As the dreary funding winter soars, at e27, we are kickstarting a new article series Line of Hire to understand an organisation’s culture and hiring philosophies to empower tech workers with the right growth tools to enable business owners to attract talent.

Latif Sim is Chief Strategy Officer at BeLive Technology, where he oversees its strategic growth and direction. Prior to BeLive Technology, he worked across both private and public sectors, as well as within the startup industry. A strategic thinker, he brings the structured management and approaches of the public sector to the dynamism of a startup.

Sim discusses BeLive’s culture and hiring philosophies in this candid interview.

What personality traits/qualities do you look for in potential employees?

I only have two criteria. First, someone who is willing to learn, unlearn and relearn. Knowledge evolves day to day and there could be situations which require us to unlearn past knowledge and relearn new ones. Second, is work ethics. You can’t teach that. Always strive to be the hardest worker in the room. When talent fails, hard work takes over.

How do they fit into your company culture? Tell us a little more about your company culture.

We are pretty easygoing as a small knitted team. Very transparent in communications and conversations and we have an open-door policy. We treat all colleagues as equals and we sit in the same common area during our day-to-day dealings. If you leave the ego at the door when you enter the office, you are pretty much set to fit in our culture.

How do you foster transparency and encourage achievement at BeLive Technology?

We have an open-door policy here at BeLive Technology. We are always in problem-solving mode and we see the bigger picture rather than who makes a mistake. If we make a mistake, we need to recognise it, find a solution, and move on. Life is too short to harp on past mistakes.

Also Read: No achievement is too small, no individual is too junior to be highlighted: Zelia Leong of PraisePal

Do you have a mental health policy? What does that look like?

Unfortunately, we don’t at the moment. But we recognise this to be a very important aspect of our organisation. We speak to our team members very frequently to check in on how they are doing and whether they need help. Our one-on-ones prove to be useful in that manner to identify issues that might surface.

WFH or WFO, or hybrid?

Hybrid. Nothing beats a f2f brainstorming session. It sparks human connections. But we recognise that tasks/meetings can be executed remotely.

How should a tech worker prepare for the funding winter?

Be conservative. Look at your cash flow, and manage expenses. If there is a need to make difficult decisions, it should be made. Being overly dependent on funding to run a business is not a viable long-term strategy.

How do you measure the performance of your employees?

At BeLive Technology, each of us has our own respective OKRs which we agree on at the start of each year. We review them quarterly to see where we have progressed and make adjustments/run new initiatives if there is a need to. We will do a complete evaluation at the end of the year. So in summary, performance planning, performance monitoring and performance evaluation.

Also Read: Innovation, teamwork, open communication are valued in our culture: Farida Charania of Empauwer

Will you consider a moderately skilled person with great honesty or a highly skilled person with less honesty when hiring?

Definitely the first one. My evaluation is based on these four letters: K-S-A-C. Knowledge, Skills, Attitude, Character. You can teach and learn the first two but the latter two, it is innate/natural.

Do you encourage ‘intrapreneurship’ in your organisation?

At BeLive Technology, we always tell the employees, this mothership is your baby. We are very open about this. Treat it as your own business. We are able to do that because we are a small team and we spend a lot of time with the team. If any ideas, initiatives, or observations that make us better, let’s throw them out and discuss them.

How do you support upskilling for your employees?

They are encouraged to upskill and learn new knowledge. We fund part of their learning courses. Our expectations of the team are very clear here. We learn something new every day.

The post Hard work takes over when talent fails: Latif Sim of BeLive Technology appeared first on e27.