Lisa Skinner Källström, Chief HR Officer at Teamtailor, helps foster a learning culture for 350 employees in diverse markets and time zones. We chatted with her about the keys to building a global organization focused on knowledge sharing.
Since 2013, Teamtailor has revolutionized HR tech, reshaping global recruitment with over 8,500 clients. Headquartered in Stockholm’s Södermalm for a decade, the company operates globally with offices in cities like Singapore and London. Its diverse team hails from across the world.
– I used to be a client of Teamtailor, and I’ve watched their progress over the years. When I was invited to join their journey and spearhead a diverse HR team, committed to inclusivity for all, I eagerly embraced the opportunity, says Lisa Skinner Källström, Chief HR Officer at Teamtailor.
In a large and complex organization, ongoing learning is key to success. While a learning organization can mean a lot of different things depending on who you ask, for Lisa Skinner Källström and Teamtailor, it's all about helping people grow and adapting to changes.
– Our company thrives on exploring new ways of learning and interacting. It’s at the core of our success and survival. Formal education is one thing, but developing as individuals and connecting with each other are just as important.
Further Reading: Creating a learning culture with Learnifier’s Mattias Borg
Without a specific Learning & Development department, Teamtailor relies on a small team to innovate learning methods and streamline processes. When Lisa joined in 2022, she and her colleagues in the management team prioritized crafting a growth strategy from the get-go. The strategy is based on a few key areas – all equally important for reaching the company objectives.
– We prioritize attracting and hiring, onboarding, development, and retention. We also include offboarding as a key area. When it’s time to say farewell, we do so with gratitude and a commitment to improvement.
Further reading: 20 reasons to invest in onboarding
From this output, Teamtailor has come up with three head strategic pillars that are easy for everyone to remember: Growth, Happy users, and Happy teams.
– Entering new markets requires a solid growth plan. As a SaaS company, we aim to offer a stable platform users can rely on. Ensuring they feel comfortable with our system is key to their satisfaction. That’s why we focus on user training and provide resources like webinars. With a presence in over 90 countries, this is an ongoing priority for us.
As for happy teams, nothing could be more important if you ask Lisa.
– When the team isn’t happy, it shows in the results. So, we do everything in our power to keep our people content. Every decision aims to contribute to fostering a positive work environment. This mindset shapes our daily work and discussions.
According to research, newly hired employees typically start with high levels of engagement. To maintain this, Teamtailor proactively engages with them before any decline occurs. Building on the company’s successful leadership training for new managers in 2023, the positive impact of enhanced leadership skills has spread throughout teams. Important topics such as managing difficult conversations, providing feedback, and time management have played a crucial role. Initially conducted face-to-face, the training has now shifted online to ensure broader access and ongoing development.
– For instance, we’ve established clear guidelines with a manager handbook available everywhere, along with an HR section on our intranet for practical info. Communication happens via Slack, where we share updates, best practices, and connect casually. Additionally, we conduct surveys to understand the challenges managers encounter.
Further reading: Transformative leadership by SEB
A major challenge they’ve pinpointed was the lack of a unified salary review system. Previously, each department had its own process, but Lisa and her team recognized the necessity for a universal approach across the board.
– Deciding the process, ensuring everyone’s involvement, and communicating timelines with our managers were crucial. It was a great opportunity to review what to include and not in the evaluation, and to be transparent so everyone, including all employees, knew what to expect. Training our managers for salary talks was essential too.
Teamtailor also offers self-leadership training for all employees to ensure they’re familiar with leadership concepts. The tools provided help individuals understand their motivations and career aspirations, empowering them to engage in productive dialogues with their managers. An approach emphasizing that each person can influence their own career path.
If you’re unfamiliar with the company culture, it’s tough to figure out how to learn and grow within it. Teamtailor has found that their culture is already strong, but they want to make it even better. To achieve that, they need to delve deeper into what they call the "magic potion." This is made up of key ingredients like meaningful work, strong leadership, dedication, job satisfaction, and active involvement from employees.
– We track how happy our employees are by using a special tool that measures their satisfaction and whether they’re likely to recommend working here. We keep an eye on how engaged they are and how many are leaving. This helps us spot trends in different areas, and both managers and team members can see the results.
Download our guide: Creating a learning culture
Lisa underscores that while measurements offer valuable insights, gaining a deep understanding of a company culture necessitates immersing oneself in daily activities. At Teamtailor, where Slack is heavily used, analyzing the most used emojis reveals important aspects of team interaction.
– The heart emoji sets the tone, guiding us through both positive responses and tough feedback. The muscle signifies our determination. Thumbs up signals alignment with managers, and “thank you” expresses gratitude and knowledge-sharing. Sometimes the simple things are the most important to establish.
Learning starts internally
For Teamtailor to assist other companies effectively, they must prioritize their internal learning processes. Lisa emphasizes that AI has greatly empowered her team in this endeavor.
– It has opened another dimension, and we’re closely monitoring the progress. Using interview transcriptions and ChatGPT for information retrieval are remarkable features. Nonetheless, we rely on them primarily for inspiration rather than decision-making.
Finally, Lisa reminds us that no learning journey is perfect.
– A solid piece of advice is to begin documenting everything early rather than relying solely on memory. We’ve learned that lesson the hard way, she concludes.