Interview with Arturs Bernovskis, the CEO of Efectio [2023]

I am a serial entrepreneur, and have created and sold technology start-ups. My passion is technology, have been a mentor in many hackathons and other technology development events and created publications on cyber technologies and cybercrime. I am a lecturer at several universities, as well as a speaker at technology conferences around the world.

Efectio offers a company culture management platform for GIG economy. Culture-as-a-service with gamification features. It is a modern HR approach based on the four main pillars of employee engagement

I started my first startup in 2003, so almost 20 Years in the IT business. My first startup was a social network that failed to become a global solution. So that there was a team and resources from the startup, then I created a web development company out of them, we made websites for the clients. Then, during the global economic crisis, all customers started investing in digital marketing, and then I added digital marketing to the WEB development team. An e-mail marketing product, Mailigen, was created within the agency. I then developed it globally until I sold it a few years ago. As the global business grew, I realized the particular importance of the brand and the importance of involving employees in the brand’s life, which gave rise to the idea of Efectio.

We offer a digital tool with 30-day challenges in the form of practical and theoretical tasks designed with various goals in mind: team-building, work shadowing, corporate values, employee well-being, onboarding, and various microlearning programs such as job security. All our programs are made by professional coaches (Efectio mentors).

Efectio also targets the 4 main “pillars” of an employee: 

Growth, well-being, goals, socialization. We provide each employee with their “Efectio score”, which is a summary of all of the mentioned factors. We believe that a balance between all of these pillars is what creates a healthy and productive employee. Each of these pillars can be improved within the Efectio platform by using one of our HR tools.

Exactly! We want to make all employees, regardless of their age, position, or background feel included. That’s why we have created these challenges where naturally a conversation starts. That facilitates communication and even the biggest teams, can feel like they at least know each other. That’s when you see a lot more positive interactions between employees and ultimately a better work performance. 

It’s not always easy, but I try to schedule as much as possible and I try to leave time for family and friends that doesn’t get canceled for a meeting! 

In the evenings I usually do some groceries or read books. I love swimming – I go to the swimming pool at least 2-3 times a week. It helps me keep my head fresh and my body in shape. 

The freedom to shape the product to my vision. I truly believe in positive work culture and have spent a lot of time researching and developing the ultimate platform. As for the methods I use – time scheduling, keeping positive relationships with people I work with and I make sure to incorporate a healthy diet/light exercise to my workday.

We want to experiment with VR or AR, maybe for meetings, as for remote work, hopefully, these technologies can turn dull experiences into a more interesting ones! 

It’s surprising that not a lot of employers even understand engagement and the importance of healthy company culture. Time has been spent educating people on the matter and the importance of employee recognition and rewards. But once they understand the problem they see the clear benefits that a platform such as Efectio can bring to the company.

There are some big players in the performance management field and the direction of these companies are always changing, because the field is always changing and adjusting, so you can never expect what somebody else will do. We have found our niche in the field and will strive to provide the best service for our customers!

Educate yourself on the matter of company culture, because while on the surface everything seems clear, it’s the small things that make the biggest difference. As with everything, company culture also follow trends, see what other companies are doing and try to improve upon that. Once free fruits and coffee in the office was an “oh that’s nice” benefit, now educated professionals expect much better treatment for the value they bring, so if you really care about retaining the top talent, your company culture might be the deciding factor.

In 5 years, we will have improved our platform, made an easy-to-use app, and will strive to become an internationally recognized company, offering the benefits of our platform to enterprises.