It’s a dilemma faced by many successful tech companies: How to maintain a meaningful and engaging employee experience amidst rapid growth?
We talked to Jeri Doris, Chief People Officer at Delivery Hero, the global leader in online food delivery and ordering. With over 19 thousand employees, Delivery Hero operates in 40 countries. Jeri previously was an HR leader at Groupon, which was then the fastest-growing company in the world. Delivery Hero is currently in a phase of hypergrowth, which comes with a rapid increase in employees alongside the scaling of business processes. But, what does this mean from a people perspective?
What impact does a Chief People Officer have on a fast-growing company?
When a company is growing rapidly, a Chief People Officer can ensure that all people processes contribute to the business strategy and that a culture is created where all people and processes can grow side by side.
When I joined Delivery Hero, we already had more than 8,000 employees globally – which definitely was a challenge but it was also an opportunity to really make an impact. Our people teams did an amazing job at taking on that challenge, and now we’ve really built a department that working on offering the best experience and opportunities for our Heroes.
How important are a company’s values when it comes to motivating employees?
Ultimately, values are the foundations for employee satisfaction and engagement. When I joined Delivery Hero there were values in place, but there was a lack of understanding from employees and we did not have them as part of any of our people processes. Employees had varying interpretations of what they thought the values stood for, so they weren’t really ingrained into the culture. This was the basis for our values relaunch, which we kicked off early 2019.
We took a step back and looked at how we manage motivation and engagement. But, it really all boils down to this: people perform at their best when they feel valued and supported in their career journey.
What does that entail in practical terms?
People need to feel connected to their team. Building a meaningful connection to their manager can be crucial for employees to take pride in their work, understand how they contribute to the overall business strategy and how their work aligns with the company vision.
Studies show that only about 13 percent of employees work in an area they do well in and plays to their strengths. We want to give our employees the flexibility and the autonomy to carve out a career path that works for them and allows them to contribute in the most meaningful way.
How important are performance reviews and feedback?
I’m a big believer in rewarding employees based on their performance, but compensation and benefits only go so far in terms of engaging employees. A performance review should never come as a surprise, we’re proud of our feedback culture and want to recognise good work and ways to improve on an ongoing basis. Effective communication is key, not only so that those people that go above and beyond feel seen and valued, but so we can work with all our employees to carve out a career path that really works for them.
How did Delivery Hero go about defining its core values?
One of the questions we spent some time on was whether we should have values that are aspirational or realistic. In the end, we realised in order to be authentic we needed values that represented who we already are and what we value. It was a collective effort with the management team and our employees, and our end result is a set of 3 core values that we can live by both professionally and personally.
What would say has been the most effective training to help deliver your company’s values?
Our values drive our company culture and rally everyone behind the same goals. We knew it was important to make sure everyone throughout the entire organisation understands and relates to our values. All new joiners start with a two-day introduction to our company culture, and the values are a big part of that. We also offer a large number of trainings that cater to different levels.
Ultimately, the biggest impact on our culture and values won’t come from me, and it won’t come from our management team. Our values are passed on and reflected in everyday interactions between line managers and their reports. So our entry-level management training is definitely one that is hugely impactful as well. All these elements contribute to a culture where our values are our common language, regardless of background, level or role.
Thank you for your time.