“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to”. This quote by Virgin Group founder Richard Branson serves as a good reminder for organisations when they think about attrition and retention.

Employees are far from a homogeneous entity and organisations have diverse people density - spanning geographic, socio-economic, demographic, age, mindsets and many more factors. When organisations understand this, their outlook to retention, hiring and policies will also evolve.

Harish Rajagopalan, Head, Talent, and Culture at credit card payment platform CRED, says there are different schools of thought when it comes to mechanisms to attract and retain employees. Many of these are geared towards improving employee experience at work.

From offering perks like nap pods and an unlimited pantry, to improving internal review and growth practices through OKRs, talent reviews and assessments - how organisations cater to employee needs have changed over the years.

“This is where the importance of a ‘people first’ culture comes in. Great people and culture are the most foundational inputs in the value chain of any business. It is imperative that we work backwards from the needs of people in an organisation, so that they are inspired to be authentic and give their best every day at work,” he adds.

In an exclusive interview with People Matters, Rajagopalan shares top four effective employee attraction and retention strategies in startups from 2022 that will continue to influence in 2023.

Prioritise creation of a value-led organisational culture

Company culture is the most important determinant of job satisfaction as employees decide whether to stay or leave.

Studies show that a negative work environment in the workplace is 10 times more meaningful than compensation when an employee decides to leave their job.

All of us know that organisational culture is defined by the way of working within a company- this is usually shaped by written and unwritten rules developed over time. However, at CRED, we realised the need for us to have a well-defined code is explicit, defined and clarifies who we are and shapes our ways of working unambiguously.

CRED’s Values, namely: customer obsession, truth-seeking, delivering outcomes, skin in the game, compounding, earning trust, audacity, solving elegantly, being right a lot, having radical candour, and CRED first thinking, are the common currency that defines and codifies our culture. These values have been our guiding tenets that shape all of our people policies, programmes, mechanisms and initiatives.

Increase ownership amongst team members by providing them opportunities for wealth creation

It’s every leader’s dream to have employees, across levels, operate as owners of a company. However, this is just a noble intention until its implemented through a concrete programme.

One of CRED’s values is having skin in the game, which aims to drive an ownership mindset across the company. To amplify this value and bring it to life, every team member at CRED is entitled to be a shareholder of the organisation.

We offer ESOPs across levels and verticals. Every single team member at CRED - regardless of tenure or job profile - is part of the company’s ESOP pool. As shared owners of a company, we want our employees to compound in wealth as they perform and develop with the organisation.

Rewarding team members' commitment involves providing them ample opportunities to create wealth- helping them realise financial goals and invest in their future.

Listen to employees’ voice and most importantly, act on feedback

Most companies have mechanisms to listen to employee's voices and feedback at a cadence, measuring these as scores. However, it is critical that organisations take meaningful actions on this feedback and close loops with employees, showing ongoing progress.

We have many policies that have been shaped based on what we learnt from our employees.

Customise your benefits and policies based on employee needs

Employees desire options when it comes to benefits.

Given the diverse needs of employees, a one-size-fits-all benefits programme will not work. Benefits work best when they are tailored and flexible enough to meet each employee's unique needs.

According to a study by Metlife, 93% of employees consider it a "must-have" or "nice-to-have" feature to be able to tailor their benefits.

While Rajagopalan shares these insights, he adds that there is no one ‘playbook’ that will suit the needs of teams across industries.

“How we deal with our people is constantly evolving. However, one non-negotiable hard truth is that employees will stay in cultures that make them feel valued, and not in cultures that make them feel used. Being “people first” is hence not a choice but a necessity,” he stresses.