How Too Good To Go is disrupting the People & Culture scene

An interview with Tabita Luis, Head of People at Too Good To Go Spain, on how a fair cause results in employee engagement. Tabita has implemented rebranded values in Too Good To Go Spain. She will also share insights on new trends in employee engagement and work motivation.

Q: What is Too Good To Go mission?

A: Too Good To Go mission is to help reduce a problem as important as food waste worldwide. A third of food production will never reach the final consumer. We must stop this!

So, how does Too Good To Go solve this problem? There are different lines of action:

1. First, we start at home. Too Good To Go delivers information and develops training programs with the aim of reducing household waste. We also work with several schools around the globe; education on this matter lacks and by providing information on waste reduction to the young ones. With thi we will be able to raise awareness on the school’s food waste.
2. Moreover, we have a group of people within the company dedicated to “public affairs”. Our goal is to regulate legislation in other countries in favor of reducing the impact of food waste.
3. We also make an impact as a business. The app comprises 750.00 businesses that put food packs, and those things that are usually thrown away, to good use. We also launch many initiatives with partners to help them reduce their own food waste. Helping them by making their clients aware of this problem.

Q: How Too Good To Go mission falls into place within the People Department?

A: The People department makes sure that all employees are engaged with our social movement and business needs. Every “Waste Warrior”, as we call our employees, have everything they need in order for them to develop their job in the best possible way – feeling motivated and satisfied with what they do. Furthermore, for you to have an idea of what we face within the People & Culture team in Spain: in less than 2 years the team has grown from 0 to 90 employees. Taking this into consideration, the biggest challenge of our job has been to create employee engagement within our teams. We continuously were making sure that the company’s culture is preserved. Always attempting to boost our “Waste Warriors” level of well-being and satisfaction.

Q: Are you using any KPI to measure Employee Engagement, eNPS and Satisfaction?

A: Defining KPIs is something we are going to start implementing from now on. In fact, it is one of my personal goals for 2020. Although I am still understanding the core of Too Good To Go. I want to make sure that all relevant aspects of our company are efficiently measured. I am currently analyzing our company context and trying to understand which one of those aspects is more relevant. One of our key metrics must be NPS, net promoter score, for employees and candidates. This has the aim of improving our employer branding.

Q: Which is the main challenge People & Culture departments encounter?

A: The biggest challenge for all People and Culture departments is the wrong belief that anyone could do this job. Companies think that anyone is able to write a series of questions on a piece of paper and carry out an interview. Therefore, anyone could be part of People and Culture. It is challenging to demonstrate and try to position yourself as an expert in this area. When most people have the belief that anyone can do that job, it becomes hard to have an impact.

Q: Which are the main initiatives you carry out to boost employee engagement?

A: To boost our employee engagement we have worked hard in re-branding our values. Caring for the planet, our partners, and our employees.

Moreover, we use a methodology based on “radical candor”. Which is a way of freeing ourselves. It explains that you should not invest time in fighting and discussing with people, but in taking care of them. Being transparent and treating people as responsible adults is key. This methodology ends up generating a very healthy culture of oneness and autonomy. In our people team, we use this example to solidify our culture.

Q: Are you proud of working for Too Good To go?

A: Absolutely, the more I get into the role and the company, the prouder I feel. Everything I have experienced, every person I have come across is evidence of a mission-driven company, for real. During my recruitment process, I had some clues that they were living their values, but still, I thought it was just a speech like many other companies have. After 5 months in this role, I can say that it is definitely not just a speech. I feel privileged and honored to apply my expertise in a company that I feel so close to my own personal values.

When I started at Too Go To Go and analyzed their KPIs, I was surprised that these were exclusively focusing on food savings, not profitability, or company growth. Everyone had a clear idea of our existence purpose and made from every part of this big cause, a fair cause!

Tabita´s Reflexion on the People Department’s of the future

A: I think we will encounter 4 clear challenges:

• Working remotely means there are less chances for human interaction. Now, we have to find new ways to continue our culture promotion to make our employees feel engaged with the company.
• Another challenge is to position the People team as a strategic business partner, not simply as an operational area. Personally, I am particularly connected with the People and Culture community in Spain and collaborate with the initiative People Lab, from the Hero Camp. With this community we seek to share information on how the most successful teams are addressing these challenges.
• Another issue is the high level of competition and the little information shared among the actors in the People area. The thought that we are competing for the same talent motivates this action.

Takeaways

#1: Working as a team and building up something that has a “legacy”, a positive and durable impact, will make employee engagement easier. If you wake up having the feeling that you’re working towards a clear mission in mind, your satisfaction as an employee will grow.

#2: Trusting your employees is essential, but by generating trust within the people community, improvement will follow.

#3: If it is important for you, it must be measured. But, remember, metrics must portray your values.

#4: Be a guarantor and a promoter of your company’s mission.

#5: Remote work has entailed some difficulties to keep employees engaged.

Tabita Luis is a recognized promoter of the new People and Culture trends in Spain and has shared with us a new way of understanding the best manner to engage people, and humanize the workforce.

Working on employee engagement is key; when employees are given a voice, they are more encouraged to share positive feedback with one another and this leads to healthier communication. Book a demo and discover how Nailted can help you achieve greater success with people and culture.