What it’s like to work at Kendris

From the KENDRIS roof terrace in Larnaca, you can see the endless blue of the Mediterranean stretching into infinity. No wonder Managing Partner Sara Gunnervik loves this place so much.

It’s now five years since KENDRIS opened its Cyprus office, although the Group’s roots stretch back more than 100 years. “We offer solutions for wealthy individual clients or families, day-to-day business, including financial and regulatory,” Gunnervik tells GOLD. “For corporate customers – from owner-managed companies to start-ups, SMEs and group companies – we offer services in the areas of accounting, payroll, taxes and complex accounting issues, including fund administration” she explains. “Our fully owned subsidiary, KENDRIS Capital, offers fund management services to institutions as well as to private clients. We also offer bespoke specialty services, such as aviation management, art management, independently valued investments, ESG reporting, etc.”

Prospective KENDRIS employees undergo numerous interviews and have a chance to meet and speak with their future colleagues, which works wonders for their subsequent integration into the team. “All the staff are engaged in the onboarding process,” Gunnervik says, “with different team members responsible for certain parts of the onboarding training. The new member of the team has frequent follow-ups with HR and myself, so that we can be sure that we are supporting their needs. We also have group-wide basic training, which each new staff member undertakes during their first six months.”

KENDRIS personnel enjoy access to training courses, subsidized further education (STEP and ACCA) and they are also given an opportunity to work temporarily in other KENDRIS offices (Switzerland, UK, UAE, USA). The company enables its employees to progress in their career via a three-step programme: setting a clear goal and path, preparing for it, and finally experiencing ‘exposure’ to what they have been preparing for. “Our employees are encouraged to maintain a personal development plan, which sets the end goal and what is needed to get there, so that the company can provide the best possible support to them. It may take the form of formal education, a certification, working in a different location or taking on a new task or responsibility; and after the right preparation, the employee needs to experience that goal.”

In Sara Gunnervik’s view, a good employer should provide employees with the tools, the possibilities, the goals, the self-confidence, the leadership and the ability to grow and reach their full potential. “Then they will push the company forward,” she says. “You need a mature and secure management team guided by empathy and transparency. This is where KENDRIS’ entrepreneurial DNA and open architecture comes in. We push high performers forward and help all our employees progress.”

KENDRIS strongly cultivates entrepreneurship, in the best interest of the employees and the company alike. “We are not competitive among ourselves,” Gunnervik clarifies. “We move together as a group, pushing one another forward, each one giving the other what is needed at any given specific time. This is how we ensure consistency, productivity and a healthy workplace. The employer provides the base for a productive environment but groups are a living organism and each person on the team is responsible for the workplace environment.”

Salaries at KENDRIS are benchmarked and reviewed annually. Ensuring that employees feel appreciated and rewarded is a priority for the company, as is the cultivation of a sense of pride in, and belonging to, the KENDRIS family. Through formal and informal meetings, employees are able to discuss their further development or confide about anything that may be troubling them. “If, as an employer, you want real feedback that you can actually use, you have to build an everyday environment in which your employees feel safe to talk to you, knowing that the company will try to help them wherever possible,” the Managing Partner explains. “It’s all about staying close to your employees,” she adds, casting a tender gaze towards the glass office walls and the people behind them. “KENDRIS is owned by its staff,” she says with pride, “We measure success as a group.”

(Photos by Michael Kyprianou)

This article first appeared in the May edition of GOLD magazine. Click here to view it.