How TresVista changed its talent acquisition during pandemic

The pandemic hit at a time when jobs were already getting hard to come by, due to the declining economy. The lockdown forced companies to introduce cutbacks and lay off people, resulting in an increase in the number of unemployed people. However, six months down the line, hiring has gingerly opened up and firms are making the most of the expanding talent pool. Sudeep Mishra, co-founder, and managing director, TresVista, informs that the Company has hired around 200 people during this period.

“We have hired about 200 people since the beginning of the pandemic. We have in place multiple batches of analysts, associates, marketing and software professionals. About 15 people joined HR just this week,” reveals Mishra. He also mentions that requisitions are still coming in from different departments for further recruitments, which means, they will have probably have to begin prioritising now.

While Mishra agrees that some firms were definitely struggling in the first few months of the pandemic, leading to job losses, the situation has stabilised now. “Quality talent has been picked up, as many firms are hiring now. There is a larger talent pool available now than a few months ago, and things will be completely stable by the New Year.”

The hiring process, however, will undergo a lot of changes. In case of TresVista, the process earlier involved a round of aptitude tests and two rounds of in-person interviews, followed by training. However, all that has gone remote now. Mishra is more concerned about the new joinees than his existing employees. “I think people are underestimating on-boarding when we talk about HR. The problem isn’t with the existing employees. I worry about people who have joined new. The culture would have been different had these people been met in the office. Everything is very transactional now. How that’s going to play out is the biggest challenge. Not everything can be done remotely obviously. Probably about 20-30 per cent of the process can be achieved remotely, which also reduces cost.”

Geography has lost a lot of ground as a qualifier in terms of looking for good talent. The remote working setup in the last few months has proved that in more ways than one, and productivity does not get compromised either. This, in turn, has increased the size of the talent pool now. While Mishra does not think it has widened as much, he does believe it is a really good opportunity to hire talent from anywhere now. It has opened up a lot of possibilities.

TresVista also has a Permanent Employee Mobility solution for the post COVID time. “Permanent employee mobility solution, a hybrid solution, where we are at home when it needs to be and we are also in office. Being in the office is extremely important for creativity and company culture. Giving complete flexibility to everyone, giving that tech and mobility to the employees is going to help scale the business.”

When it comes to the performance-management system, assessing the new joinees becomes tricky. Many companies have upgraded their systems to accommodate pandemic-induced shifts that they have noticed. However, Mishra informs that while the PMS at TresVista didn’t necessarily go through any major upgrade, they have definitely relooked into the review process.

TresVista, which has completed 14 years, takes pride in the fact that it has an effective way of reaching out to its employees. Mishra is quite proud of the ‘caregiver’s leave’, which allows the employee to take two weeks of leave if somebody in the family is unwell. The two weeks in question need not be two straight weeks either, but can be staggered. The Company had stopped the BCP planning meetings five months ago, after the transition to remote working setup was completed.