As funding winter bites, startups think beyond pay, perks to win talent wars

While Ashneer Grover announced this week that he would gift Mercedes cars to employees who stay on for five years at his new startup, Third Unicorn, the mood among the rest of the startup ecosystem is one of caution and fiscal prudence.

With funding having slowed down and layoffs across multiple companies, startups such as Wingify, Eduvanz, CashKaro, Hero Vired, Wakefit, and Zepto are looking at wooing talent with opportunities for career growth and long-term wealth creation through employee stock options (ESOPs), upskilling, access to leadership, and rewards for great performance.

“We believe that granting freebies or opulent gifts is not the only solution to retain talent. It is essential for employees to understand the company's vision, get inspired, and work together towards a collective goal to upskill people and bring difference into their lives,” said Samra Rahman, head of people and culture at Hero Vired.

The edtech company is focusing on keeping employees engaged, providing required upskilling opportunities, and creating an open environment for employees to share their opinions.

Others like Zepto and CashKaro are offering multiple promotion opportunities, peer learning, access to leadership, and recognition of exemplary work.

“We’ve realised through regular surveys that employees want opportunities for growth and learning. At a young company like ours, there’s an opportunity to build something from the ground up, to disrupt the industry we’re in,” said Roma Bindroo, HR head of the grocery delivery startup. The company runs regular AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions where employees get direct access to cofounders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra to question them on metrics, growth, and future plans.

At CashKaro, #TheCKMorning Show--a platform for appreciation and encouragement—gives a shout out to employees who have gone above and beyond. Many aspiring candidates get to know more about the company culture by seeing such initiatives on social media, which helps the firm to attract good talent, said cofounder Swati Bhargava.

Wingify is actively investing in employee development and career growth opportunities. This not only attracts top talent but also helps retain current employees, said CEO and cofounder Sparsh Gupta.

“We stay on the cutting edge of industry trends and technologies, which allows us to offer employees challenging and exciting projects that allow them to grow their skills and advance their careers,” said Gupta. The company also has a professional development budget which employees can use to upskill themselves.

“As startups practice fiscal prudence, conversations too are shifting from just focusing on compensation to including factors like exposure to interesting projects, possibilities of working across teams, and the potential of building something really unique,” said Varun Chopra, founder of Eduvanz, a tech-enabled non-banking finance company (NBFC) providing skill-building educational loans.

The company, which counts Sequoia Capital and Unitus Ventures among its investors, rolled out a learning and development budget to finance learning for employees, who have been using it to upskill themselves in project and product design, analytics, business management and leadership capabilities.

Mattress, furniture and home interiors company Wakefit focuses on a healthy work-life balance through policies such as a no-questions-asked leave policy and flexi-work for new parents. The wellness-positive practices are a strong draw for potential talent, said cofounder Chaitanya Ramalingegowda.

“We are a people-centric organisation and we believe in extending benefits that truly enrich the lives of our employees, rather than providing vanity perks,” he said.