Supporting Internal Mobility: How Pickcel Identifies Employee Strengths & Fosters Professional Growth
Hiring is not the real challenge; hiring the right person is.
As organizations, our biggest 'mic drop' moments are when we identify talent. And sometimes, the ideal candidate for a job is right within our existing talent pool.
Pickcel has historically conserved a clan culture. Its small, eclectic cohort of employees connect with the company mission and are fairly sentimental to the firm as they have voyaged through the early innings of the product.
However, every employee needs to grow out of their professional status quo at some point. The leadership at Pickcel has always considered this fact, and the lens of objectivity has helped the organization recognize each of its human assets' strong suits.
Recognizing talent is not where it ends; if anything, it is a starting point. Where do we take it from here? How important is an employee's professional development for the organization's collective growth? What culture does a company promote when it supports its employees' wishes to take up new and challenging roles?
We get the answers to these questions (and a few more) from Basudev Saha, CTO & Co-founder of Pickcel, and N Vamsi Krishna Reddy, who, a year ago, transitioned internally from Android app developer to Project Manager at Pickcel.
How important is an employee's professional development to your organization?
BS: I would say, 'very much.' If my team is more agile and knowledgeable, it will also add value to the organization's growth.
When employees invest in their professional development, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated in their work. If you support their growth, you are ultimately equipping your team to adapt to new challenges and changes in the industry.
You can train your human resources all you want. Still, when the 'want to learn' is initiated by the employees, it is a lot more focused development. So, anytime our Pickcelites express their wish to upskill or take up new responsibilities within the organization, we are happy to support them in every capacity.
From Android app developer to project manager, how did the transition happen?
NVKR: Honestly, much of my transition was propelled by the Pickcel leadership. And I think that is what leadership is about, seeing your strengths even before you do.
I joined Lanesquare Technologies, Pickcel's Parent Company, in November 2017, as an Android app developer. However, I did not start working on the Pickcel product right away. Initially, I was tackling two other products from Lanesquare.
Both the software products— Taskcare and Flocksales, essentially field service management systems— were at an inception stage at the time. One of my tasks was exploring Firebase, where we planned to host our backend infrastructure. Firebase was also relatively new, with nominal troubleshooting resources to get help from.
It was all challenging but also equally exciting. My reporting manager Prasenjit and I would brainstorm solutions and learn the nuances in the run time. Since then, we have built more than six mobile apps from the ground up.
As my expertise was more towards the app functionalities, I constantly communicated and coordinated with different teams. For instance, I would gather client requests & feedback from the Sales Team. I would regularly connect with the QA team for bug fixes. And of course, there were the front-end and back-end web development teams whom I collaborated with during production issues.
By 2019, I was end-to-end familiar with Taskcare & Flocksales. My role had expanded to assisting Prasenjit with critical features in the Pickcel player application. I, too, was beginning to realize that I get a buzz out of being part of the broader picture, such as harmonizing the work schedules and removing roadblocks.
So, in 2021, when the project management opportunity for Pickcel presented itself, I didn't need a second to say 'yes'; that has been one of my best decisions ever!
Are there any risks associated with internal talent mobility?
BS: Well, that depends to an extent on your judgment. There is always the risk of failure; your mobilized staff might perform lower than your expectations. Again, there is a chance of disruption to the employee's current team. So, yes, there are specific challenges associated.
But, if the management of an organization has an eye for talent, and the suggestion to mobilize part of your talent resource comes from the administration itself, the risks are pretty low. Because we do our homework before taking such a step.
Besides, during the movement, we would carefully transfer the new responsibilities, most certainly not all at once. Personally, I am a stickler for learning-by-doing; I rely on observations & my instinct more than documents and certificates.
In the particular case of Vamsi Krishna Reddy, he had already dipped his foot into project management while collaborating with different teams. His colleagues also appreciated his participation. In 2021, we planned to scale Pickcel rapidly and bring in many new apps and software updates.
We needed someone who, with minimum training, could own up to the management of many new projects we were undertaking. Vamsi was already familiar with the product, had a good rapport with the team members, and understood our product mission. So, yes, we believed he would be ideal for the role.
How did you cope with the career transition? Were there any particular challenges?
NVKR: My transition was unexpectedly smooth as I had the support of my seniors at Pickcel. I was given adequate time to learn the Agile and Scrum methodologies. I also explored new tools like Zoho Projects and Zoho Sprint.
Indeed there were challenges in the initial days. I took a great deal of time defining the tasks and struggled when there were any volte-face or course corrections from the client. But that is how we learn. I still have a lot to learn and I am planning to get a PMP certification soon.
How is the culture of supporting talent mobility perceived by the Pickcel workforce?
BS: At Pickcel, we have a very non-hierarchical structure. So, there is transparent and open communication. Many of our employees express their interest in picking up new skills and being part of work discussions that do not fall within their remit. And we love to bring them on board and support them with all the resources.
It is never like, "oh, this doesn't concern you." Of course, it does. We are a functional body, and every single entity has everything to do with the whole.
And that is what makes Pickcel staff so efficient; they understand the company and the product beyond their job description. They know that Pickcel will be the biggest cheerleaders if they succeed and grow personally and professionally.
So, if someone wishes to pursue new roles within our organization, they will not have to hide or hesitate, they can convey their wishes, and if we are mutually at an advantage by that transition, we will definitely give it a shot.