Workplace Culture 
Matt Carlson sat down for an interview with Trulioo’s Shradha Mittal to discuss how the company is building a world-class product, by building a world-class team.
For many of us in Canada, gaining access to financial services is a simple and basic daily process. But for millions around the world, this is far from the case — particularly for those living in developing countries where limited financial infrastructure exists. Luckily, times are changing. Thanks to increased global access to digital devices, more people than ever before are now gaining access to online financial services. And global online identity verification company Trulioo is on a mission to ensure everyone is able to participate fully in the modern digital economy. Matt Carlson recently sat down with Trulioo’s SVP of People and Culture, Shradha Mittal, to learn about the company’s journey to build the right team to help it achieve its inspiring mission.
Matt Carlson: Tell me about Trulioo today, what you do, and the composition of your workforce.
Shradha Mittal: Trulioo is a global identity verification company that helps organizations verify consumers and businesses in real-time in almost every country in the world. In terms of my role, I’m the SVP of people and culture and have been doing similar work for the past 18 years or so. In terms of workforce, we’ve gone from a Vancouver-based company of 54 people in 2018 to a global operation of 420 people today. Just six months ago when I joined, we had around 240 people — so we’ve almost doubled in a very short period. As the organization has grown, we’ve really worked hard to clearly define the layers of leadership across the company and ensure each of those own specific functions and teams.
MC: Given that rapid growth, can you describe what Trulioo’s culture was like six months ago, and has it changed today?
SM: One of the reasons I joined Trulioo is that the culture aligned with my own values. For us, our culture is rooted in our company values but is constantly evolving and needs to continue to do so as we grow. What we’re doing differently is that we’re putting mechanisms in place to integrate our values into our business processes. This ensures that what we are and who we are is reflected in everything that we do.
MC: How important is Trulioo’s culture to the company as a whole?
SM: It’s a part of our day-to-day life. It’s an important part of our performance management system. It’s part of our career paths we’re building. And it’s part of an awards and recognition program we’ll be rolling out soon. When I started I really thought about building a foundation. I knew about the growth that was coming and I wanted to focus on what the foundational process needs to be in order to support this kind of growth so that’s really been the focus.
Ultimately, culture has to come from the top. If the leadership doesn’t believe in it or thinks it’s just fluff, then it will be just that. Luckily at Trulioo, the C-suite really believes in nurturing our culture and integrating it into our day-to-day.
MC: How important is Trulioo’s culture to the company as a whole?
SM: I think with any large funding raise or anytime a shift happens you really have to nurture a high-performing culture. And for us as leaders, you have to be able to support your team and set them up for success. And so the key to achieving this is really to build that infrastructure, to be able to support our employees to be high-performing.
Ultimately, culture has to come from the top. If the leadership doesn’t believe in it or thinks it’s just fluff, then it will be just that. Luckily at Trulioo, the C-suite really believes in nurturing our culture and integrating it into our day-to-day.
Shradha Mittal, SVP of People & Culture at Trulioo
MC: As companies grow, when should they focus more on the right types of hires as opposed to placing people in roles to help fill capacity?
SM: I feel like it should never be about filling seats. Whether you’re a two person organization or a 2,000 person team, hiring should never be about filling seats. Here at Trulioo, we use a data driven process to steer our hiring. What this means is that we have an established set of core competencies that must be matched in order to find the right candidate. We actually implemented a new Applicant Tracking System six months ago so that we can track our metrics and make sure we’re hitting our targets with the right hires.
MC: We’re in an employee’s job market today. What are you doing at Trulioo to stay competitive and attract the right talent?
SM: Yes, it’s no secret that it’s a competitive market and that you have to do everything other employers are doing to stay competitive. That said, we’re fortunate in that we have a very interesting business. We are a market leader in our space and our mission is financial inclusion around the world. So while we certainly match up with other employers in terms of tangible offerings, we set ourselves apart by offering recruits an exciting opportunity to work on a very unique and transformative project that is positively impacting so many people. By joining, employees are able to share their voice in the evolution of Trulioo and in turn bring a great benefit to the world.
MC: If you look forward to one to two years down the road, what is your goal for the Trulioo team? What are you putting in place today to ensure this becomes a reality?
SM: We’re focused on being the best place to work. A place where employees get to solve interesting problems and build their career while also working in a motivated and collaborative environment. To get there, we’re focusing heavily on creating a people-first environment that seeks to elevate the employee experience and retention on a variety of metrics. For example, this year our focus is largely on expanding our efforts and programs related to diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
About Trulioo
They’re hiring! To learn more, visit: https://www.trulioo.com/company/careers
Trulioo provides real-time verification of 5 billion consumers and 330 million business entities worldwide — all through a single API integration. Organizations rely on its identity verification platform, GlobalGateway, to help meet their business and compliance requirements and automate due diligence and fraud prevention workflows. For more information, visit trulioo.com.
About Shradha Mittal, SVP of People & Culture at Trulioo
Shradha Mittal has more than 15 years of experience supporting team and talent strategy development at high-growth start-ups and tech companies across North America and Europe. She most recently served as the Head of Talent and People Operations at Framework Venture Partners, where she supported companies in the development of strategies aimed at attracting and developing world-class talent to help them scale. Shradha has extensive experience in people strategy and HR transformation, including talent acquisition, on-boarding, retention, re-recruiting, employment branding, performance management, and defining and maintaining culture. She holds a Bachelors in Management Studies with a specialization in Business and Human Resources.
