Hypergrowth companies, often technology or e-commerce related, offer challenges that can differ starkly from established companies. As Sonam Jain, who became EVP HR of Zilingo after a successful corporate HR career across Asia and Europe, put it “I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, and I knew I could not predict what would happen… besides a very steep learning curve”. While this is true, our research showed that there are some ‘known unknowns’ that one should prepare for:

• Expect change to be the only constant. Every CHRO we interviewed highlighted the high pace of change in hypergrowth companies. According to Cary Shek, CHRO of Klook, “you operate under constant uncertainty. Everything changes every three months, so you need to be agile. HR is like the backbone to the company; it needs to support and be flexible to allow movement”. As a leader, the CHRO needs to role model and thrive in this environment. “Be prepared to be struck down repeatedly as things change so rapidly. The strategy can be adjusted constantly. It is not for the faint-hearted”, shared Srikanth Chandrashekhar, founder of Scribe Zero and until recently the HR Leader of an AI start-up. You need great planning and execution but at-speed. As Anand Wong, Head of People at Chope, simply put it “no matter how well you plan, things will change”. If you are not cut out for that, you will be frustrated and you will frustrate others around you.

   

• You need a strong foundation to build for the future.While strategy is constantly in motion, CHROs need to balance speed with getting the basics right. It is like building a plane while you are flying it. According to Genevieve Godwin, CHRO at PropertyGuru, “you need to make sure that the foundations are done well, and you cover all the bases. You can then focus on developing the strategy and the business. Otherwise, you are always chasing your tail”. She added that it is important to keep a perspective of where the business came from, and where it needs to go as “whatever you do today must continue to meet your needs of the future”. As Shek agreed, “many things are very operational, like HRIS. But if you are getting payroll wrong, don’t talk about leadership development!”

   

• Culture is the glue that makes everything work. “Candidates often ask me about the culture of our company – I tell them that culture cannot be defined by HR alone. It is defined by how an organization lives and breathes and should be articulated by every business leader, not just HR,” said Poddar, CHRO of LivSpace. It is important for hypergrowth companies to bring people together through shared values and behaviours. Sophie Xue, CHRO of Lazada, agreed that building a sense of community and shared purpose is essential in our fragmented world. She observed that “nowadays we are living on our mobile phones and can work from anywhere. We want to build a common purpose and a circle of friends, not just colleagues”. Chin Yin Ong, Grab’s Chief People Officer also emphasized that in Grab “we constantly look at our culture. We evolve it every couple of years. It is not just an employee engagement survey; it is about signalling what behaviours we want to emphasize and which ones we will not accept. Our founders are very involved and concerned about it”.

   

• It is a war for talent… on steroids. While the war for talent has accelerated post-pandemic, hypergrowth companies face a great challenge, both in attraction and retention. Xue told us that “Our talent quality is very high, so our people are in high demand. When you are a leading player you face a fierce talent war on hiring and retention, but you cannot compromise on talent quality”. Jain explained that “A lot hypergrowth companies throw money to attract people but you are not getting people for the right reasons. Instead, we try to screen people for motivation and target those who want to learn and get exposure to much more than their core job”. In LivSpace, according to Poddar, “we give candidates live business cases to see how well they can relate to our problem statements. We might sometimes hold 3-4 rounds of interviews before hiring. While it is an extensive process, it helps ensure we get the right people that align with our value proposition. On the other hand, our path to recognizing and grooming talent is fast. It is not defined by time in the role, but by potential and demonstrated success”.

   

• Capability-building of front-line managers is key. It is often mentioned that employees don’t quit companies, they quit their boss. Hypergrowth companies, with young, talented staff led by relatively green managers, face that issue constantly. As Wong put it, “you want to inspire the new generation. They are generally younger talents, and they respond to very different things”. Jain emphasized that “The more you can train your middle managers on good leadership practices, the more stickiness you create in your organisation”. Godwin agreed that “we need to ensure middle management have the right capability. They often come in at the start-up phase, so we need to help develop them”.