Investing in Our People: A Look at Pure Storage's Career Week 2024

Summary

Pure Storage is committed to helping our employees grow professionally and personally. Each year, we host Career Week, which is a week-long event with programming designed to help empower our employees to take charge of their career journeys.

Employees are the lifeblood of any organization, running every aspect of the business. We recognize the undeniable value and expertise our employees bring to work every day and strive to create an environment where they can advance their careers and thrive professionally. As a Great Place to Work-certified company, we are committed to being a talent magnet where we attract top talent that not only wants to work for us but plans to stay.

Why We Host Career Week

One way we cultivate continued career development is through our annual Career Week, a week-long event dedicated to empowering our employees to take charge of their career journeys. With a wide variety of programming, ranging from career workshops to networking opportunities and self-paced online courses, Career Week 2024 may have been the best one yet.

This annual event is more than a series of learning opportunities—it’s a structured occasion for our team to reflect on their career aspirations; acquire new, applicable skills that they can put into practice; and connect with mentors and peers. By offering a diverse range of activities, we provide our employees with the tools they need to steer their careers with intention and purpose.

How We Support Career Development

Supporting career development is embedded in our culture. We offer an array of initiatives and resources that are designed to help our employees grow professionally and personally:

Leadership and learning: Our Leadership Academy was created with both our culture and employees in mind, enabling our teammates to build and enhance skills integral to our high-performance philosophy. The Academy is a portfolio of development journeys, which includes a mix of asynchronous offerings and in-person or virtual workshops—some are for everyone at Pure Storage, while others are tailored for specific roles or levels.
Always-on performance management: Throughout the year, managers and employees have touchpoints to discuss career development, including performance and goals. Regular check-ins between managers and their employees help them feel connected to company objectives and aligned on personal development goals aimed to help employees progress and grow their careers.
Talent reviews: Serving as a mechanism to holistically discuss our employees’ current and future potential, leadership hosts talent reviews to help us connect every employee’s strengths and aspirations to the needs of the business, enabling career growth and mobility.
Internal mobility: We encourage our employees to explore new roles within the company through our Internal Mobility program. A testament to our commitment to career growth, this program allows employees to grow their careers at Pure Storage without needing to look externally.

Highlights from Career Week 2024

This year’s Career Week, held from September 30 to October 4, was jam-packed with new opportunities for learning, mentoring, and growth. Programming was focused around upskilling employees and helping them imagine future possibilities for their careers. Some memorable moments were:

15th Anniversary Panel: To mark the 15th anniversary of Pure Storage, which was on October 1, we hosted a panel featuring engineering leaders who have been with the company since the beginning, including our founder, John “Coz” Colgrove. This session offered insights into Pure’s evolution and inspired employees to think about how they can make an impact on Pure’s success in the next 15 years.
Career-focused workshops: Employees were invited to participate in workshops designed to support their professional and personal development. Topics included how to shape one’s career, coaching for managers, Lean Six Sigma, and personal branding.
Networking and mentoring: Career Week also featured several networking events, including speed mentoring sessions led by our RISE employee resource group, which is dedicated to supporting early-in-career and new-to-role employees. These sessions connected employees with leaders across Pure Storage and were designed to promote building meaningful connections and activating mentorship within the company.
Giving back: We extended our commitment to career development into our community, as Pure Good Foundation hosted a volunteer event where employees helped students from historically black colleges and universities craft strong resumes. This initiative not only allowed our team to give back but also reinforced the importance of mentorship and community involvement.

Looking Ahead

We’re excited about the lasting impact that this year’s event has had on our team, and we look forward to continuously supporting their growth in the years to come. We believe by investing in our people, we are building a better company. Want to join us?