Tech Guide Spotlight: Dayne Cody

What is greatness made of? At Scout, we believe that our people are the backbone of our identity and our expertise. Scout is taking steps to demystify IT and reveal the people that make us who we are. As each Scout employee celebrates a work anniversary at Scout, we want to honour them. Meet Dayne Cody.

You may know someone like me: I’m a proud embodiment of the office geek. I enjoy tech and gadgets, good coffee and am a petrolhead, attending auto shows, swooning over cars and generally relentlessly seeking to understand how things and systems work. I am the Field Support Technician and, chances are if you have an issue that can’t be fixed remotely, I will most likely be the one you see to solve it on site. However, things haven’t always been this way…

I still remember after my first day at Scout was over, sitting in my car thinking “What have I gotten myself into? This is the big leagues”, but here I am, four years later. Looking back, my time at Scout has been a journey which has seen me evolve personally and professionally.

Scout is a growing company which I have witnessed over the past four years. When I and many others joined Scout, there were two thresholds that each of us had to cross: joining Scout and loving the culture at Scout. Although Scout is always looking for great talent, they are selective about the people they bring on. I love working at a company that is scrupulous about new hires and makes sure the right people are in the right positions. The second threshold everyone at Scout crosses is falling in love with the culture of the company. For me, crossing that second threshold occurred when we were playing Mario Cart in the office. I remember watching Matt, the CEO and founder, kick everyone’s butt in Mario. That was a turning point for me because I saw that Scout was more than an IT company: it was a community with culture, and the culture was fun. That memory remains with me still.

At Scout, it is the culture and the people that energize, empowers and inspires each of us. I joke to my wife that this is my “work family”, but the truth is that over these last four years I have built such strong relationships with my co-workers that they truly do feel like family. This culture of closeness and partnership extends beyond the immediate Scout team, it extends to our client relationships as well. I honestly do have to say that at Scout we have amazing clients. There are clients whom I have built such close relationships with over the past four years that I honestly don’t consider them “clients,” but more like friends. I think that says a lot about Scout as a company.

I really like working for a company that has a clear idea of who they are and a vision they follow through on. Over the years I have come to respect and appreciate the leadership at Scout. There are many individuals I look up to and some who have been incredible mentors to me. They are fair and always looking to help me grow, not just in my position but also as a person. Having the proper people steering the ship makes a huge difference, and I honestly have a hard time imagining working anywhere else.

One of the biggest things I like about working for Scout is the variety. We are always dealing with new things, and there is never a day that goes by that I feel like I am just doing “the grind.” There is such a great mix of network, system admin and project work, so every day is new and exciting. Scout is a company where you can gain depth and breadth in your technical skill set, and that’s valuable.

However, there’s a second part to my journey at Scout, and that’s – where I can go from here? As a company, Scout is expanding, and during my four years at Scout, I have watched the company grow out of its old space and expand into a new one. Not only is the new office great, but it has been incredible to participate in that growth. Scout is a company that is continuing to grow, and that means new positions open and more opportunities arise. Having room in the company to grow with it is a tremendous asset – it means each person can carve out their path at Scout.

When I contemplate where I see myself in two years, the answer is that I see myself at Scout. However, I see my position evolving based on my goals, initiative, and work. As I grow professionally at Scout, I’ll remain the guy who fixes things, and I’ll continue to do on-site work. However, I also want to bring my skills to the project side of the business, and knowing the people and culture at Scout, there’s no reason to think this won’t happen.