Martina, how do you think HR processes change when a company moves from start-up to scale-up?
In a start-up, HR is often just a sideline for the founders, who handle it alongside marketing or sales. As the company grows, new employees are added and with them come new challenges and expectations. It's not enough to just recruit the right people - you need to create an environment where they want to stay for the long term. The biggest change is in the culture of the company. In a small team, people know each other personally and information spreads naturally. Once a company passes the 80-person mark, it's no longer possible to rely on personal connections and the need for clear processes begins to emerge. This can be a big challenge if you are also trying to maintain the original start-up vibe.
Why do employees leave a start-up when it starts to grow?
Not everyone is comfortable with this clearly structured environment - some will embrace it, others will leave. People may resent the increase in processes and the loss of personal touch. Others will find that their way of working, which was sufficient in the start-up phase, is no longer sufficient in the scale-up. The company and its needs evolve and not everyone is willing or able to adapt at the same pace. When these expectations start to diverge, there is a period of frustration that is not easy to manage.
"Of course, it's very much about how the need for change is communicated, which goes a long way to preventing people's frustration."
In addition, the company has to start addressing the budget, which also entails some process changes in HR - from remuneration to training.
How is the reward system set up in a start-up and why does it need to change in a scale-up?
As the company grows, so do the expectations of employees in terms of remuneration and benefits. Both need to be not only attractive but also sustainable in the long term. In addition, the situation is often affected by legislative changes that can fundamentally alter benefits - as was the case last year, for example, in 2024. In a start-up, remuneration is often based on the principle of "who gets what". Then, for example, it happens that a teamleader has a lower salary than his team members because they were recruited at a different stage of the company's growth. To avoid such inequalities, it is crucial to set up a fair remuneration system that reflects the reality of the labour market and the internal structure of the company.
Why is learning and performance evaluation key in scale-up?
The growth of the company brings new challenges for employees as well. It's not enough just to recruit them - you need to give them the opportunity to develop. That's why we need to create a training system in the scale-up that motivates people, advances their careers and helps the company retain talent. Performance appraisals are just as crucial. Our system at FAVI is set up to be transparent and fair. We encourage continuous feedback not only from the top down, but also the other way around. It is important to define how to deliver it, how often and with what objective, so that it is truly beneficial and does not slip into formality.
How to manage onboarding, adaptation and recruitment in a fast-growing company?
In a growing company , it is crucial to integrate new people into the team as soon as possible and make them feel part of the team. HR professionals need to adjust the onboarding process in collaboration with managers so that newcomers have clear expectations from the start and have a say in what will help them adapt. Recruiters need to match the pace of growth, but also ensure the right "fit" - not just in terms of skills, but also personality. This fit will then ensure that there is good diversity in the team to match a particular stage of the company's growth. That's why at FAVI we have a multi-stage recruitment process that starts with a short call with HR to check motivation and experience, continues with a face-to-face meeting with the role, and offers a paid half-day trial if unclear. This system helps us select people who will really fit into the team. As the company grows, the requirements for specialisation also change - while at the beginning you are looking for generalists, later on you need experts in specific areas. HR needs to react quickly to these changes and set up processes to help the company scale.
What changes in HR processes are necessary when moving from startup to scale-up?
While in a startup HR processes often work ad-hoc and without much automation, in a scale-up these processes need to be structured and digitized. This includes, for example, implementing modern tools for talent management, recruitment (ATS) and administrative tasks. As a company grows, it is crucial that HR processes are scalable and able to respond quickly to change. Automating routine activities and leveraging HR systems are essential for a company to focus on growth - not paperwork.
How does a company know when it's time for a radical change?
Employee satisfaction is an essential signal. If it drops rapidly over the course of six months, it's a warning sign. It can be reflected in an increase in turnover, a decrease in motivation, or even frustration that employees don't feel a sense of purpose in their work. If people in the company are expressing dissatisfaction with their pay, it's important to benchmark and compare their pay to the market. You may find that the dissatisfaction is justified. Another key indicator is recruitment. If you are not recruiting the right people, you need to find out where the problem lies - is it finance, benefits, poor reputation or an overly long and complex selection process? Or is it just a lack of clarity about what kind of candidate you're looking for?
Back to FAVI: how have you specifically adapted HR processes to the growth of the company?
We are currently finalizing a system of competency models that will help us with the new setup of the employee remuneration, training and development process, including recruitment and talent management. The main objective is to ensure that remuneration is not chaotic and based on the principle of "who shouts more, gets more". The HR system allows us to have everything in one place and no longer serves us only for employee records and attendance approval, but we also have all the documents in it, which we also generate automatically, thanks to pre-created templates with tokens. We also electronically sign documents, of course, where legally possible, thanks to the integration of HRIS and DigiSign. The Pinya HR system also makes it easy for us to create reports and keep the org chart up to date.
Now let's take a closer look at the digitalisation of the HR agenda that you introduced last year. What did it bring you?
We used to have a lot of spreadsheets and documents stored in different places. People were recorded in folders on Drivu, in the HR system for attendance and still physically in a paper file. Getting signatures for employees outside of Prague was lengthy and depended on the post office and the responsible attitude of people who also had to pay to send documents back. Today we have everything in one place thanks to the Pinya HR system.
Has digitalisation helped you with employee adoption?
Absolutely. The Pinya HR system makes it easy for us to conduct surveys and collect feedback, for example, when evaluating onboarding and probationary periods - both from the perspective of employees and their managers We also automate the pre-onboarding and onboarding processes, so new hires and their teams are in control from day one.
Which areas of the HR agenda did you digitise first and why?
We focused on recruitment, electronic signing, clear record keeping and automatic document generation. These are routine tasks that take a lot of time, even if it doesn't seem like it at first glance. Another important step was the creation of an internal wiki where each department stores manuals, directives and other key information. This not only helps new employees with orientation, but also ensures effective knowledge sharing across the company.
Which technologies and tools have been the most successful for you in digitizing the HR agenda?
We are using a modern HRIS Pinya HR and we plan to further extend it, for example with checklists and training, which will be intertwined with the internal wiki. We also work with ATS system, Notion and artificial intelligence. With its help we often brainstorm when we don't know how to grasp a project. We also create data dashboards with HR metrics and aim to make sure that not only the management can access them, but also other employees in the future.
The digitalization of HR processes has brought about a big change for the entire company. What do you see as the biggest benefits?
The biggest advantage is the time saving. HRIS Pinya HR automatically generates documents for us, so instead of manually transcribing data, we just enter everything once and in a few clicks create a complete package of onboarding materials, which we then electronically sign.In one of my earlier jobs, I used to maintain org charts on the side in Canva or Excel or Powerpoint, and in a company of 700 people, it was a nightmare. Now it updates automatically. The electronic recording and approval of attendance also makes our job easier. At FAVI, we don't deal with punches, we focus on results, but legal record keeping is necessary. Thanks to digitization, I don't have to run around with papers, get signatures and archive stacks of documents. The ATS has also been a big time saver. We have all candidates and recruitment data in one place, linked via webhook to the advertising portals and our careers site. This allows us to communicate with candidates more efficiently, pass on feedbacks quickly and schedule appointments seamlessly - online and offline.
Has the digitalization of HR processes affected the efficiency and productivity of the team?
We now have more time to spend with people - and that's what our business is all about :). Automating routine and administrative tasks allows us to improve not only the level of communication during recruitment, but also the entire recruitment process. This allows us to focus on innovation and building relationships and trust with the people who matter in the company.
What advice would you give to other HR managers in scale-ups that are yet to digitalize?
I would tell them not to be afraid of change and to get on with it as soon as possible. Digital is a game changer that will make their lives easier, their work more efficient and free their hands for more important things like working with people and innovation. It's a good idea to start with what they are most passionate about and what takes up the most of their time. If the HR team is dealing with a large number of open positions and resumes, an ATS is the obvious choice. If recruiting is under control, but they're being held back by admin and paperwork, for example, then it makes sense to invest in an HRIS to automate routine tasks. Every HR department has different priorities, so finding a solution that fits their specific needs is key.
