Neobrain, a start-up specializing in the use of AI and Big Data for career management and recruitment, has quintupled its turnover in one year. From 600,000 euros in turnover in 2019, it rose to 3 million euros in 2020. A dazzling growth which required in a very short time to recruit dozens of collaborators.
The company had 15 employees in 2020, is at 75 today and will pass the 100 employee mark at the end of the year. “The teams play a significant role in the development of the company. We must therefore attract and retain them, especially the most sought-after positions on the job market and those most exposed to turnover such as consultants ”, explains Paul Courtaud, who founded the company in 2018.
# 1. Offer a better quality of life
In order to attract these talents that companies are snapping up, the 25-year-old leader opened an office in July 2019 in Lisbon. The idea: to offer them a better quality of life, an enriching experience abroad and allow them to return to Paris when they wish. “This has enabled us to retain highly prized young talents, three precisely, but also to recruit three Portuguese employees at more attractive salaries. We go from single to double. It takes between 21,000 and 25,000 euros to recruit a young data scientist in Portugal, ”says Paul Courtaud.
French employees who left for Lisbon have maintained their wages. “We supported them in their installation, helping them to find their accommodation, to put together their file. We have also set up a digital calculator to understand tax issues, the payroll tax being very high, ”adds the manager.
# 2. Let go of the bridle
To meet a need for increased flexibility, since early 2021 Neobrain has offered employees with three years of service leave the company for 6 months. “Rather than having frustrated employees, the objective is to let go, to allow them to grow, to realize their wildest dreams, to go around the world or to launch a professional project”, explains Paul Courtaud. . On their return, if the experience is valued, the company promises a salary increase. “The health crisis has accentuated this search for meaning, this search for a better balance between professional and personal life,” explains the entrepreneur. I even let the employees move, although I was not initially in favor of working remotely ”.
During the first confinement, a handful of employees moved to Brazil, the Azores and Bordeaux. “Changes which are not neutral in the organization of society and which force us to be more rigorous, to move from an oral culture to a written one », Confides the manager. To facilitate the sharing of data and best practices, it has created a knowledge base, a kind of internal Mini-Google, and each month rewards the employee who contributes the most to it.
# 3. Survey employees
To attract rare digital gems, the start-up also highlights the sense of the collective, a human environment capable of evolving. “We regularly solicit the teams via questionnaires and surveys in order to understand what works and what does not work, our strengths and our weaknesses”, slips the entrepreneur.
A first step which then allows him to communicate the results to all employees and to target the actions to be taken to increase their level of satisfaction. “We are growing fast and have a heavy workload. Our next objective is to anticipate recruitments to allow the teams to take a break, ”concludes Paul Courtaud. A benevolent management which will undoubtedly allow him to avoid the departure of the high potentials.
