Why I never know what I’ll be doing in 2 years’ time — HR leadership at growth companies
What I was doing two years ago is totally different to what I am doing now, and two years from now I will be doing something totally different again!
Some people might find that scary, but I thrive in the frenetic landscape of managing HR functions at a growth company.
Over the past 15 years I have worked in pretty much every HR function imaginable.
But I have always loved HR at growth companies: the pace of change drives me and challenges me. I love sitting down with leaders and solving challenges that come with rapid scaling.
My personal curiosity, drive, and creativity help me think on my feet and solve the unique HR challenges that growth companies encounter when scaling.
My career has always been about going towards growth.
Since I joined Unity, we have grown by an impressive 50%; and though that still makes us small on the Silicon Valley scale, we’re always growing.
Unity is known for its 3D platform, but we’re also innovating in other verticals like automotive and education. I like the opportunities that come with working in such a diverse organization .
It’s pretty rare to work in such a truly global environment here in Finland, and I love it: it’s great to be part of a bigger global context.
In Finland our teams are very international, and one thing we’re very strict on is that everybody should feel at home at work. This means that all conversations are most of the time in English: even those casual chats we have over coffee. That way nobody is left out.
In the past, Unity has invested in physical office space. In today’s world, it’s been very important for us to create similar virtual spaces through virtual meets, inspiring town hall’s and casual coffee slots.
Over the span of my career, I have seen how essential it is to invest in your people and your leadership, and I think that at Unity our culture of feedback has helped us to develop together and successfully adjust to challenging realities.
Culture is important, but it’s also important to let it change. Some startups can have a toxic and protectionist attitude towards culture that creates an unhelpful us vs. them division.
I like the fact that we’ve had the courage to change as we grow.
Working at a growth tech company, it’s not just about developing and improving our technical platforms, but also developing the way we treat our people.
The challenge for us in tech HR is for our HR processes to accurately reflect the rate of change of tech: suddenly a new platform crops up and you have to retrain a whole team or hire experts in a new technology.
That is why HR has to always remain agile and flexible.
I think the tech industry inherently lends itself to HR innovation: it is probably something to do with the pace of change, innovation, curiosity, and the growth opportunities offered by tech.
Some of my top tips for HR leaders at growth companies:
- Mindset is essential, so don’t forget to appeal to people’s hearts and minds
- Don’t just solve problems, learn how to solve problems at scale.
- Invest heavily in your people and leaders — it’s your best investment and it will pay dividends.
