Hi Théo! Before we get to the heart of the matter, can you tell us a bit about WeFiiT?
Hello Nicolas! WeFiiT is a consulting company specializing in the Product Management business. The company was founded in 2019 and our team will have 85 committed, expert people by the start of the 2023 academic year.
Thanks to our industry specialization, we are fortunate to work with a wide variety of customers. This enables us to address a wide range of product issues found on the market.
If you had to describe our corporate culture in a few words?
Three words come spontaneously to mind: caring, learning and excellence. Caring is at the heart of our DNA. We have put in place numerous initiatives to share and accumulate knowledge within our team, whether through training, mentoring, coaching or even a buddy program. So learning is central. And excellence is omnipresent. I see it in our rigorous recruitment process, but also in our constant monitoring of consultants on assignment. We regularly ask our customers for feedback on WeFiiT's services and our consultants' achievements.
What would you say to a candidate to convince them to join you?
WeFiiT is the ideal place for Product Managers looking to take a decisive step in their career and perfect their professional skills. One of the main reasons for joining us is our rich learning ecosystem.
We also have a real team life, which I find particularly lively and authentic. WeFiiTters love to get together and organize our company life. Meetings and exchanges are part of our daily routine.
And when it comes to assignments, we aim for excellence. We refuse to simply "place" our consultants anywhere. We insist on offering them quality assignments with real challenges on which they will flourish.
And in addition to the recognition and notoriety already established, there's still so much to build at WeFiiT! The founders launched the company in 2019, and who could have foreseen a crisis like Covid's right afterwards? Despite everything, we continue to move forward with passion and determination.
Seeing your impressive growth in just a few years, especially during a period as uncertain as Covid's, I'm curious to know: how do you attract so many candidates?
The Covid era was complicated for many, but I like to remember a slogan from one of my previous companies, Ledger: "Resilience by design".
This resilience was our driving force, and despite the pandemic, WeFiiT behaved in an exemplary fashion, confirming all trial periods. We even continued to recruit during this period, turning the threat into an opportunity.
It's also worth noting that working with solid groups has given us a certain stability, which has reinforced the confidence we had in our customer portfolio and our positioning.
When it comes to attracting candidates, there are several factors that make all the difference. One major point is the support we give candidates throughout the recruitment process. We regularly receive positive feedback on the quality of this support. For example, giving live feedback at the end of an interview is something I've been advocating ever since I joined WeFiiT. It allows candidates to quickly understand what went well and what could be improved between now and their next application.
Secondly, we pay great attention to detail, such as sending out detailed invitations about what happens at each interview, or offering excellent responsiveness between interviews. We have also developed a "candidate deck " which provides essential information to help candidates prepare.
Finally, we often introduce candidates to a consultant with a similar profile to their own. This gives them a clearer picture of what to expect at WeFiiT. I think it's a combination of all these little details that makes a big difference.
What does a "Made in WeFiiT" recruitment process look like?
Our process is fairly structured and aims to identify the best possible FiiT for both the company and the candidate. It all starts with a "screening" or pre-qualification phase, which lasts around 30 minutes. This stage is crucial to ensure a potential good fit. Essential questions such as salary, mobility, command of English, reasons for looking for a job... are addressed. The aim is twofold: to check that the candidate is really looking for an opportunity like WeFiiT and, conversely, that we are indeed looking for a profile like theirs.
If this stage is conclusive, we move on to interview 1, which lasts between 45 minutes and an hour. Here, the key word is "in-depth": we dig deeper into the candidate's background, achievements, aspirations... This helps us not only to assess their soft and hard skills, but also to understand their expectations of WeFiiT.
Then we have a more traditional pattern. Interview 2 is led by Matthieu, one of the co-founders. He focuses on future projections, trying to imagine what the candidate could achieve with us. He also carries out a small simulation or a live case study to assess the candidate's skills in real-life situations.
Interview 3 is orchestrated by Cédric, our CEO and co-founder. It's a final validation stage, where we go over everything that's been discussed, look in depth at any reservations and, above all, prepare the conclusion of the process, which is usually an offer of employment.
Finally, for certain profiles, we have additional stages. For example, a reference check, or a specific exercise where the candidate has to detail his CV over several pages, emphasizing his skills in all areas of the product.
For the more senior profiles, we expect them to tell us how they plan to help WeFiiT evolve , and what they would bring to the company in addition to their excellence on assignment.
What about onboarding?
Onboarding is a key stage for us. It always starts on the second Thursday of every month. The idea is to create a sense of cohesion, a sort of promotional effect. Sometimes it's just one person, sometimes several, as in September when we welcomed six new recruits simultaneously. This collective approach facilitates their integration.
The choice of this second Thursday is not insignificant. Every second Thursday evening, we have company rituals - it could be an aperitif, a talk, an intervention by an external expert, and so on. It's an opportunity for new arrivals to meet a large number of colleagues on their first day.
The first day is dedicated to the acculturation of new WeFiiTers, with a breakfast to start, followed by several presentations by different company personalities throughout the day: the company's vision, strategy, our raison d'être, "co-construction", and more broadly a presentation of their new environment.
The second day, which falls on a Friday, is more flexible. We encourage new recruits to take advantage of this freedom to meet as many colleagues as possible, but also to look into their "boat permit", which is an integration guide to be completed independently.
And as you pointed out, training is central to our business. As soon as a new member joins, a credit of 2,000 euros is allocated for training. They can use it as they wish from our training catalog, the WeFiiT University, developed by and for our WeFiiTers and presented at a "kermesse" in September. It covers a wide range of skills relevant to our consultants, both Softskills and Hardskills. It's really à la carte, with no intermediary between consultants and trainers, and the feedback is very positive. Our mission, after all, is to support our customers in the constantly evolving world of the product, so it's important that our consultants stay at the cutting edge.
You have a clear specialization at WeFiiT. Are there any positions you're looking for this fall?
Absolutely, Nicolas. Our specialization, as I mentioned, is mainly in Product-related roles. We therefore target specific profiles. The main characteristic of these professions is that they are relatively new and continue to specialize. We cover the whole range of product-related professions - Product Owner, Product Manager, Lead Product - and in future, we also plan to integrate specializations via the roles of Data Product Manager, Product Ops and Product Marketing Manager. In short, the product field is constantly evolving, with a multitude of nuances, and we strive to be at the heart of these evolutions by proposing offers adapted to our customers and at the same time responding to the desires of our consultants.
In addition to product-related jobs, which account for the majority of our recruitment, we are also looking for sales people, or as we like to call them, "Product Account Developers", as well as recruiters.
Speaking of news, we're currently looking for 1 or 2 Talent Recruiters. We also have openings on the Sales side, again for 1 or 2 Product Account Developers.
👉 Discover all job offers at WeFiit
Are there any other best practices or philosophies you'd like to share regarding employee engagement or integration?
We have several rituals that support the integration of our new WeFiiTters. After one month, we systematically organize a follow-up session with the HR team to gather first impressions. And there's another meeting scheduled for six months later.
We've also introduced a role called "Care People Leader". This is not a manager in the classical sense of the term, but rather a coach, a mentor who guides employees on their journey at WeFiiT. Our philosophy is imbued with a maritime metaphor: first we meet in port, then we set course for the year ahead, followed by quarterly check-ins to assess the employee's progress. We attach great importance to employee satisfaction, which we measure through an eNPS. We have two key indicators: employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. If both groups are satisfied, we believe that success will naturally follow.
I've also heard that you set up "tribes", i.e. team projects or initiatives?
Absolutely. As product and agility specialists, it was natural for us to adopt these methodologies for ourselves. WeFiiT is built around 4 major OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) that are common to the whole company. From these OKRs flow 5 tribes and several squads. Each squad contributes in its own way to achieving these major objectives. The 4 main OKRs are: employee satisfaction, building the best team, building the best customer portfolio, and strengthening our reputation to become a benchmark in our field.
Last question: why should we NOT join you?
Ah, a trick question, I love it! WeFiiT is probably not for people who want to stay in their comfort zone. With us, you need to have this constant desire to develop, both personally and professionally. You have to be open to co-construction, and seek to develop your skills through our learning ecosystem. For example, if I want to learn video editing, even if I have no previous experience, I could join one of the teams involved in video content creation and learn on the job. So, if you're not people-oriented and don't have that thirst to learn and develop, this probably isn't the place for you.
Thanks for your time, Theo 😉