Article: Best Practices: Employer Branding by InMobi

Talent Acquisition

Best Practices: Employer Branding by InMobi

InMobi wanted compensation to not be the sole driver of attracting top talent, and wanted to develop a sustainable solution, by defining the ideals that would make the organization an employer of choice.
Best Practices: Employer Branding by InMobi

InMobi had a tough task of establishing itself as a preferred employer and distinguish itself in the wave of start-ups. However, creative and people-centric policies have helped the organization achieve the same. 

The Challenge:

This decade belongs to the Tech startup industry, as new age start-ups are attracting multiple rounds of funding and are able to offer exorbitant compensation packages, at par with any international organization, to attract top talent. A majority of these start-ups are in the consumer sphere, they are talked for their requirement of constant fund raising, consumer offers, escalating offices, mergers & acquisitions. InMobi was directly competing with these host of start-ups but wasn’t as talked about in the media as much as others, and in such a scenario, wherein organic publicity is scanty, it becomes all the more essential to build an image as an employer that attracts and retains top talent. The total cost of Talent Acquisition and Retention was the biggest casualty, as in any organization that develops software products, the workforce numbers increase incrementally, but need to be backed by business impact. In order to achieve that, there was a need to attract and retain top talent, and hence the need to differentiate the organization from its competitors arose. The challenge posed a threat to the pace of innovation, and since the technological ecosystem is evolving rapidly, that was unacceptable. Furthermore, confronting only the compensation conundrum, would have had a cascading effect on the surging wage costs, and hence a long term, sustainable approach was needed.  

The Chosen Method: 

InMobi wanted compensation to not be the sole driver of attracting top talent, and wanted to develop a sustainable solution, by defining the ideals that would make the organization an employer of choice. InMobi took cue from several global organizations and introduced employee friendly policies, such as, referrals were rewarded with vacations, iPhones, and Royal Enfield rather than cash bonuses,  not seeking supervisor’s approval for upto six days leave, freedom and flexibility in the maternity leave, everyone getting a 100% bonus, doing away with performance appraisal systems and international travel expense policy, giving out $800 annually as a ‘learning wallet’ and $200 for changing their handsets, supporting employees who quit and start a new venture by offering them office space and resources, and many more. InMobi articulated ‘Employee Value Proposition’ (EVP) as ‘Live Your Potential’ and scored over what the several start-ups were offering. The focus was simultaneously was on Talent Acquisition and Retention. Budgetary allocations were made for ‘learning wallets’, and the resources saved by staying away from recruitment agencies, were used to fund these programmes.

The Impact:

InMobi got the desired outcome, as referrals rose by over a 100%, the recruitment cost reduced 203%, and the saving per hire metric increased 107%. Additionally, employee engagement rose, attrition rates fell, the ‘Live Your Potential’ Programme ensured that more than 25% of the critical positions in the organization were filled internally, and over 60% of employees availed the learning wallet benefit, number of applications doubled, and applicant-hire conversation ration rose. 

The Road Ahead:

The continued presence of these several programmes in the social media and traditional media channels, along with increasing the avenues wherein these cultures can be shared will ensure that prospective employees learn about the culture of the organization. Special reportage on organizational culture and practices, regular tweet-out with founders and HR Team on a daily basis, and conducting a dip-stick survey to comprehend the reach of this program across functions and geographies will tighten loose ends, are some ways of furthering the same. There is conscious effort to reflect on the work done periodically, by speaking to all the stakeholders and asking questions that really matter, and ensure that the intent translates into actions, assumptions are debunked, plan better, and share it with the world on a regular basis. 

 

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Topics: Talent Acquisition, Employer Branding, #TAWeek

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