Ask Facebook Chicago staffers about why they like their job and they will tick off an array of reasons: training opportunities, support from managers, flexibility for family needs. But if you want to hear truly eloquent testimony, try asking them about the team-building that takes place around food.
J.P. Chookaszian, for example, has worked at the company, which recently renamed itself Meta, for 4½ years. He is currently a manager on Facebook’s education team, a group that works with the company’s education partners and advertisers and includes some of the company’s augmented reality and virtual reality initiatives.
But Chookaszian says he also is an informal biscuit “hype man” when employees are in the office, alerting his co-workers to the arrival of a variety of biscuits made by one of the staff chefs, Kimberli DeLost, and available each morning in the employee cafeteria, where free breakfast and lunch are offered.
Chief Culture Officer Nikki Newsome jumps into the conversation, commenting that she was “particularly fond of the savory varieties” of DeLost’s homemade biscuits.
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These days, the return to the office after work-from-home stints is ongoing at Facebook, which is the top-ranked mid-size employer on the Tribune’s list of Top Workplaces, as measured by the consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania. Newsome said the office opened at 25% capacity on Aug. 2, and pending health data, the hope is to bring everyone back to the office in January, but employees have found a way to bond over food throughout the quarantine.
Cienna Taylor is a technical sourcer at Facebook Chicago, which means she recruits software engineers for the company and supports those candidates in the application process. She joined Facebook a little more than a year ago. She was hired remotely and has continued to work from home while at Facebook, taking the job after holding a similar post at an agency.
“Tech is definitely where it is right now,” Taylor notes, and recruiting in the field is challenging. But she adds that her managers at Facebook “have given her consistent support from Day One.”
Taylor said Facebook has continued to foster a sense of community among her peers with a series of virtual events, including game nights. But one of the company favorites was a four-week virtual chefs’ competition, organized in partnership with the company’s culinary team.
A list of ingredients for the recipes was provided every Friday and the next week participants compared their experiences making the dishes — bonding over their cooking successes and failures. Appetizers were the most popular round of the competition, Taylor said.
Of course, it’s not all food and games. Judy Toland is Facebook Chicago’s vice president of Scaled Solutions, taking on the role of “head of office” a year ago. While aligned with the global company, the Chicago office has its own goals and strategies that reflect its individual employee base, community and location.
Those goals emphasize Chicago’s youth, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), community and small business support. “Diversity remains a top priority for us and that is evident through our diverse leadership team and office,” Toland says.
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Newsome says women make up over 60% of Facebook Chicago’s leadership teams, and over 60% are people of color. As chief culture officer, Newsome is growing the office’s community outreach, initiatives that also offer team-building opportunities for employees. She names more than a half-dozen partners, including Habitat for Humanity, Greater Chicago Food Depository, the entrepreneurship center 1871 and Brave Space Alliance, an LGBTQ center on the South Side of Chicago.
Toland says her leadership style is based on “servant leadership,” the idea that leaders are “in service” to their teams. It’s leading by example, but “humility and authenticity are fully centered.”
That concept appears to shine through when Chookaszian says he feels comfortable “bringing his entire self to work.” The company goes beyond ensuring its staff has a “level of comfort,” and extends it to a “level of care,” on a personal and professional basis, he says. “My manager cares deeply about my strengths and allows me to lean into those strengths.”
Rachel Molter, a client partner who is part of the company’s Global Business Group, joined Facebook Chicago 6½ years ago, when, she noted, there were just under 50 people working at the office, a fraction of the 500 staff members they currently employ. Initially, she was hired to help facilitate relationships and advertising with consumer packaged goods companies; but soon transitioned to her current role, working with some of the largest advertisers on the platform.
Her current job has challenges. “Anything that you read about in the news, I am dealing with,” Molter says, but she is backed by “an amazing learning team” and lots of resources.
Working Lunch
Facebook invests in its staff, “not just as employees, but also as people,” she says. “We tend to use the word ‘family,’ quite a bit at Facebook Chicago — making sure that we’re all showing up for each other.”
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A working parent, Molter has had two children while working at Facebook and says she values the family leave the company gave her when she had children. During the pandemic, “Facebook and Nikki really wanted to make sure first and foremost that we were safe,” she says. When her child care facility closed during part of the pandemic, the company allowed her to work remotely and supported her throughout the period with flexible hours.
Facebook’s parental leave policy includes paid leave for up to four months, which can be taken all at once or intermittently within a year after the birth or adoption of a child, as well as other benefits that include “baby cash” to help with related expenses.
Chookaszian says Facebook’s parental leave allowed him to prioritize what was best for his family when his first child was born. “It shaped the relationship I have with my daughter,” he said.
Molter also cited the company’s wellness benefit as a plus. The benefit goes above and beyond the usual; she said she recently started using the benefit to refuel her passion for swimming.
Once the health risks of the pandemic ease and the office fully reopens, Taylor says she is “very much looking forward” to connecting with her team. In the meantime, she used her wellness stipend to purchase and learn how to use roller skates. Newsome and Chookaszian are looking forward to resuming Wednesday afternoon in-office “cookie hunts,” a practice where fresh-baked cookies are hidden, and found, in time for afternoon coffee breaks.
Suzanne Cosgrove is a freelance writer.