JOIN meets people's growth challenges: why and how?

Every growing company faces human challenges. When growth is rapid, these challenges multiply. At JOIN, we started to grow in leaps and bounds in 2022: we doubled our workforce in just 12 months. 

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Expanding teams is a delicate stage in the life of a company. Founders often don't hold the key to sensitive issues such as employee careers and remuneration. Recruiting is also a challenging process.

For us, the main concerns at the moment were : 

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1. Make the right recruitments, both for the team and for the candidates, who need to join a company where they feel at ease.
2. Clarify employee development and guarantee their fulfillment. 
3. Reward good performance and support employees who encounter difficulties. 

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All these actions require meticulous work in collaboration with experts. 

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Since JOIN's inception, these issues had been dealt with on an ad hoc basis without any particular expertise, due to the small number of employees. With JOIN's growth in recent months, it was imperative to create a real framework for employee recruitment and development, before this became a real problem.

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In search of solutions : Atscale and Marion Birolini

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We called on the company, which specializes in helping start-ups grow in two areas: Sales and People. Atscale is made up of expert profiles who have already experienced hypergrowth and have developed a strong expertise in helping other companies to do the same. Atscale offers specialized senior profiles who act as part-time VPs. Marion Birolini, ex-Head of People at Virtuo, where she created the division, joined us for this mission.

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We welcomed Marion Birolini to our premises for a period of 3 months. During this mission, she deciphered JOIN's core values, in order to help us set up efficient work systems, establish constructive rituals and draw up action plans to encourage our growth while preserving our entrepreneurial spirit.

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Our situation had one advantage over many companies in the same situation: we were ahead of our problems. For us, it was mainly a matter of preventing future problems, and establishing a clear structure and framework for our work.

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The subjects we defined as priorities to avoid future conflict situations were the following:

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1. Visibility into employees' career paths.
2. Assessing employee performance
3. Recruiting the next generation of employees

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First issue: visibility on the career path 

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Our first priority was to establish a framework for progression within JOIN. In our early days, the new talent joining us was mainly junior, and their progression took place naturally: they gradually developed their skills and responsibilities organically.

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Today, the story is different. JOIN is growing, welcoming new employees. Among them are top-quality middle and senior-level profiles that we want to keep. To retain them, it's essential to offer them prospects for development, enabling them to envisage a promising future within our company.

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In collaboration with Marion, we have developed department-specific Competency Frameworks: a system that details the different skill levels for each position (trainee, junior, intermediate, senior, etc.), the areas of expertise and the skills required at each stage. These Competency Frameworks include :

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• The different types of development possible at JOIN: horizontal, vertical or transversal. Horizontal development concerns profiles that progress in an "expertise" direction, becoming increasingly competent in their professional field. Vertical evolution corresponds to the managerial path, while transversal evolution implies a change of position within the company, enabling the exploration of new opportunities. 

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• To give coherence to these various courses, we have defined a series of stages for each team and position, symbolizing the progression from one level to the next. Each stage is accompanied by the skills and knowledge required to master it.

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This system is effective because it provides employees with a global vision of their career path, enabling them to understand their starting point and the possibilities open to them. The Competency Framework always indicates the next step to be taken. This practical tool is designed to be operational, providing all the necessary indications, step by step, to progress in their career within the company.

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Second challenge: measuring performance

Career development and performance are closely linked. It's impossible to determine the right moment for career development without data on employee performance. Similarly, without a clearly defined development framework, evaluating performance would be a meaningless exercise devoid of logical continuity.

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Marion conducted 5 working sessions with our managers to answer these crucial questions: What do we mean by performance at JOIN? What do we want to measure, and how often? What exactly do we mean by performance at JOIN? What aspects do we want to measure, and how often?

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Following these workshops, they drew up a comprehensive action plan, accompanied by templates to facilitate follow-up.

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Our main concern when it came to performance assessment was to avoid surprises for both employees and managers. That's why we tried to avoid the scenario where a simple review was carried out at the end of the year, as this often leads to unpleasant surprises. To get around this, we set up specific, regular opportunities for managers and their staff to exchange views. In short, we have opted for the following rituals

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1. Every week, a review is carried out using a specific template, enabling employees to express their general feelings at work, review the past week's actions and discuss their plans for the week ahead.
2. After the first half of the probationary period, another point is organized, followed by another at the end of the probationary period. Thereafter, a career review is scheduled if the employee has been with us for more than 8 months.
3. Finally, at the end of the year, a final review is carried out to make an overall assessment of performance and define the action plan for the coming year.

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The aim of these templates is to facilitate a clear assessment of performance, enabling more objective decisions to be made about career development and salary increases.

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We have chosen 4 dimensions to evaluate: 

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1. Objective Completion: this dimension objectively evaluates the objectives achieved by the employee. 
2. JOIN Core Values: This measures the extent to which the employee embodies the company's values on a daily basis.
3. Job Skills: this dimension evaluates the level of expertise attained by the employee in his or her areas of competence.
4. Management Skills: specifically for team leaders, this dimension involves an assessment of their performance by their colleagues.

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Based on these four dimensions, we draw up performance profiles to determine career paths. At JOIN, we have opted to implement five performance profiles. The first three profiles are eligible for a salary increase.

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Third challenge: improving our recruitment

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Finally, our third key objective is to guarantee the recruitment of the right profiles. All the other elements flow from this one: if we don't hire the right people, all the performance appraisal and career development opportunities lose their meaning and usefulness! Hiring qualified, well-adapted talent is the essential foundation on which our appraisal and career development system is built.

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Recruiting a new profile is a delicate process. It is essential that the person recruited aligns with the company's values, while possessing the knowledge and skills required for the position. Successful recruitment reduces staff turnover and minimizes potential friction within the team.

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Marion worked closely with Melinda Hobam, our Talent Acquisition Manager, on this third challenge. Together, they defined precise scorecards that enable us to clearly determine search criteria when recruiting, thus avoiding errors and allowing us to monitor the performance of new employees during the probationary period.

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The probationary period plays a crucial role in the integration of a new employee. It's not just about deciding whether or not the person is qualified for the job. It's also about the employer and employee determining whether they really are a good match for each other. Yet few companies have specific evaluation processes in place for this period. At JOIN, we see this as a fundamental part of our approach.

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Marion and Mélinda have established markers to follow during this period: 

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1. From the very first week, the newcomer should be given clear objectives and an understanding of what he or she is expected to achieve in the first three months.
2. Every week, a follow-up meeting is scheduled to ensure that the onboarding process is running smoothly.
3. Throughout the first three months, particular attention will be paid to the "core dimensions", i.e. the behaviors that demonstrate whether the person fits in well with the company's culture and values.

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The importance of values in recruitment

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Since the start of our JOIN adventure, our values had not been re-examined, but we felt this was the right time to do so.

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Corporate values are complex, because they cannot simply be imposed. They are built on the personalities and collective vision of the teams, and it is essential to adhere to them and believe in them.

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To tackle this subject of values, Marion, accompanied by Pierre Verstrataen, organized a one-day workshop with all our employees. We spent a morning imagining and depicting the "JOIN creature", so that everyone could intimately express what JOIN means to them. We then shared our ideas and discussed all the proposals, trying to identify which ones we wanted to keep and which ones we didn't, as well as the points on which we more or less agreed. This collaborative process enabled us to redefine our corporate values and strengthen our common understanding of what drives us at JOIN.

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Finally, we took out the keywords of the JOIN culture, and at the end we removed 3 values: 

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1. We care for individuals and embrace collective work
2. We dare, persevere and learn 
3. We build trust through transparency

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Then, for each of these values, we identified key behaviors. Often, values can seem like mere words with no real implication behind them. In reality, it's the behaviors that flow from them that are essential. Values identify what is expected of each individual within the group, as well as of the group as a whole. This is a key factor in the success of an employee within our organization.

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How do you make a success of this work? 

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Now comes the best part: implementing all this work! Starting in the last week of June 2023, JOIN employees began receiving invitations via Payfit to carry out their first interviews under the new structure set up for this division. Depending on their seniority, these interviews are either career points or probationary period follow-up points. The work accomplished in collaboration with Marion Birolini is a cornerstone of a people-first company.

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Our Office Manager, Aurore Apruzzese, is responsible for ensuring that these meetings run smoothly. This first series of meetings marks a turning point for us, enabling us to assess the relevance of this new system and the value it brings to employees and managers alike.

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This major project has been no mean feat, mobilizing all JOIN employees. Despite this, we believe that our work is far from over, and we are committed to maintaining these advances in the future. We will continue to build frameworks for healthy growth at JOIN, both for the company and for each of its employees.