Building the next generation of leadership at Nintex

The nature of work continues to evolve, whether organizations are returning to the office a few days per week, staying fully remote, or something in between. Globally distributed and oftentimes virtual teams, like those at Nintex, enjoy a number of advantages in terms of flexibility and quality of life, but require intentional emphasis on nurturing company culture and career development.

Cultivating connection and confidence

As a long-time distributed organization, Nintex has worked to grow and build leadership through a robust array of formal and informal programs designed for its people at different stages of their careers. Even when physically far apart, Nintex’s future leaders have proven that cultivating connection helps them work better, together.

Max Howells, Director of Regional Sales for Australia and New Zealand, admits that, at first, he wasn’t so sure where his Nintex journey would lead. Hired as an account manager, Max was in his mid-20s, eager to grow into his role, but inexperienced in IT sales. “I was a risk,” he said. “But what I quickly found was that, if you put in the work, Nintex fosters the kind of environment that presents opportunities.”

For Max, many of those opportunities were born through the Nintex Future Leaders Program, where Max grew his management toolbox with the confidence and skills that would ultimately launch the next stage of his career.

“Again, I had no experience, but I had a network of people around me that equipped me to be successful,” he explained. “When I think about this journey, I went from account manager to regional director, in four years. I’ve only just hit thirty-years-old, and I don’t see my career trajectory slowing any time soon.”

Culture of development

In addition to its built-in support system, the Future Leaders Program also helps give a window into how and why Nintex works, allowing newer team members the opportunity to integrate with Nintex’s workflow while finding their sweet spot in the company’s expanding workforce. That opportunity was essential for Andrew Runya Dongo, a Nintex Engineering Manager living in Kuala Lumpur.

“The Future Leaders Program gave me insight into how Nintex values leadership and management styles that are advocated for within the organization,” said Andrew. “These development programs have helped me see how I can approach even the most challenging situations and conversations with respect and consideration, whether that’s dealing with frustrated customers, working through differing opinions among colleagues, or coaching under-performing team members.”

The feedback offered through the program helped him navigate these scenarios and gave him the confidence to aim higher. In just a few short years, Andrew has been promoted twice and sees his new role as a chance to encourage and inspire others on a similar track.

“I think Nintex always looks at succession. They are asking, ‘Who can we help grow and develop along their career path?’” said Andrew. “As someone who has benefitted from this culture, I now actively look at how I can encourage and champion other people’s development.”

Prioritizing excellence in people management

The programs preparing future leaders for growth through the organization, specifically for being great people managers, is a dedicated learning and professional development priority. The course, designed by Ateesha Gersch, Sr. Learning & Development Lead, is designed for those interested in a management or leadership pathway. Ateesha shares, “This training helps individual contributors understand what they need to know, be, and do to effectively manage people at Nintex, with practical skill development to support communication, listening, and feedback, as well as resources to help them get started on their journey to management.”

New manager onboarding is also a major focus. It’s designed for anyone new to a management role, whether as a new employee or someone recently promoted to management. Ateesha explains that it’s also designed as a skillset enhancer and professional network within Nintex. “The training offers theory-based training guidance on tools and processes specific to Nintex as well as network building and information sharing across members of the cohort.”

And the data backs up the continuously improving development efforts. A recent employee experience survey indicated that 93% of Nintex feels like their manager genuinely cares about their wellbeing, and another 86% share that they get useful performance feedback from their manager. One comment indicated that the organization cultivates an environment where colleagues are “empowered to chart our own path to success,” while “encouraging us to speak up about areas for improvement, fostering a supportive and constructive culture. This dynamic atmosphere fuels innovation, unlocking endless opportunities for personal and professional growth.”

Career growth through continuous support and being heard

Many among Nintex’s workforce arrived at the organization via acquisition. Nicolas Martin is one of them.
“I really appreciate the continuous support we get from HR to enable managers as it helps us keep up with changing priorities and the economic and social context that impacts our people,” he shares. “The internal development program is also a very nice recent addition, as it helps employees to reflect about their aspirations for the future of their careers.”

Nicolas has also seen his own ideas, on addressing knowledge and maturity gaps, come to fruition. “Recently, we started an external training as an entire customer success team, with specific modules for managers, that I’d recommended when I was promoted about a year ago. The training is helping us mature our practices and organization in customer success. It’s been very well received by the team and has provided us a different lens through which to advance our careers and customer success excellence.”

Intentional mentorship

Nintex’s mentorship program aims to bring coworkers and colleagues closer together, no matter where they call home.

Mentees get an invaluable look at how their mentors run teams, manage projects, and implement new strategies and skills across multiple platforms, while having exposure to different perspectives on their career ahead.

“The mentorship program gives us the opportunity to work with colleagues outside of our typical lines of business to develop lifelong skills,” said Kevin Chan, Senior Renewals Manager from Melbourne, Australia.

“Working with Nintex’s network of knowledgeable colleagues in the mentorship program, both as a mentor and mentee, beats a lot of training material out there… especially since learning actual soft skills is really hard while doing a course,” added Fritz Tubbing, Engineering Manager based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This emphasis on improvement through mentorship has helped Fritz to feel part of the Nintex community and has also motivated him to pursue learning in general. Nintex facilitates that educational ecosystem by offering financial aid for professional certifications and development, as well as training sessions through its own Nintex University.

Adapting experience to pave the way forward

Laraine Truter of Johannesburg, South Africa, began taking Nintex University courses shortly after accepting her role as a Nintex Engagement Manager. After years working in the software engineering world, she saw the classes as an essential bridge between her past skillset with her present role.

“Since joining Nintex, I’ve grown tremendously,” said Laraine. “My technical knowledge and my inclination to drive delivery combined with my ability to connect with people has progressed me into this engagement manager position. I’m loving my job.”

Bringing people together by building them up is a formula Nintex has been perfecting for many years. As work continues to become more distributed and global, Nintex has doubled down on its mission for its people to learn from one another, giving each other the tools for continued, steady growth for many years to come.

 

 

 

Interested in more stories about our Nintex people? Visit here, or take a look for your next role at Nintex.