Funding in the ad-tech sector grew by about 208% to eight million dollars in CY2021, from $2.6 million in CY2020, the rise of the Adtech industry has been exponential as digital advertising takes centre stage. However, finding talent in this niche industry is challenging. 

In an interview with People Matters, Amit Relan, Founder and CEO, mFilterIt talks about the journey of finding and retaining talent in a fast-growing niche space of ad-tech.

What are the factors driving the growth of ad-tech sector? 

The ad-tech industry has taken a centre stage among marketers due to the shift in marketers’ needs. Earlier ad channels were used to advertise the brand to the maximum number of people. However, the past methods were not effective to create a personalised approach to people and establish a real connection. This impacted the effectiveness of the strategy and resulted in low performance compared to the high costs. 

On the contrary, the ad-tech industry is focused on improving the efficiency of advertising channels. With the help of advertising technologies, advertisers are able to collect a huge amount of data related to their target audience which helps to reach the right audience effectively. 

What are the key macro disruptions shaping your business priorities?

Post-pandemic the business priorities have changed, and the organisations have adopted more technologically driven processes.

Ad tech being a niche segment, the industry has seen some massive shifts at the organisational level. The industry has seen a surge in job openings, but the proportion of opportunities available and the candidates are not aligned. 

Therefore, this has brought a massive change in the hiring landscape. With digital innovation, businesses have shifted their focus towards strategizing their hiring goals according to the new normal. 

Due to a crunch in finding the right talent for the dynamic ad-tech industry, recruiters have to re-evaluate talent management strategies and approaches.       

How are these shifting business priorities influencing your talent needs?

To keep up with the changing scenario of the ad-tech industry and find the right talent in our fast-growing atmosphere, we at mFilterIt have made some significant changes in our hiring processes. 

Post-pandemic our hiring strategies have been inclined towards a technology-driven movement. To widen our scope of finding talents, we have initiated a seamless online hiring process to drive recruitment at a faster pace. 

We also initiated campus drives to capture the ideal talent from the source ground.

As we are a tech-first company and working in a niche industry it is difficult to find candidates experienced in this field.

Therefore, during our hiring process, we focus on other aspects of the candidate like intellectual virtue, a keen interest to solve problems and willingness to expand their knowledge and enhance their skills. 

What are some critical changes in your talent management policies that you have introduced to navigate through the business demands and talent requirements amidst ongoing challenges?

We are moving towards a future that will be inclined towards massive technological developments. Therefore, to reduce the attrition rate in our organisation and ensure the holistic growth of our employees, we have introduced some employee-focused programs. 

We have initiated a premium club in our organisation with the objective to create a strong management layer and accelerate an employee’s growth. This was initiated to ramp up skills and capabilities of our leaders to prepare them for tomorrow and retain the best talent.

The club employs and enforces the member’s learnings into practical actions in their day-to-day work, taking up cross-functional projects and contributing beyond current activities while bringing value to the organisation.

With the above, the club also bring multiple benefits & offerings to its members, such as financial incentives, Sponsored career development, Training & Job enrichment opportunities and many more.

We have also initiated cross-functional training and sessions with founders for the employees to explore their potential across the organisation. 

How is the role of HR in startups, and fast-growing organisations changing? How are you enabling your HR teams to gear up for this change and contribute to the exponential growth of your company?

Today, employees look for more than a monthly paycheck. Especially in a technology-driven company like ours where every employee needs to develop their skillsets to stay relevant in the dynamic industry. 

Therefore, we have introduced skill-set-based training sessions with leaders of the organisation to keep the learning engine on for our employees. Our employees are also provided access to paid courses to enhance their skills and industry knowledge. We have initiated a quarterly reward and recognition policy to ensure our employees are motivated to drive the growth of the entire organisation. 

While designing policies, processes and practices, what are the key principles that make HR professionals in fast-growing organisations more effective?

To reduce the attrition rate in the organisation and retain the best talent, HR professionals have to constantly evaluate their efforts and strategize according to the growing trends. The role of HR has evolved from just hiring the right talent to ensuring that they are getting enough opportunities for growth and development to add value to the business. 

The key principle for HR professionals in a fast-growing organisation is to ensure: 

• Training and development of the employee 
• An open-door policy to motivate employees to share innovative ideas 
• Create a reward and recognition policy to appreciate the employee’s efforts