We’re delighted to have today’s blog post written by Linda Höglund and Johan Wingren from the People & Culture Team at Swedish-based fintech company, Zimpler.
Founded in 2012 by Kristofer Ekman Sinclair and Johan Friis, Zimpler have created an innovative digital banking solution, offering instant account-to-account payments. Their system offers businesses the chance to offer a fast and effective means of providing ingoing and outgoing bank payments to their customers. Operating globally, and soon to have over 100 employees from around the globe, Zimpler's mission is to ensure that everything just works. When this is applied to their employees it offers a freedom and flexibility, which ensures the business has an international and diverse perspective on all aspects of their company from product development to business and communication.
Hiring Potential
The opportunity to scale-up a startup by more than 200% was a challenge that was just too good to miss. We knew that Zimpler had a lot of potential but didn’t really have a process in place for how we recruited which made the task even more thrilling. Having a virtually unknown brand was obviously going to make it a little bit more difficult and not being able to offer the highest salaries was another hurdle that we had to overcome. The fact that we needed to grow super-fast and we were looking to fill a lot of key positions in a short period of time made it unbelievably exciting.
Our aim was to set a recruitment process that was different, faster, and more fun than a more traditional approach. We wanted the candidates to feel that Zimpler could offer something different, innovative, and special. The strategy that we decided to take very early on was to build an organisation that we would want to work for ourselves, alongside people that impressed us (without recruiting versions of ourselves) that we cared about and who were all “Zimpler nice”.
When we set out to find the right people to take the company forward we tried to think in a new and innovative way. If a person might be lacking in experience but they’re bubbling with ideas and personality, they could still be a great asset to Zimpler. These individuals may be able to bring a new way of looking at problems and by taking a different approach and looking at things from all angles, your chances of actually innovating increase by 10000%.
We hire for potential rather than skills
The cornerstone of our strategy was that Zimpler was going to hire for potential and value-fit (empowerment, curiosity, boldness, humanity and growth-minded) rather than skills. We put in place a quick three-step process. Firstly, there would be a call, followed by a values interview. Then finally, the individual would have an interview with the hiring manager and team. We found that it was not unusual for a candidate to receive an offer within a week of starting this process.
It’s important that we are really great at assessing if the candidate will be a good fit at Zimpler, as we know that other companies will target the same talent that we do.
We hire all of the people, who we believe have the right values and drive. That means that if we don’t have a position for them, we create one. We also ensure that we hire internationally, and from all sectors and walks of life.
It’s important to us that we go into the search process with an open mind. This is because what you think you need might change during the process and you may end up getting the most insight on what you need from the candidates themselves. We feel that it’s important to let the perfect candidate tell us what they can do, meaning it's up to us to then create the job that suits just that.
When it comes to the values interviews, we use our Zimpler Ambassadors. These are people within the organisation who live and breathe Zimpler. The aim of these values interviews is to really get to know the candidate on a personal level, asking questions about themselves and what inspires them. We try to ensure that this is a relatively unstructured interview that is relaxed and fun. We quite often interview the candidate with two people from the Zimpler side with the aim of creating a more dynamic conversation. This can make it easier and quicker to assess the candidate.
Another step we took very early on was to partner-up with two non-profit organisations (Jobbsprånget & Mitt Livs Val) who could help us achieve the diversity we wanted. We also invested in technology at the start to ensure that, as a tech company that prides itself on being innovate and inclusive, we didn't just talk the talk but also walked the walk.
We trust our gut feeling and aren't afraid to make quick decisions
Our recruiters are extremely good at what they do, and played a huge role in helping Zimpler ramp up as quickly as it has. We are really great at assessing if the candidate has the right values and personality to be a good fit at Zimpler. We try to create a close relationship with the candidate very early on, giving constant feedback and keeping it personal and professional throughout the process. We’re not afraid to make a quick decision when we have the right candidate, as we know that other companies will be after the same talent that we are. We have filled the key positions with people who are genuinely committed and are invested in the Zimpler journey. These people may know that we aren’t the perfect company yet and that we don’t have everything in place such as benefits or compensation packages, but they know we want to get there and that we’ll work hard to create the best company along side them. All of the people involved in the recruitment process are committed to Zimpler and really believe in its potential and we feel that is a key factor in attracting top talent. We believe that all of these ingredients will ensure that Zimpler continues to grow and innovate long into the future.
To hear more about Zimpler, please listen to the “Start Small, Learn Fast” episode of our Leading Between the Lines podcast. This episode from June 2021 features Zimpler’s Chief People Officer, Linda Höglund.
Working specifically with fast-growth organisations, we offer specialist coaching and development programmes, together with assessment and selection centres, designed and facilitated by experienced and qualified coaches. If you would like to find out more about how we can help your company and workforce grow, why not request a free consultancy call?
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