EP29: Vantage Circle - The Value of Employee Engagement (with Partha Neog)

All-In Recruitment is a podcast by Manatal focusing on all things related to the recruitment industry’s missions and trends. Join us in our weekly conversations with leaders in the recruitment space and learn their best practices to transform the way you hire.

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Transcript 

The transcript has been edited for clarity.

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Lydia: Welcome to the All-In Recruitment podcast by Manatal, where we explore best practices, learnings, and trends with leaders in the recruitment space. If you've liked our content so far, please subscribe to our channels on YouTube and Spotify. And stay tuned for our weekly episodes. My name is Lydia, and today with us is Partha Neog, the CEO of Vantage Circle. 

Hello, Partha, and thank you for joining us on this podcast.

Partha: Hi, Lydia. It's a pleasure to be on your podcast.

Partha’s Journey

Lydia: So, you founded and run Vantage Circle for over 12 years now. Tell us a little bit about the idea behind it. What sparked this?

Partha: There's a huge difference between what we had thought of when we started in 2000, end of 2010, and where we are today, but there's still a common thread in the entire thing, and it is around the space where we started. 

Around 2019, there were a lot of these deals sites, Groupon, and all these other sites were coming up. And it was making a lot of noise in this whole internet space. And we thought there was something interesting here, but we don't have the money. 

So, how do we do that? We said, “Let's pick up a niche. Let's go after the corporate audience, and we'll provide them with special deals.” 

If you're an employee of Microsoft, you get special pricing on, let's say, Disneyland parks, Apple phones, and all those things. Now, the idea was that brands always wanted to reach out to this corporate audience. The corporates love those special discounts. Even your nearby restaurant is giving you special duty personnel, right? But it was not HR's job to manage that. 

So, we said that if they come there, we will manage the entire deals and discounts for your employees. That's why we started off with, and we gave this solution to companies for free. Now, two or three things happened here, which took us in the direction of where we are today. One was we started speaking to the HR and the employee engagement teams. We said, “Okay, the discount and deals are small things, but it was still handled by the employee engagement teams. So, we got connected to them. We started talking to them. We understood the different issues that they had.  

The second thing was that to make money, we had to get money from the brands. And the brands will pay you money only if they have sales. So, you’ll get sales only if you go after large corporates. You don't get sales for going for 100-people companies in that model. So, we start focusing on enterprises there. What happened along the way was that in about three or four years, we realized that this is a good business, a good lifestyle business, but it's not going to scale beyond a certain amount because it's not very important. For HR, it's a nice-to-have thing, but it’s nothing important. 

Then one of our clients asked us, “Hey, can you build up a rewards and recognition system for us?” We didn't realize how big that market was. We said, “Okay, we have tech guys. We'll build this stuff for you.” So, we started in that direction. We started building up the rewards and recognition system. We built up the wellness solution. We built up the employee pulse survey tools. These are all in the employee engagement space. 

Our focus today is also on the enterprise market. We don't target small and medium enterprises. Of course, we serve them if they come to us. But our focus from our sales point of view and a marketing point of view is the enterprise. That's because most of our clients were large corporates when we started off, and our systems have already been developed for that purpose and enterprises, accessibility security systems, all those things. 

So, that's the direction we took. Today, we are about 200-odd people. Our employees are spread across India, the U.S., and Canada. Of course, we service clients across 60-odd countries, but our employees are based out of here. It's been an interesting journey so far, and I think there is a lot to be done. We've just scratched the surface.

Fundamentals Of Employee Recognition

Lydia: It's definitely an interesting journey, looking at the way in which you've developed and gone into that space very organically and through demand. And employee recognition is actually more important than ever today. Especially considering how many channels and the different ways in which you can deliver this kind of recognition to employees. 

So, what might be some of the fundamentals of employee recognition that have stayed the same throughout this period?

Partha: Let me give a slightly wider answer. So, recognition is not new, and you rightly said that the fundamentals had remained the same. Every organization has some recognition programs. What is new as a digital part of it is in the how and the analytical. Some companies may have an annual event where they recognize the top 10 performers, or salesman of the month, or something like that. Nonetheless, some kind of recognition programs is always happening. 

So, recognition and determination have always been important to employees as well as employers. Now, the fundamentals have remained the same. It's like, giving appreciation for the work which they have done on an instant basis or specific things.

However, while the fundamentals remained common, we looked around, and we didn't find a framework that people could use. So, we looked at research papers. We looked at the competitors. We looked at what was on the net. We found some frameworks that could help HR to design and implement these programs. And that's where we came up with this whole framework called the ‘AIR framework.’ 

These are the few factors that you should look at when you decide to design your program. It will differ from company to company, but you have to look into these factors. For example, appreciation. So when I refer to AIR (framework), it’s Appreciation, Incentivization Reinforcement with an emotional connection. 

“Sometimes you need to recognize a person for their inherent value. It is not performance linked.” 

It's an appreciation for you. It's not for a specific task you have given. This is a pure appreciation as required. The impetus, why would you want to be recognized within this platform? What is there on this platform? Either the monetary value or exclusivity. Why do you want to be recognized? That’s the impetus? Reinforcement, meaning, which behaviors do you want to reinforce among the employees? Maybe mentorship or teamwork. 

When you're designing a program, think about these factors. And the emotional connection, we say it's the superscript. That's a multiplier. How do you deliver that? Your group leader, your team leader in front of everyone recognizing you, has a different impact. So, we put all of these factors in the AIR framework, which helps you design the programs. 

Then coming back to the original question, 

“The fundamentals have remained the same. Tools have come in to help you make it more convenient, easier, and effective.”

‍Lydia: Over the past two years, at least, we are seeing plenty of different variables. Disruption in terms of the way people work. Disruption in terms of the way the economy is, and also the changing expectations of candidates. Some of them are remote. Some of them are contract employees. Some don't. Some of them you don't see on a day-to-day basis, but they are still contributing. 

So, given these disruptive factors we've seen recently in the changing expectations from employees and candidates, have you found that some of these fundamentals maybe have changed a little bit? Or have they still, as you said, remained the same? 

Partha: No, I think the ideal scenario is when you want to appreciate or recognize someone, you go to each one of them physically and present them something, or even say a good word, or pat them on the back. And that's no longer possible. Remote work has made it even more prominent. How do you keep them engaged? How do you recognize people and get visibility?

So, these tools are there to help you with that. Tools are never going to be as effective as the personal touch which is there. But personal touch has limitations in your recruitment. It’s impossible for you to read every application and interview every applicant. Tools help you improve this process. Maybe we'll make some mistakes, but overall, tools help improve the entire process. 

So, in the remote work environment, people have not been meeting each other for ages. This is a way of interaction. When I say interaction, it's not a chat message or something like that. It is an interaction in the sense of appreciation. Employees might haven’t met their employers, but they can acknowledge that they are being appreciated. It builds up some kind of connection. Recognition is a very important tool.  

Lydia: Are there any examples that you've seen and maybe like to share with our audience from implementing these different employee recognition programs and the usage of the tools within the workplace? What is the takeaway for HR leaders?

Partha: So, we have seen employee engagement become a huge thing today. While people have been getting fired, the people who are staying in the company need to be engaged. As I mentioned in the previous point, with remote working, this engagement levels have gone down. 

So, with these recognition tools, what we have seen is the engagement scores of all these companies have improved with recognition. Now, there's a correlation between people who have companies with good and effective recognition programs. We have seen employee engagement scores increase. 

The second thing we have seen is interesting. And that's where we have taken our direction also. A lot of hidden skills or talent was getting highlighted to the HR or line managers. For example, “Partha was appreciated as a great mentor by many of my teammates or my colleagues, but the HR or my boss never knew about that.” Because of remote work, I don't have that much touch with you, or the team might be very big. 

Now, my boss gets to know that I seem to be a great mentor, which means it can be used in my performance appraisal later for my promotions and performance assessment. So, we see a lot of analytics which are coming up from the usage of the tools. 

We have not foreseen how it will be used. But now, we are seeing it now. It's going to get connected to the performance management systems, which optimizes the whole appraisal process. 

These are two examples in which we have seen a direct impact on HR - increasing engagement scores and analytics being used for the overall evaluation of an employee.

Lydia: Now, there are some people in the HR space or even in the talent space that might be thinking about building an employee recognition program, but there might be some challenges as to where do they begin. 

So, what might be some ways to think about building an employee recognition program or getting started on building it from the ground up? And what might be some solutions around that for them? 

Partha: The solution is the AIR framework. Before COVID, we were getting requests coming in here and there. Then suddenly, a lot of HRs got the mandate to do a digital recognition program. 

Now, the implementers and people in the HR operations realized they wanted to do it, but they didn’t know where to start. 

So, we’ve got a lot of inquiries around that time to help them design this program. And that's when we realized that we didn't help them design the program. We just gave them a tool. They have their policies, and they have to fit their policies into this tool. A tool can be customized to fit your policies, but the policy, the design itself, was not there. That's where we came up with this whole AIR framework. 

You have to look into factors like how much you want coverage to be there. Do you want all employees to be covered? Do you want certain segments of the employees to be covered? Do you want contractors to be covered? The coverage is important. 

The second thing is the frequency. How frequently do you want to use this tool? You can put the design elements into this. For example, you can't use it more than three times or five times as a manager in a month. Let's say, you can create the frequency of the coverage. That's one part of it. 

What is it that you're going to give the monetary value, the exclusivity in the program? Is it only a few awards that will be given here? The exclusivity has to come in there. When you design the program, you have to think about what values or behaviors you want to drive in this program. You can't have a laundry list of 100 behaviors. You have to think, “These are the five behaviors that I’d like to implement.” 

“So you have to design your program according to how you want it to be delivered. In a town hall, with everyone's visibility. Who gets what?” 

These different factors are captured in our AIR framework. 

The framework which we have given as a white paper also gives you the AIR score. For example, you can do DIY quizzes there, and it will give you the AIR score and show you the areas where you need to improve. 

I haven't seen other frameworks out there around recognition. This is where we, of course, provide a consultancy. If someone requests beyond the white paper and beyond the presentation, if they want a one-to-one consultation, we do provide that also.

The Link Between Talent Acquisition and Recognition

Lydia: So, building on what you just said about recognizing your employees, regardless of level on social media, I think that's very powerful. Let's discuss how recognition helps the efforts to attract talent. What's the link between talent acquisition and employee recognition?

Partha: So, I think this whole employer branding is important in the recruitment space.

“And the recognition contributes to employer branding. And the fundamental to that is people come for a good salary, career progression, and recognition in the job. So, implementing a recognition program is very, very important.” 

Now, you might also ask me, “How much will it affect retention?” There is people’s growth. The company’s growth. Purpose’s growth. All of those things are happening. So, as long as you have the right kind of recognition program, you will create the right kind of engagement. 

Your employees might leave the company for different purposes and reasons, but building a recognition program helps create a very engaging workforce. So yes, on the retention, I think employer branding helps in recruiting and retaining talents. 

The Impact Of HR Technology On The Workplace

Lydia: Let's discuss the use of HR technology. This is one solution, and there are also plenty of tools out there to help automate hiring, especially one like ours in Manatal. So, in your opinion, how might technology help to ensure a great hiring campaign or a great recruitment strategy?

Partha: I think the HR technology makes sure that you are not affected by the bad personal biases of individuals. Now, everyone has biases, right? Whether it’s religious bias or what we call the color of the skin. They might not be aware of this, but these biases manifest along the way. And technology removes biases and helps you make the right decision. Of course, the final decision is still from the human side, but it improves the decision-making process.

And the HR side of technology also has systems of record, recruitment technology, engagement technology, wellness platforms, and survey tools. These are helping HR professionals do their jobs in a more effective way. I'm sure this HR technology is going to be at a huge pace. It already is. And we might be able to do more work with lesser people, but for those lesser people, you have to make sure that you are making correct decisions in their hiring, in their engagement, and in their living also. You have to make sure that you're using the technology for these people.  

Lydia: It's interesting to hear your points because you also talk about how recognition eventually leads to your talent acquisition efforts. Ultimately, you're going out there and talking about the great things that have been done internally. You recognize that, and you're also putting it out there. I believe there is not just a correlation but a codependence between the different types of HR technology that we may see in different companies as well.

Thank you very much for your time and great insights, Partha. The audience might want to find out more about you and where to find you. So where can they look you up?

Partha: I think LinkedIn is the best place. It's linkedin.com/parthaneog.

Lydia: Excellent, thank you, Partha. And we have been in conversation with Partha Neog, the CEO of Vantage Circle. If you like our content, please subscribe to our channels to stay tuned for more weekly episodes from All-In Recruitment. Thank you.