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When you walk up to the 7Mind office, everything screams "Berlin start-up scene" at first glance. The two-story office is located in a backyard in a central location and looks like one of many young start-up offices from the outside. When you enter, this feeling changes immediately: the office exudes a homely atmosphere, looks like an apartment that has been converted into an office, and yet is reminiscent of a venerable law firm in some places. The office leaves an impression - and invites people to linger and work together. A fact Thomas Hoefer, Managing Director of 7Mind, is proud of.
"The old office was divided into separate rooms, which does not create closeness and togetherness. With the current property, we are in a much better position," Hoefer said. "We are absolutely in the heart of Berlin here, it's five minutes to Alexanderplatz, five minutes to Hackescher Markt - it doesn't get any better than that!"
The office's central location gives employees the opportunity to indulge in culinary delights over lunch, and also has a positive effect on employer branding. But according to Hoefer, in times of remote work, the new office also helps create an incentive to leave home office. At 7Mind, however, it's not a must. "We leave it up to our teams how they organize themselves. For example, I am part of the Marketing team and we have a joint office day - that helps," Hoefer explains. "In meetings, it's just great when you can look each other in the eye. When you can brainstorm together creatively and also write a few things on the whiteboard or on a Post-It."
The office in Neue Schönhauser Straße has a lot to offer: there are large conference rooms that allow meetings of any size, small conference rooms that can be used for focused work, and a phone booth from mute-labs that is used as a place of retreat. "For us, it was important to understand that the office is not only about collaboration, but also about isolation. There are people who don't want to work in home office all day or simply need a change of scenery. Of course, we have to offer the right retreat spaces for that - and we're all very happy with our principle here."
The employee focus that was key to the design of the new office exemplifies 7Mind's understanding of New Work. "For us, New Work is about constantly adapting to the ever-changing needs of our employees, aligning along those needs, and making sure we give everyone the opportunity to be the best they can be."
What New Work is not? "A buzzword around which projects and programs are arbitrarily launched - after all, I come from the corporate world, I've seen it all before!" Rather, he says, New Work is about the right mindset, trust and ownership. "We want to reach as many people as possible and help them strengthen their mental health. That's in the DNA of 7Mind, in the DNA of the product. That's our purpose. We trust our employees to shape their own work environment to bring out the best in themselves, to bring out the best in our users. In doing so, we strive to create the best possible conditions as an employer."
This change is not only noticeable at 7Mind, but it is a noticeable change in the job market as well. Purpose and the question of how one's work has a social impact are becoming increasingly important. "I would argue that five years ago, the main question was:
How is my work-life balance? Do I still have enough time for myself outside of my working hours?' Now employees are more likely to ask themselves whether their work is also meaningful and sustainable," Hoefer sums up.This is also evident in the search for new talent: " In the 100 job interviews I have conducted for various positions in the last 3 months, the topic of Purpose was the decisive motivation for the application in 80 percent of cases. That certainly makes it easier for us to proactively get applications. And that's great for us."
For the 7Mind CEO, purpose is also closely linked to self-motivation. For him, knowing exactly what you are working for is one of the greatest possible drivers of all. "Every 7Minder works towards the same goal - and that is to support as many people as possible in strengthening their mental health with a good product and good content. We also want to support our employees in this and therefore offer different working models," explains Hoefer.
That's why many 7Mind team members take the opportunity to work in an 80% model. This gives them an extra day a week for their own interests or family. It's a concept that is becoming increasingly popular in the professional world. Hoefer's conclusion: "Our employees in 80% models function fabulously in their roles. I haven't had any bad experiences with the 4-day-week yet."
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