Feature

Does brand matter?

Sudipta Dev on why working for smaller companies can give a greater satisfaction to professionals seeking exciting careers.

The power of an organisational brand is indisputable in any area of business, including attracting the right talent. It is the big boys who dominate the recruitment market and are too formidable a force to reckon with for organisations which do not have a brand name to boast of. The big companies offer a plethora of allurements in the form of a structured career path, training programmes, more job security, a corporate working environment, opportunities for going abroad, et al. Then why should anyone ever consider working for a small setup? The answer narrows down to three primary reasons—more challenges, an innovative atmosphere and creating one’s identity in the company.

"Joining a startup like Google a few years back or Microsoft many years back, created more millionaires than joining them right now" - Sai Gundavelli Founder & CEO Solix Technologies

In a small company you are not a lost face—one among the many thousands who work for the brand and can be easily replaceable. On the contrary in a small organisation the big boss might know you by your name and has identified you as a key partner in the company’s growth process. You are there to make a mark, and maybe change the course of destiny for your company. The sense of entrepreneurship and achievement is much greater. The IT industry has no shortage of success stories of companies which had started as startups and have become global brands today, making millionaires out of those people who have belied the beaten track by joining them initially. “Brand, nice office, good infrastructure does make sense to attract talent at the lower level or startup candidates. Individuals who are experienced and who have worked at bigger companies, do understand at the end of the day that just because they are working for a multinational, it does not make them more money and make them grow faster. In fact, joining a startup like Google a few years back or a Microsoft many years back, created more millionaires than joining them right now,” says Sai Gundavelli, Founder & CEO, Solix Technologies. He points out that however at the junior level, people want to have a recognised name and good training setup when they begin their career, they tend to join a branded company. So, it does make a lot of difference when you are attracting talent at that level.

"Smaller brands need to present the candidate with the 'big picture' and offer opportunities and roles that compensate for the compromise on brand name" - Madan Padaki Co-founder & Director MeritTrac Services

Madan Padaki, Co-founder & Director, MeritTrac Services, India’s leading skills assessment company, acknowledges that while recruiting at the fresher level, brand names do make a great difference. “Dream companies attract larger pool of applicants apart from other privileges like a first day slot in campuses. Having said this, there is certainly a change in the attitude of freshers in choosing companies to work for,” adds Padaki. He points out that traditionally laterals and specialists have sought to leave the comforts of big brands, but now one can see an emerging trend among freshers, particularly a few b-school graduates, who seek to tread off the beaten path and take on greater challenges that only a smaller brand can offer.

Attracting the right people

"Big brand names, as we all know, does attract. However, whether they attract talent, or more appropriately relevant talent, or not, is a matter of debate" - Indraneel Mukherjee Founder & CEO iProdigy

An interesting observation is that those who are willing to join small organisations have typically a different mindset. They are more excited by their job role and its challenges than obsession with the brand. Indraneel Mukherjee, Founder & CEO, iProdigy believes that those who take the initiative of joining small companies are more empowered. They come with a spirit of adventure to explore and create realities for themselves. And most importantly, they have their purposes essentially aligned to that of the organisation.

“Big brand names, as we all know does attract. However, whether they attract talent, or more appropriately relevant talent, or not, is a matter of debate. To me, a brand name is more of an identity with which prospective employees would want to associate and thereby feel more worthy. It does make one feel comfortable and safe to associate with a brand. From my experience also, it seems, that some big employer brands, have actually become sanctuaries for a large percentage hi-maintenance, often misfit and sub-optimally efficient employees. This population often gets hidden in the sea of a large workforce and what we get to see is perhaps the star performers as the tip of the icebergs,” asserts Mukherjee.

Managing to retain

The greatest challenge for all organisations—whether big or small—is retaining their talent. For the latter the situation is of course much tougher. So how can they retain their vital people resources? “If employees find their purpose, their calling answered in the organisations they join, they stay on. Some organisations, therefore, when they are small, consciously invest in interventions for co-creation/discovery of the organisation context and alignment/enrollment of their employees. Some of the organisations we know of and have been associated with in facilitating such interventions for, have grown and evolved. In most cases, those employees who were core and valuable for the organisations’ essence to be nurtured and developed upon, have stayed,” answers Mukherjee. He adds that the best thing that happened with most of them is that such interventions systematically weeded out the misfits, without any pain or displeasure.

Continuous opportunities to grow, learn and job satisfaction are the key factors, particularly for lateral recruits who often leave big companies for more exciting opportunities in smaller setups. Gundavelli asserts that if people understand the long-term gains, there is a good chance for retention, “All in all, it is all about employees’ perception, what they think about the company. These days with so many opportunities, if they don’t believe in the company or see bad execution, then you do have a chance of losing people.”

Recruitment strategy

While big companies invest a lot of time and effort to formulate their recruitment strategy (sometimes pre-planning their workforce requirements 10 years in advance), smaller companies need to be more cautious about whom they hire as they have more at stake. “Smaller brands need to devote more time in hand-picking the right people. They need to present the candidate with the ‘big picture’ and offer opportunities and roles that compensate for the compromise on brand name. The involvement of the top management in the recruitment process can be reassuring and may lend a lot of credibility to the brand,” states Padaki.

Gundavelli advises organisations to head hunt for and find people who have a passion to join a startup—it’s a different mentality altogether. Just the lure of money is not sufficient to retain the best talent and might in fact be disastrous for the organisation.

For those who value freedom, learning and growth, a smaller organisation is probably a better place to find a more enriching career than the biggest brand names. The informal approach works best for real go-getters who want to prove themselves and then move up quickly in the organisation.

ec@expresscomputeronline.com