossjoin, equipping them with the tools, methodologies and working methods essential for their work in the Competence Center and, in the case of recent college graduates, in the world of work in general.

Currently, Crossjoin’s Competence Center has a strong connection with Universities and Institutes. Is it legitimate to say that this connection is aligned with the objective of the European Year of Skills to attract people with the necessary skills from other geographies, facilitating their mobility and the recognition of their qualifications? Why is this essential for Crossjoin?

Yes, it is aligned. Crossjoin has invested in recent years in Almada, which gives us a high reach in greater Lisbon and the district of Setúbal, and in Aveiro, with the creation of our Technological Centers. These centers aim to enhance the excellence of our Competence Center with the best working conditions, enable us to continue to grow our teams and allow greater proximity to Universities and Institutes.
Our teams are geographically dispersed; we have teams working in several countries, such as Chile, Canada, Belgium, and Portugal, working in person, remotely, and in hybrid form, which is why we are completely open to continue hiring from various geographies.
As for the recognition of their qualifications, it is one of our practices that regardless of geographic area, client, project, everyone follows the same career management practices. There is a career plan at Crossjoin transversal to all areas and there is an individual development plan, where each person knows how to progress and where the training needs indicated by him, or by his mentor, are specified. There are also definitions of expectations depending on the projects, as well as continuous feedback.
These practices are fundamental to Crossjoin, because we believe that personal and professional development, as well as continuous monitoring and the well-being of our talents is fundamental to their retention and engagement.

Furthermore, Crossjoin ensures that its purpose is to hire and build skills for the future in an area where there is a gap between market needs and graduates. What gap are we talking about?

The IT market continues to grow and there is a great need for qualified resources in all areas. Naturally, the most disruptive technologies, mentioned above, will receive special attention given the predictable growth in the need for qualified resources.
Besides the technological aspect, there is a big gap between recent college graduates and market needs, which is traditionally filled through years of experience. Our Academy aims to mentor recent graduates and masters, in order to more quickly give them the tools and enable them to fully integrate into the labor market.

According to the European Commission, in 2021, there were labour shortages in professions related to construction, healthcare, engineering and information technology. Two years later and, currently, with this focus on promoting increased, effective and inclusive investment in training and improving skills, do you think that, in Crossjoin, this shortage still exists? What needs to be improved?

While there is a need for manpower in the information technology market in which Crossjoin finds itself, training is not only a necessity, given the company’s continued growth, it is also an opportunity to enhance further growth.

This innovative mindset has also allowed Crossjoin to stay abreast of issues such as the ecological and digital transition. Do you see both of these as creating opportunities for people and the economy in the European Union? How has the company embraced these important fields for the European Year of Skills?

The continued shift of a large part of human activities to the digital world increasingly increases not only the size of the market, but also the relevance of our performance services, given the challenges of scalability of platforms and the increasingly important need for a latency-free user experience for an increasingly demanding world of technology users.
The green transition has not only been embraced from the point of view of internal practice (the company’s cars are electric and the Technology Park in Almada was built and decorated with sustainable materials, for example), but also raises interesting challenges from the point of view of IT at various levels, for example concern with the continuous growth of energy consumption of data centers around the world increases the global “carbon footprint” highlighting the need for optimization services, which often offer dramatic gains in energy consumption without loss of functionality.

The year 2023 will be, for everything mentioned here, dedicated to skills, training, people, innovation and sustainability. On this note, what plan has been drawn up for the coming months for Crossjoin?

Without going into too much detail I can say that Crossjoin has increased the number of employees by 50% in one year, and we don’t intend to stop there. However, we will as always ensure that growth is done in a sustainable way, hence our continued investment in ensuring that we are able to develop as many skills as possible, not only in the ongoing training of our Crossjoiners, but also by training newcomers in Crossjoin’s methodology, and in the necessary technological components, and inviting newcomers to help enrich and diversify our knowledge base.

Revista Pontos de Vista
by Beatriz Quintal
Read full interview

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“CrossMind Academy live the Experience”

Crossjoin Academy arises as an opportunity to integrate ourselves into the company by learning new technologies and Crossjoin’s methodology.

All the technologies present in the Academy are the future of the company and have a great impact on the technology market. The Academy purpose is to delegate us the responsibility of knowing how to manage a project and to demonstrate determination and resilience to achieve the proposed goals so that, in the end, we are prepared to integrate the client’s structure.

In 2021, after finishing my degree in Information Systems Management, I was trained in a new technology for me and the company, aligned with the motto “Perform to Perfection”. Robotic Process Automation is a technology that allows to increase the performance of the company through the automation of transactional processes performed by people. In this way, the technology allows business areas to perform tasks that require their unique skills by allowing robots to perform routine tasks.

By joining the Crossjoin Academy I had the opportunity to integrate all phases of the RPA process, such as: Requirements Analysis, Design, Development and Delivery and Maintenance processes. 

This allowed me to develop my skills in all the phases necessary for the RPA process development and gave me a foundation for my career path. It opened doors for me to be a member of our Competence Center.

I seized the opportunity to be part of the Crossjoin family in May 2021 and joined the Academy, being able to carry out two projects.

Both projects were aimed at developing my skills and preparing my responsiveness to the needs of the company. It was a unique opportunity to explore the most diverse technologies and to be able to design and develop my own projects.

At this moment I am already working for a client and I can make a brief retrospective about the impact that the Academy had on my career path.

Crossjoin Academy is excellent for those who, with or without professional experience, want to gain a brutal knowledge of emerging technologies, often already used by the client, and polish some soft skills in order to deal with the client in a professional and objective way. In the Academy we also have the possibility to get used to the platforms used by the client and the project we will be part of.

Regardless of the situation, the Academy is a space where we can explore and put into practice Crossjoin’s methodology, understand its principles and values, learn key activities that take place at the client and new technologies, through monitoring the projects of the rest of the team.

It was a very positive and vital experience for my professional and personal growth. I was finally able to acquire more specialized knowledge and practice to become a DBA, knowledge that my course did not provide. I now feel more secure about my abilities and the value that I will deliver to the company.

Between Crossmind Academy and her work as a DBA Mariana still finds time to make a small appearance in our corporate video.Would you like to join our CrossMind Academy? Visit our website to learn more about our academy or send a direct shout-out to our recruitment team.Also visit our social networks and take a peek into the daily lives of the IT Kenshis.

Would you like to join our CrossMind Academy? Visit our website to learn more about our academy or send a direct shout-out to our recruitment team.

Also visit our social networks and take a peek into the daily life of the IT Kenshis.