Talmundo focuses on one very important HR process: onboarding
The Hague-based Talmundo works with corporates to white-label its app for employee onboarding and training. The startup recently raised €1.3 million in venture financing.
At a glance
Startup: Talmundo
Founders: Stijn de Groef, Menno M. Thijssen, Patrick Bouwens
Year it was founded: 2012
Where it is based: The Hague
The problem it solves: App-based onboarding
Sector: HR
Funding raised: $2.15 million
New employee onboarding is the process of integrating a new employee with a company and its culture, as well as getting a new hire the tools and information needed to become a productive member of the team.
According to a Society for Human Resource Management report, organisations perceive effective onboarding as improving retention rates (52 percent), time to productivity (60 percent) and overall customer satisfaction (53 percent). For employees, long-term outcomes of good onboarding include job satisfaction and organisational commitment.
Onboarding is where Talmundo comes in. The startup was founded out of a growing frustration around HR information systems. Co-founder and CEO Stijn de Groef was tired of the tools he tried to implement as an HR executive. More often than not, they made HR processes more complicated.
Talmundo’s onboarding app, launched in 2014, is a mobile-friendly cloud software that creates a welcoming pre-boarding and onboarding experience for employees. Talmundo’s software blends HR best practices with companies’ culture to deliver a seamless onboarding experience, which helps companies bring people onboard faster and integrate them better.
By keeping key HR metrics like retention, productivity, and employee engagement in mind, Talmundo’s solution helps companies go beyond the paperwork and create a meaningful onboarding journey for new hires, changing the way HR technology systems work.
Talmundo counts Deloitte, Bacardi, ArcelorMittal, KPMG, BNP Paribas Fortis, Sodexo, Engie, SAS, Swisscom and Coty among its clients. More than 26,000 new hires in over 100 companies have been onboarded since the launch of the platform.
Wouter Van Linden, Corporate HR Director, KPMG Belgium, and one of the users of Talmundo’s product, said: “Via our branded app, developed by Talmundo, we are able to provide future employees with the KPMG-specific information they need. As a consequence, they are better prepared on Day One and can already proactively take steps such as learning about benefits and specific procedures, and interacting with colleagues they will work with in the near future. When week one is over, our new recruits feel already fully engaged with their work environment.”
KPMG did not have pre-boarding before implementing Talmundo, with onboarding starting on the first day at the office in person. With graduate new hires, the waiting period between signing a contract and coming into the office can sometimes stretch for months, and with no system for direct communication in place, new hires had to wait for the first day at work to start to get introduced to the KPMG culture. Once at the office, it used to take longer for new employees to find their way around the company and the new office environment.
The app, once introduced to new hires, creates a roadmap for the whole pre-boarding and onboarding process. It facilitates building connections with future team through pre-start introductions, helps new employees to connect with their manager and future teammates, and provides them with key contacts for any questions that might arise. The app also helps with logistics, contracts, and training required for a new role.
Talmundo has recently closed a €1.3 million investment round from lead investor TIIN Capital and backed by several angel investors. TIIN Capital had contributed €500K in the Talmundo’s seed round one year ago. The €1.3 million round will be used to strengthen Talmundo’s position in its Benelux home markets, as well as to establish a local presence in the UK and France.
The company will also further invest in product development such as AI, of which Talmundo’s Onboarding Chatbot is one example, and more advanced enterprise features to continue to support leading global companies.
Talmundo CEO Stijn de Groef said: “This investment confirms that onboarding is very much a trend in the HR sector, and not ‘just hype’. Business leaders and HR managers have experienced the impact a smooth, simpler, and more personal onboarding process has on employee retention and productivity."
As the cost of hiring and retaining employees increases, companies will have to invest in onboarding processes, which has been proven to be critical in employee retention and satisfaction. Adding to this, the entry of digital-savvy millennials to the workforce will make it imperative for companies to build their HR activities around technology. Talmundo has that clear.
