People as Growth Drivers – Allow Your Team to Shine

People as growth drivers – hire for potential, foster trust and nurture synergy

November 18th at Staria's Slush Side Event, Ieva Karklyté, Finance Systems Manager from Vinted, gave a keynote speech how growth happens not because of tools and data: people affect growth.

In the past few years at Vinted, my team and I have had the privilege to experience firsthand what it  truly takes to scale. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve been able to overcome the challenges by working together as a team. One thing became very clear along the way: growth doesn’t happen because of tools or data alone. Growth happens because of people.

Data and tools are  critical enablers. But even the smartest tools and the best data don’t necessarily mean that the business will scale. It happens when those elements are connected trough people who make them work in harmony.

To scale your business, you need to: Find the right people and create surroundings where teams can become engines of growth.

Hire to build tomorrow’s capability

I started my career in HR, and it taught me a lot about how people connect, how they collaborate and how they build their motivation. I also learned how hiring is both an art and a science. It is about seeing beyond their history and CV and finding the potential in people.

This is especially true in growth companies, where things can change quickly. No one can say with certainty how roles will evolve in a year or two.  When hiring, you need to look for skills and characteristics that make the person, for example, a good problem-solver or show that they are curious and trying to learn more every day. And that goes for senior talents as well. Scaling is a continual change and that means a constant demand for learning. 

When you hire potential, you are not just fulfilling today’s roles but building tomorrow’s capability – and that isn’t limited to junior roles.

A safe environment and a team aligned on the same goals = growth 

Once you have your team, you need to create an environment where individuals feel safe to ask questions and to make mistakes. Only when people feel safe, they are free to challenge ideas,  experiment, and bring forward better solutions. 

Your mission is to foster that trust and then nurture synergy, which will allow team members to develop each other’s ideas and  aligned around shared goals. Then you have a team that is ready not only to perform as individuals, but to grow and scale as a team.

And what is the leadership’s role in all this? Leadership, in this sense, isn’t about control. It’s about direction. It’s about making the big picture clear and showing how each person’s work contributes to it.

The human engine brings business to life

To tie it all in with the other levers of growth: Teams make data and tools work together in harmony. Data shows you where you are, tools can show you how to get even better, but people who are motivated and eager to learn, build things that are meaningful and lasting. 

So, as you invest in technology, automations and data strategies, don’t forget to also invest int the human engine which brings it all to life.