#CoffeeWithHR: How Nupur Jain and Stuti Sinha of Wingify Hire Top Talent with a Swift Turnaround Time

Wingify, a Delhi-based fast-growing software startup, wants to hire top talent. It makes Visual Website Optimizer (VWO), a tool that helps marketing professionals increase sales and conversions on their websites using a variety of techniques such as A/B testing, behavioural targeting, heatmaps, usability testing, etc. It has a presence in 80+ countries with customers like Microsoft, AMD, GE, and Walt Disney. Their another famous product PushCrew lets you talk to your online audience in an easy and delightful manner using push notifications for websites. With such famous products in the bag, it’s obvious there are some brilliant minds working behind the wheel. And bringing those minds aboard the ship is the super HR team at Wingify. So, as part of our monthly series, #CoffeeWithHR, we went and had a chat with two amazing folks from the Wingify HR team – Stuti Sinha Chowdhury, Associate Manager and Nupur Jain, Senior Manager – People. They gave up some really great advice and practices on people management and hiring the top brains. Let’s dig in!

How would you describe yourself in one word or a sentence?

Stuti: Well, I like to complete my tasks as quickly as possible. I don’t delay tasks even if the results are needed later. So, in that sense, you could say I’m proactive.

So, what does your typical day at work look like?

Nupur: My mornings start with daily short standup meets where the team discusses the status of our weekly tasks, our position on the goal timeline, ways we can build the pipeline and close positions before time and so on. Then I get on with these tasks and finish them during the day.
As for the recruiting team, recruiters sift through the ATS, scan applications identifying strong candidates, and clear the organic applications received on our careers page. Then they share the CV with the respective teams – managers, recruiting team etc..
We also handle interviews in case we have any. An HR has 3 touch points with a candidate during the onsite interview. First, we meet them and take them out to lunch. Then comes the interview part, which is a 3-4 hour process. Finally, we hand out a gift to the candidate as we wrap up the interview process.

So, how do you conduct team building and employee engagement activities?

Stuti: At Wingify, we conduct townhalls where we discuss the achievements of past quarter and plans for the next quarter. Paras and Sparsh are there discussing further plans, so each team has an idea what other teams are doing.
Then we have regular FIFA tournaments in the office for soccer enthusiasts. On top of that, we have a sports day event for the whole company as well. It’s a lot of fun. We also have other team-building activities such as offsites, where you can go with the entire team to an offsite trip.

Additionally, teams have a monthly budget which they can use to go to a lunch or for other activities with their teams. We take the new joinees on lunches as well, where they can bond with the team right from the start.
Nupur: For us engagement starts right after an offer is made. We ensure to send welcome flowers and chocolates to the new joinees. We also send drip email campaigns after extending the offer until a candidate joins. That’s the level of engagement we want to have at candidate level so you can imagine our commitment towards employee engagement activities.
Lastly, we have an annual event calendar which contains all major events and festivals at company-wide scale that we celebrate with crazy excitement.

So, what kind of company culture do you cultivate at Wingify?

Nupur: Like Stuti said, we have regular mails coming in from a CEO talking about what’s up at Wingify. This information sharing and open communication in the organization encourages transparency and empowers everyone to share their views.
Then we have a book club at Wingify, fondly termed ‘Biblio’. Actually, at Wingify you’ll find a lot of avid readers. All of them come from different offices. So, to satiate our hunger for books, we formed a book club where meet up, discuss our thoughts, learnings and views on a wide array of pieces of good literature. The club parts each month with a recommended monthly read.

We also have other groups, like our running group which takes part in marathons all the time. A few things that cultivate the work n play attitude in the company.
To sum it up – As an organisation we give a lot of importance to communication. I think it’s pretty important for millennials to know what the company is doing, what others are doing, and the direction of the business goals so that their personal goals are aligned with the company. So, they’re not merely happy with doing just their own tasks – they aspire for a lot more.

Also, we thrive a lot on feedback. Everyone here has the power to go with a feedback to the CEO on any subject regarding Wingify. And this reachability extends to the team where they can share feedbacks, grievances, pointers to improve and more to their managers. Which helps connect them as an intrinsic part of the company.

That’s great! Now, are there any keywords that attract you to a resume? Or any keywords you hate to see on a resume?

There are a couple of words that freshers mention on resume such as leadership skills and dynamic. It makes little sense for someone with a little experience to stuff in words like that just to buff up their resumes. On the other hand when we see words like hustle with the right experience to back it up, we get interested to know more.
But ultimately, these are just words and they have no effect whatsoever on shortlisting criteria. We rely only on the skills of the candidate for selection.

Alright, what’s one thing you know you’re good at than everyone else?

Nupur: As a recruiting team, we’re very quick. And that’s what sets us apart from other companies. Our turnaround for things is extremely fast and just like customer satisfaction feedback, we record our candidate experience. We’ve captured feedback from 90-95 % candidates which speaks volumes about our dedication to recruitment experience in general. That’s what sets us apart – it’s not the numbers we chase, it’s the whole intention to make the experience world class that matters and that’s what helps us excel.

What advice for folks just starting up in HR?

Nupur: If you get the right platform like a startup, don’t fret over the CTC because ultimately your learning during initial years will define your journey later on.
Stuti: I think if you’re hired for a particular role, you shouldn’t restrict yourself to that role but try to gain a vibrant experience. You’re a fresher, you’re a beginner, you can be moulded in any way. So, try to make the best of what you get and try taking up other things as well.
Nupur: That’s a really interesting point, I’d like to build on that. Freshers joining in HR vertical shouldn’t think of their roles as only in the talent acquisition, HR, or as a support function. Always try and get the bigger picture so you can align your role with the business goals. This gives you a business perspective and that’s one of the most important learnings for an HR.

That’s a great advice! Any apps or tools that you can’t live without as a recruiter?

Linkedin, Recruiterbox, and Kickass ATS.

Finally, how do you unwind after work?

Nupur: Our team loves its work and no matter what numbers we have, it’s never too hectic to feel the need to unwind. The fact that we love our work and our company, we really don’t make a conscious effort to unwind.
Stuti: Even though we do work the entire day here, I’ve never reached home thinking “Damn, that was a long day.” So, what I’m trying to say is it’s really fun to work in that personal space that we each have in the office.
Wingify is hiring. Check out their profile here.