The final point was focused around creating a positive environment for your employees to ensure that they would enjoy their work. The following is a good example of how this approach has benefitted a company in a very positive and visible way.
Anabel Morales, Trustpilot’s Global Technical Recruiter, explained how Trustpilot focuses its HR efforts to bring in diverse talent. She explained that the Tech Department decided to focus on their efforts internally by embracing concepts like 20% time, which grants tech employees the ability to spend 20% of their time on passion projects that encourage innovation and self-development. “We’re trying to start from within by creating a great environment where people want to work!” she explained, referring to the idea that, if a company focuses on creating a culture where employees feel engaged and empowered, attraction comes naturally. While this is not a new concept, it definitely seems to be the most successful and Trustpilot serves as an excellent example of this.
Anabel explained “When I joined we had a technical team of roughly 40 and this has grown to a 100 strong team between Technology, Business Systems and IT in just 2 years” showing that the approach indeed has had a positive impact. The 20% time benefit is not the only thing that tech staff can look forward to. Trustpilot also believes in keeping a budget to ensure that their staff can continue to develop their skills and knowledge, as well as monthly hackathons. This has appealed to a large, and diverse, amount of professionals as Anabel mentioned that “Within our technical departments, we have 27 different nationalities and it’s 50% Danes, 50% non-Danes.
Trustpilot has also expanded and has offices in; New York, London, Berlin, Melbourne and Denver, which allow them to further attract diverse talent.
Anabel also stressed the importance of working closely with the right universities. She explained that their intern program has brought in a very diverse crowd. This obviously means that the company is making themselves known to a wide and young audience who, if they have great experience, will spread the brand through word of mouth. Anabel believes that this is one of the most effective methods of building a solid pipeline of talent for the organization.
This within itself is however not an uncommon trait of a modern tech sector company, as many companies have a great appeal to people regardless of their cultural background. I asked Anabel about what Trustpilot did to appeal to the female population, especially within the Tech Sector, which can always be tricky due to the lower number of female professionals in this field. She explained that they have proactively worked with organizations, like Codeher, not only to reach female tech professionals, but also help women who want to be tech professionals understand that they are able to do this. This effort has apparently worked as they “have been able to attract some great female talent, from developers to leadership roles”.
One of the main problems, which Anabel stated can get in the way of attracting talent, is brand awareness when you are not a company which is known on a global scale. But Anabel defended the approach they have been carrying out, linking the successes they have had so far to the relaxed and open environment they have created, combined with getting involved with the local tech community and hosting events to share knowledge.
This of course is backed by the fact that, as previously mentioned, Anabel has, together with her HR and Tech colleagues, managed to raise the number of technical colleagues from 40 to 100 in 2 years time. “Our growth has been a total team effort”.
If you’re interested in how your company could benefit from greater diversity in your IT team, or you feel like sharing your story on how diversity plays an important role in your company, feel free to contact us at sayhello@zartis.com
