Purpose-driven companies don’t just have more engaged employees; they outperform their competitors, too.
According to Deloitte research cited by Forbes, purpose-driven companies report a 30 percent increase in innovation rates, as well as a higher annual return on equity than their non-mission-driven peers.
For Senior Systems Engineer Travis, the purpose-driven culture at Caliola Engineering gives him a sense of pride.
“My work gives me a feeling of responsibility to the communications community and our national security, which gives me a sense of pride,” Travis said. “This creates a strong purpose-driven culture, where everyone in the organization understands the gravity and significance of their contributions.”
Caliola Engineering develops secure, resilient communication technologies that support mission-critical operations for national defense.
Tell us about your company’s mission. How does that mission influence the company culture? Did that mission impact your decision to join the team?
Caliola powers our nation’s most mission-critical communications. This plays a central role in shaping the company culture. We have a culture of creativity and problem-solving. We pride ourselves on being customer-centered. We constantly engage with the customer to deliver tailored, high-quality solutions aligned with what the customer truly needs. One of my favorite things is the “brainstorming” meetings which bring together employees from various roles and backgrounds to solve complex issues. They value all employee input which creates a culture of teamwork. This collaborative culture allows us to come up with unique, innovative solutions to meet the customer’s needs. You become part of something much larger than day-to-day tasks.
My work gives me a feeling of responsibility to the communications community and our national security which gives me a sense of pride. This creates a strong purpose-driven culture, where everyone in the organization understands the gravity and significance of their contributions. I love the fact that you can see the results of the products and solutions we deliver. This is the main reason why I made the decision to join Caliola.
From your perspective, how does your work connect to the overall company mission?
As a senior systems engineer at Caliola, my main task is to provide technical engineering support to terminal users accessing a critical satellite communication system. I also provide engineering solutions and test support for troubleshooting, interoperability, integration and architecture design for the terminals and satellites. These tasks directly align with Caliola’s purpose, “to improve and protect our way of life through secure and resilient communications.”
One specific example of supporting the Caliola mission was that I was able to play a significant role in the transition of users on a critical SATCOM system to support expanded capabilities. I personally have been working on this task for over 13 years. One of our customers stated, “this transition is the most significant event for this system since launching the satellites.” The Caliola team and I played a critical role in the success of the transition which was evident with a letter of recognition to our team from our government customer.
What advice would you give a jobseeker hoping to join your company?
If you are considering joining the Caliola team, you will not just need technical skills, but the ability to be resourceful, resilient, adaptable and solution-oriented. You will need good communication skills with not just fellow Caliolians, but with the government customers as well. Be prepared to work or collaborate on several different projects. Most importantly, you would need to be an individual who has a strong commitment to the company’s mission.
