Ridhhi Sanghi on Completing 1 Year with TurboHire

Join us as we celebrate the 1-year work anniversary of the one defining force whose people skills and growth efforts have shaped TurboHire ‘s culture, taking into consideration the tremendous understanding of the complexities that arise when building a team culture from scratch.

Today we celebrate a visionary and a strategic and proactive member of our family. Congratulations, Ridhhi Sanghi

Only worry about the nutrients you’re adding to the soil today. The bud will bloom tomorrow.

A bold move, many said, as I decided to leave a giant of an organization to join an early-stage startup. A counterintuitive move, many warned, citing ‘number of employees managed’ as a key metric to measure growth in an HR’s career graph. A highly rewarding move, I can now confidently say, having understood what it takes to build ‘People Success’ from scratch.

The Butterfly Effect

And it does take quite a bit. Think about the butterfly effect — how a simple flip of a wing can ultimately cause a tornado; in other words, how things have a ‘sensitive dependence on initial conditions.’ When you have the chance of setting these initial conditions, every step you take or choose to not take can have a defining impact on the way the org and its culture will ultimately build.

Add to this a layer of heightened ambiguity of a startup environment, where the context and what the business needs can change every few weeks or months, you have a rich problem to keep your brain muscles thoroughly engaged in.

One article will barely suffice to mention the things I have learned in this one year. Choosing to share three important lessons (or traps HRs can fall into) to remember and fully imbibe if one plans to make a similar move in People Success:

1. Use Judgment, Not Processes

One needs to make continuous calls while trying to balance between long-term implications, signals you are driving to the team, immediate requirements, and a hoard of other factors. Each situation comes with different variables and needs to be looked at differently, defined rigid processes can hardly substitute this. The art of judgment can’t be refined through textbooks, courses, etc. One learns it on the go, by taking risks and reflecting on failures.

2. Keep Things Simple / Work From Basic Truths

Don’t lose yourself in elaborate frameworks, extensive research, jazzed-up HR programs, etc. They are great and much required for larger organizations, not startups. Remove the layers, look at a human as a human and work around the very fundamentals of human needs and emotions.

3. Choosing Not To Do Is Greater Than Choosing To Do

In my one year, I have probably learned this piece more than any other. It can be tempting to launch a bunch of initiatives you’re confident can bring about a ‘positive movement.’ Think again, relook at the context, understand the effort-impact equation thoroughly well before deciding to shoot the arrow.

While the above may sound simpler to do, if you look at it closely, you will realize it ends up demanding a lot more from the People Success function. Judgment is far more exhausting to use than simple-to-follow processes. It’s easier to create large ‘wellness’ programs than to spend time and effort genuinely empathizing with every member of a team. It requires a far deeper understanding of implications to say no to obvious market benchmark practices.

Building People Success In A Startup

And that’s the beauty and the joy of building People Success in a startup. It doesn’t just teach you things professionally — it alters your very character. And when changes happen at that level — all spheres of one’s life begin to reflect it.

The effects of the butterfly’s flaps will take a long time to be noticeable. That pushes you to build patience and focus on doing the right thing today, without clinging on to results.

That’s probably the most important quality I’ve been learning to build in my character since joining TurboHire — only worry about the nutrients you’re adding to the soil today and every single day with consistency. Have faith and patience, the bud will bloom tomorrow.

And of course, thanks to the efforts of this mind-bogglingly fantastic team.

TurboHire is now blossoming into a full flower.

To read how TurboHire has ensured Employee Well Being during Covid? — by Ridhhi Sanghi — Click Here.