New-age financial services startup, Grip Invest — which offers opportunities to invest in physical assets leased to corporates — is rapidly expanding at the moment. Established in 2020, the Company is planning to triple its workforce in the coming two quarters, as a direct result of rapid growth in business.
While expanding in terms of business as well as workforce, Nimisha Dua, VP-HR, Grip, shares with HRKatha that the Company plans to retain the culture it has developed over the years. She says that the company culture is based on the principles of courage, transparency, ownership, discipline and commitment — qualities that they wish to preserve moving forward, as they onboard more people.
Dua details the reason why the Company doesn’t believe in offering lucrative compensations to people it onboards, irrespective of roles. “We can partake in the war for talent by attracting talent to onboard with us by offering packages greater than what other companies offer. However, we refrain from doing so because we want talent to get excited by the vision and culture of the company,” she clarifies.
“Anything one does in one’s day-to-day work can be promptly noticed by the managers and appreciated. Managers can send an instant appreciation citation on a centralised ID through which a tangible reward is communicated to the concerned employees. The system combines both the elements of rewards and recognition”
Nimisha Dua, VP-HR, Grip
The Company has maintained a people-centric stance since its inception. That’s why, employee stock options have been in place in the young organisation right from the start. “ESOPs have helped us drive ownership in our employees across levels,” says Dua, adding that “ESOPs are provided at all levels and the employees secure them at a fixed percentage of their CTCs. Hence, equality is maintained and a sense of ownership is inculcated within the workforce.”
Interestingly, the Company announced a quick ESOP buyback plan for the employees within 18 months of inception. Although this was a highly lucrative offer for the employees, only one or two exercised the option, Dua reveals.
What gives Grip the edge in terms of talent attraction and retention is something unique and less employed by companies of their size. The Company has recently announced an ‘instant appreciation’ plan as part of its rewards and recognition scheme.
“In an organisation working in a remote setting, employees may be going above and beyond or maybe just a bit farther than their KRAs on a daily basis for the benefit of the business. This exceptional work or its impact can be recognised only by their managers or they themselves, and not the rest of the organisation. For Grip, which is currently at a high growth pace, much of this additional effort may be easily missed and overlooked, as they may not necessarily be covered in the quarterly or yearly reviews. Hence, we launched this concept so that those doing something well, are appreciated for the same almost instantly,” Dua elaborates.
On how the model works, Dua explains, “Anything one does in one’s day-to-day work can be promptly noticed by the managers and appreciated. Managers can send an instant appreciation citation on a centralised ID through which a tangible reward is communicated to the concerned employees. The system combines both the elements of rewards and recognition.”
Grip Invest employs an internal platform for this rewards and recognition system. Employees can secure an indefinite financial reward, which would be determined on the basis of their contribution. The Company launches the programme via an event where the managers announce their employees who can qualify for the same in order to get the ball rolling.