Our journey to achieving a Manifest Award

We are honored to have received a Manifest Award for the first time ever! SJ Innovation is a people-based software development agency, focused on employee happiness and client success. Our approach differs from other software development agencies as we center our core beliefs around both the professional and interpersonal growth of our employees. Through the creation of a prosperous environment within the inner frames of the company, SJ Innovation produces high-quality, commendable work for clients. 

We are proud to be named alongside 14 other dedicated companies. It truly is an honor to have our hard work recognized. For context, The Manifest is a business news website. It acts as a guide to B2B services that compiles and analyzes practical business wisdom for innovators, entrepreneurs, and small and mid-market businesses. The Manifest Award is achieved by placing within the top 15 companies to receive the most Clutch reviews within the past 12 months. The Manifest is a top business analytics and news platform aimed to make business journeys seamless by offering valuable insight through objective customer reviews.

We feel so grateful that our clients truly appreciate our hard work and dedication regarding every individual project.

This is how we achieved our Bangladesh Zone Manifest Award!

How it all began

Shahed Islam (CEO) and Shahera Choudhury (COO) founded SJ Innovation in Queens, New York. From one bedroom to a global company of 150+ staff spanning 5 countries in 17 years, the two Bangladeshi-American founders have been on a long journey of growth. Initially software development appeared to be a saturated market, however the founders realized a people-centered approach was absent. Often companies view their employees as part of a machine, whilst SJ Innovation made a point to celebrate individuality and diversity within the company. A rigorous hiring process ensures that future team members are culturally fit and align with SJ Innovation’s beliefs surrounding work ethic and communication. 

Employee focus

Over the years as we’ve developed into an established company, SJ Innovation has implemented routine events such as personal development classes to give back to our employees. Whilst we value their professional growth in gaining new skills, we are also are committed to encouraging personal growth beyond the confines of work. Furthermore we believe it is vital to celebrate every success, whether big or small, to enforce that no achievement goes unnoticed. Our employees are imperative to our success therefore we provide consistent 1-to-1 meetings with managers and discuss avenues for career development to help them thrive. As job stress is something we are constantly working to minimize, SJ Innovation conducts meditation sessions within the office to practice mindfulness and create a calm working environment. Also, our yearly picnics allow team members to connect outside of work and take time to celebrate their success together. These are just a few examples of how the company prioritizes employee happiness to generate client success. 

Our culture points provide a clear guide within our hiring process to ensure new members to the team are compatible with the company values. 

1. Be humble - Be down to earth and respect all, leave no room for arrogance.
2. Do great things together - Working with a team together is when you achieve great things.
3. Work to make clients successful - The client is the fuel of the company, making clients successful will keep the company running.
4. Take accountability- Make a commitment to your responsibilities, be accountable for results, and know you are in charge to take it to the finish line.
5. Embrace Challenge and Grow yourself - Challenging yourself to learn new things will expand your horizon.
6. Help each other - True form of happiness is experienced when you help others.

We use the aforementioned core culture points as a guide in helping our employees develop and learn soft skills. Although having professional qualifications and experience in software development and marketing is vital, soft skills are just valuable. Our onboarding process following hiring is extremely thorough to avoid any gaps in knowledge. During this stage, employees have time to ensure they can undergo full training regarding soft skills to be able to communicate and complete tasks with efficiency. Our clientele is consistently impressed with our clear processes and transparency 

Connected to our roots

As both of our founders are Bangladeshi-American, it is important for SJ Innovation to remain connected with its roots. Due to the clear disparity between the West and Global South, SJ Innovation prioritizes providing opportunities to those in need. We conduct frequent seminars in Bangladesh and India held by various members of our experienced team to further educate others surrounding software development. Our most recent topic is AWS (Amazon Web Services). Through this, we aim to give others a chance to find their voice within their desired fields to achieve their goals. 

One of our core culture points, ‘be humble’, reminds us that no matter how much we appear to succeed, it is important to stay grounded. We will never be ‘too big’ nor ‘too successful’ to stay in touch with where we came from and give back to our community. 

SJ Innovation has also been awarded

No. #4442 on the Inc.5000 list: https://www.inc.com/profile/sj-innovation 

The Manifest Top 100 Web Development Companies in New York: https://themanifest.com/web-development/companies/new-york 

Top PHP Developers in New York City by Clutch: https://www.sjinnovation.com/sj-innovation-llc-name-top-b2b-provider-new-york-clutch 

Every achievement is an honor and we are so grateful our hard work is recognized by such prestigious organizations. 

Now, this is a very brief recap of our journey to success and the initiatives we take to give back. Don’t get us wrong, we have faced several setbacks, made mistakes and overcome failures to get here today. We are proud to achieve a Manifest Award and would like to thank our staff for being the backbone of the company and our clientele for believing in us and showing support! Hopefully, this isn’t the last time you’ll see us win the Manifest Award