It is High Time for us to Invest in Capacity Building of Employees Says, Co Founder of FlexiLoans

In an exclusive interview with BW People Manish Lunia, Co founder of FlexiLoans talks about the best HR practices at FlexiLoans, his talent acquisition strategy and the corporate culture in his organisation. 

Edited Excerpts from his interview: 

What are your best HR Policies that you use to keep your employees motivated?

As an organization, FlexiLoans values the contribution and commitment its people workforce brings and thus we design policies and programmes that enables the employees to unleash their full potential, feel valued at work and drive business results. Key Highlights are:

Leave Policy - Employees get all leaves at the start of the year with no bifurcation in the type of leave. Employees can start availing their leaves as soon as they join the organization without a probation. You want a leave - you ask for it with no confusion on casual leave, sick leave, earned leave etc. Also, we encourage our employees to take leaves on special days like Birthdays. And last but not the least, being an organization fueled by millenials, we do care about their future and we are flexible regarding leaves for their studies. 

On-boarding Program - We understand the crucial phase of new joinees in the company and to ensure they start feeling comfortable from Day 1. A ‘buddy’ is assigned to each new comer who mentors, guides and solve all their queries in the initial days to make one feel comfortable. All new joinees get to meet the Founders monthly where we talk freely about everything under the sun other than work and call it “Catch-up with Founders” 

Performance Development Program - A start-up phase don’t deter us to do structured Performance management, regular review discussions, learning & development and career growth but we don’t force-fit any ratings.  

What are your plans for Talent Acquisition strategy for 2018?

Talent is crucial for growth and we would add 100 per cent more employees in 2018-19 from here across departments like Technology and Data science, Credit Decisioning, business and alliances development, marketing and other support functions.

We use employee referrals, social media and creating the in-house talent pipeline to meet future business needs. FlexiLoans will reach out to talent goldmines i.e. Campuses, hackathons, talent fests and by mapping the experienced talent available in the market. 

Aside from sourcing, our interview process is being re-designed to understand candidates better on not only technical skills but also on culture fitment and candidate’s success in the organization. 

And our doors are always open for interns who want to learn and explore their potential.10 percent of our workforce consists of interns who are fresh graduates, management students, CAs, tech enthusiasts – not necessarily working in their field of education. We are going to welcome 10 more summer interns from various international B- Schools in May’ 2018 and look forward to exchange ideas and get the fresh perspective from them once our current batch of IIT interns move out.

Do tell us about the Corporate Culture of FlexiLoans as an Insider and how does it differ from other corporate?

Every company likes to believe that they have an open culture, we invest heavily in our conscious efforts to maintain a strong innovation and result in oriented culture. When it was time to look for a new work space for our growing strength, there was one thing everybody was sure of – NO CUBICLES where all employees work in an open office (and of course we needed a gaming room, a lounging area etc). 

From four Founders who started this company in April 2016, now we are a company of 110 plus employees. Every week, there is a new face in our office and through our initiatives we ensure that the new joiners get to know people around through group activities which range from games, acting, dancing, karaoke to making videos, flash mobs and fitness. The employees were currently involved in a Walkathon challenge where they can track each other’s progress through an app and can better themselves with weekly achievers announced. 

Gender equality is another aspect we always consider while making key decisions. The first person to speak regarding Data Science on a big platform was a female employee.

We believe in hearing people out and suggestions are also welcomed through a suggestion box kept in the office or through a link and they can also express them in person.

Every visitor who comes to our Lively sprawling office says - “ I haven’t seen a Bank/ NBFC like this”. We agree :)

What kind of employee engagement activity Flexi Loans do?

The celebration comes to us naturally and we love to indulge in merriment when there are festivals and events. It is important for us to celebrate monthly achievements with parties be it a dance party or an ice-cream party. We’ve had celebrations in office, outside the office in lounges, music nights, residential off sites!

Monthly Town hall meetings are the most sought out - the founders share the achievements of the previous month and the target for the next month, the new developments and so on. There are monthly ‘Star’ where employees are recognized for their amazing performance and the great display of values.

Talk about the latest trends in the HR industry? How are the recruiters enhancing the quality of recruitment?

The HR manager's’ role is moving away from being Transactional and throwing money for getting candidates to showcasing the right talent and advocating them the best role that the prospecting organization has on offer. Hence, creating a culture that reflects companies’ values, employee well-being, and workplace inclusivity is getting crucial and trending!  

For quality recruitment, recruiters are using various technology platforms to access the right talent, assess them via psychometric and contextual tests and considering candidate’s journey as that of a Consumer - to give them experience and access to real-time information about their job applications, yielding transparency and satisfaction.

I have always heard most of the HR’s complaining about millennials joining and a difficulty to cope with them. They have minor but very basic issues like not even getting an email body correct. So what kind of talents do Indian Companies need right now? 

Being a startup, we know age is no parameter for Quality. It’s important to understand that Millennial's come up with the great amount of zeal who are eager to learn and gain real-world exposure but what we probably lack in ‘Indian Companies’ is the mentoring. To sharpen the skills- set of Millennials, it’s high time for us to invest in capacity building of employees and provide them opportunities to grow & learn. Attitude matters more than Talent at FlexiLoans!

Let’s us give our readers a quick hack – Your cheat code- What are two quick tips to ace an interview?

Know yourself very well and what you bring to the table and ‘Be genuine’ in interviews!