So, tell us what Neural DSP actually does?
We build software and hardware that is changing the way that music is created. And enabling musicians to create the way that they want to create. Our products are used by musicians on every level of the game, from beginners to long time veterans all over the world! Building products for this user base demands the very best of us, because all of our buyers are experts in their own craft.
Having colleagues all over the world must reflect in the employee experience in some way? What is it like to work at Neural DSP?
Yes, it absolutely affects our everyday working life. Our company has a little over 100 employees, and only half of them are based here in Helsinki where our HQ is located. The rest of our employees are spread all across the planet! This, of course, greatly affects the way we build our company culture. When you hire across so many nationalities, you really need to be deliberate about building a common “us” that is based on something else than just being in the same location. This is directly reflected in our hiring processes. When we hire someone, we really focus on, and look for the cultural fit. We need to hire someone who is great at their job, but equally important is their personal passion for music!
This company culture isn't built in a day, and it's important to think about this long term. We mainly hire for permanent positions, not temporary gigs. And as a result we have very low turnover, our employees stay with us for a long time. Which again is a testament to our company culture, as a lot of our employees are passionate experts in their fields, and very mindful of where they work.
You guys recently hired a new HR manager, tell me how that has changed the way you work?
As Neural has seen a lot of growth lately, it became increasingly important to professionalise the way we deal with all things HR related. We hired our new HR manager and that was an absolute game changer. She came in with a plan and a vision of how we could make Neural the best place to work, structuring all our processes, from hiring to payroll. This is especially important considering we have employees in so many different nations and all of them have local rules and regulations that we need to take into account. Also establishing the correct tools to use for the different jobs was very important, that’s how we ended up with Huma and Teamtailor.
Tell me a little bit about the decision making process. Why did you end up with Huma and Teamtailor?
We did a lot of research into the various tools available on the market. A lot of the vendors had nice features, but the user experience was not good. It was really important to us that the tool we chose be easy to use. Especially considering that we wanted the employees to access these tools and use them for themselves, to get high adoption, the tools needed to be user friendly. With Huma we found a solution that met our needs. It was easy to use, it looks great, and the integration with Teamtailor was also important to us.
"Another feature that has surprised us in its usefulness is the “News” section. We didn’t think it would be as useful as it has proved to be."
Now that you have used Huma for a little while, tell me how it's been?
The start up process was very easy once we understood what we were doing. We were a little confused at first, just working with a new tool, but with a little bit of help from Torkil, our contact person at Huma, we got up to speed quickly. We chose Teamtailor for all our recruitment needs, it is also very easy to use, and the functionality around screening a candidate across different teams has proved very useful. We hire experts in very specific areas, and for the HR team it’s a great help that you can easily invite other team members into the hiring process and screen a candidate together.
Also the integration with Huma makes the rest of the process very breezy for us in the HR team. Once I give a candidate the “hire stamp” in Teamtailor, all the information is seamlessly transferred to Huma, and the onboarding process begins. It's actually one of the best features of Huma, in my mind!
Another feature that has surprised us in its usefulness is the “News” section. We didn’t think it would be as useful as it has proved to be. We have a lot of events at our company, and a lot of information needs to be communicated in connection with these. The News feature allows us to gather all of that information in one place, where everyone can find it. The integration with Slack lets us alert everyone that a new article has been published, and they actually find what they are looking for! All of this in the end means that people actually show up for the events that we put a lot of effort into, and that makes all the difference!
