Culture by Design: How ForeFront Builds a Place People Want to Be
By Christelle Aponte, VP Strategic Initiatives
Culture doesn’t just appear out of thin air.
Every company has one by default, but the kind of culture that people feel proud to be part of only happens when leaders are intentional. You have to decide what you want your culture to be and give someone the room to shape it. If you leave it to chance, you’ll still end up with a culture, but not necessarily a great one that supports employees and customers.
That’s why culture intentionality is the thread that runs through everything we do to keep the culture (and overall vibe) thriving at ForeFront. If you want to build a culture on purpose, you need to start with something solid to build it around. For us, that’s our values.
Knowing Your Values — and Hiring to Them
Our DRIVEN (Determination, Respect, Integrity, Versatility, Esprit de Corps, Nurture) values have been around for more than a decade, and they’re not just a poster on the wall. They actively guide how we interview, who we hire, how we work with each other, and how we work with our clients.
Determination
Act with purpose, Deliver on commitments
Respect
Treat the team as we want to be treated
Integrity
Held accountable to the highest standards of professionalism
Versatility
Continuously adapt and acquires kills that give us the insights to lead
Esprit De Corps
Share the spirit of team pride and camaraderie; one for all, all for one
Nuture
Encourage growth, Respect Work-Life balance
When we hire new team members, we look for these specific attributes. Certain skills can be taught, but it’s much harder to teach someone how to treat people, how to approach problems, how to collaborate, and how to own their work.
That’s what “getting the right people on the bus” really means. Not rushing to grow. Not filling seats just to fill them. Knowing what you want the bus to look like, then bringing on people who align with it.
Supporting a Team with Different Interests and Working Styles
As ForeFront grew, so did the variety of different people and roles on the team. What worked when everyone was local and mostly technical didn’t fit as well once we added consultants, project managers, analysts, sales, and marketing. As our global footprint expanded, that meant evolving our culture to reflect a wider set of interests and personalities.
Back when I joined, lunches often meant Super Mario Brothers on the big screen and screen-saver pranks involving Justin Bieber. It was fun, and it worked for that era. But as we grew, we needed a culture that reflected a wider set of interests.
Instead of relying on one type of activity or expecting everyone to connect in the same way, we offer different ways for people to engage, including learning sessions, team-building events, interest-based groups, and informal social time. Not everyone will join everything, and that’s the point. The goal is to give people options so they can participate in the ways that feel most natural to them.
There was an important mindset shift for me, too. I had to remind myself that low attendance doesn’t mean an activity or event wasn’t worthwhile. People notice when opportunities exist, even if they can’t make it every time.
Making Space for the Conversations That Energize Our Team
One thing I love about Team ForeFront is how energized people get when they’re thinking through something new. The excitement isn’t forced, it’s who we are, because curiosity is in our DNA. When you put smart, curious people in a room and give them a problem to work through, they tend to light up.
The company’s job is simply to make space for that curiosity, and to help people feel comfortable stepping into that space.
But no matter how smart a team is, everyone still has a little imposter syndrome. No one wants to seem like they’re bragging or pushing themselves forward. That’s why someone has to nudge, encourage, and create space. If you leave everything to volunteers, nothing happens. Intentionality has to show up here too.
Better Communication and Collaboration, Thanks to Birds
One of the most unexpectedly fun things we do at ForeFront is DISC, specifically the “bird” version. If you haven’t taken it before, everyone lands somewhere among four bird styles:
- Eagles: Direct, decisive, goal-driven
- Parrots: Enthusiastic, social, big picture
- Doves: Supportive, steady, people-focused
- Owls: Analytical, detailed, thoughtful
It sounds a bit silly and lighthearted, but it’s one of the simplest ways to understand how people communicate and what they need to feel heard.
Plus, people genuinely enjoy it. New hires always get a kick out of seeing which bird they match, and suddenly half the jokes in meetings start making a lot more sense. It’s a shared language that isn’t heavy or formal, but still gives people insight into how their teammates operate.
The real benefit is what it does for collaboration. DISC helps people recognize that most miscommunication isn’t about intent, it usually comes down to communication styles. Maybe someone is fast-paced and direct, while someone else needs more detail, or more time to think. When you have that context, conversations get smoother, projects move faster, and people give each other more grace.
We’ve brought the birds into some client teams as well. It’s been especially helpful on cross-functional projects where different roles come together with different working styles. Clients love it because it makes collaboration feel easier and more efficient before the work even starts.
At the end of the day, DISC fits who we are. It’s practical, people-focused, and a little bit fun… all the things that make ForeFront what it is!
Why Culture Matters for Business
Culture isn’t “soft.” It shows up in tenure, performance, and how clients experience our work.
We have people who have been here more than 20 years. In the tech industry, that’s almost unheard of. We also have a leadership team that’s more than 50% women — not because of a quota, but because that’s who grew, thrived, and stayed.
Happy employees lead to happy clients. When people feel valued, included, supported, and challenged in the right ways, they bring their best work, and clients can see the difference. Many have stayed with us for years because they know the consistency and quality of the people they’ll work with.
Everyone brings their whole self to work, so if you want people to do their best work, you have to support the whole person.
Staying Intentional as ForeFront Grows
Prior to ForeFront, I worked at a Management Consulting firm that grew rapidly and intentionally. Their dedication to the culture they had built and fostered over the years showed me how easily culture can drift if no one is steering it, and how powerful it becomes when someone is behind the wheel.
This intentionality was especially critical as we became a part of the EPAM family. Through partnership with the leaders of EPAM, the core of our culture hasn’t shifted. The values, the people, and the way we show up for clients have stayed consistent, and that’s a big part of why the transition has been successful.
As ForeFront grows, our culture will keep evolving with it. We’ll keep experimenting with new ways to bring people together, help them learn, and help them see each other as whole people. We’ll keep hiring with our values front and center. And we’ll keep building a place where people feel proud of the work they do and the people they do it with.
Where We Go From Here
Culture is a choice, and we choose to build it with intention.
At ForeFront, our role isn’t to make every single person happy all the time. That’s impossible. Our role is to try new things, pay attention to what resonates, listen, iterate, and evolve. Culture work is ongoing. You never “finish” it, but you can always make it intentional.
If your organization is looking to strengthen communication, build more intentional team culture, or explore DISC for project teams, get in touch with our team. We’re more than happy to share what’s worked for us!
About the Author
Christelle Aponte serves as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at ForeFront, where she helps shape the programs, processes, and cultural foundations that make ForeFront a place people want to stay. Her background spans global consulting and fast-growth companies, giving her a deep understanding of how intentional culture and strong communication fuel great work. She’s especially passionate about creating environments where people feel supported, energized, and able to grow.
