How tech talent network Adeva is using HeyTaco to create a culture of gratitude
About Adeva
Adeva is a global talent network that enables work without boundaries by connecting organizations with distributed tech talent across the world.
Adeva Website
Key Results
By using HeyTaco, Adeva:
- Built a culture of gratitude and positivity
- Became better leaders and team members
- Increased engagement by 50%
- Grew closer as a remote team
Folks logging in on their first day at Adeva may be amazed to find a little something extra in their starter pack besides the virtual office tour and the employee handbook — a 'welcome aboard' taco. The on-demand tech talent network has been using HeyTaco as part of its onboarding since 2016. That’s about as long as we've existed, making Adeva one of our earliest fans.
"We want the people we're onboarding to feel included and appreciated from day one," says Tosho Trajanov, founder and Chief Growth Officer at Adeva. "And HeyTaco is a really fun way for us to do that. When a new team member starts, we give them a welcome taco so they can move up the taco leader board and start practicing a culture of gratitude right away."
Secret sauce for saying thanks
Adeva is a fully distributed company with local communities in over 25 different countries and a dozen different time zones. And yet — they know each other. And they know how to praise each other for a job well done.
"I've been working with some colleagues for 5 years now and I've never met them in person," Tosho explains. "That's not a problem, but we need to be creative about how we work together. We love HeyTaco because it has instilled a culture of helping others on the team, by gamifying it and making it visible."
"There's a live leader board — which is just for fun. And if you get a certain number of tacos each month, you can turn them into small treats like a coffee run. Although we're actually finding that the real rewards aren't the tangible ones. The small, congratulatory action of giving or receiving a taco is its own prize."
"The digital taco is delicious and great for team health!" says Anwiti Mishra, Senior QA Engineer at Adeva. "It brings a spontaneous smile every single time."
From quirky tool to culture builder
In the beginning, HeyTaco was just a quirky tool for the company to play with. But Adeva quickly realized it was helping them create the culture they wanted to create.
"Tools like this, you need them," Tosho explains. "But you don't know that you need them until you have them, because things like happiness and positivity don’t show up on the balance sheet."
"Especially in remote teams like ours, there's always a feeling that you can do something differently to become a happier and more generous place. But you don't really understand what you need to do. Once you start using tools like HeyTaco, you understand much better."
Recognition with a side of relationship building
Everyone loves receiving tacos and, at Adeva, everyone loves giving tacos too.
"If you have a good chat with your mentor, or if a co-worker helps you figure something out, or if someone gives a really great presentation, you can ping them a taco and a message to say thank you for being helpful; thank you for saving me a day or two days working on this issue," Tosho says. "It's fun, and it makes saying, 'hey, you did an amazing job' easy and habitual."
"It's also helpful for me as a leader. Like every business, we have days and weeks where we just get really busy, and it's really easy to forget about gratitude because you don't have the chance to say 'thank you' straight away. HeyTaco gives you a fun snapshot of everyone's performance on the taco scale. That's a nice visual prompt to remind leadership that they need to share appreciation for the contributions people are making. It's not just about hitting business targets."
Tacos for everyone!
Thousands of tacos later, Adeva has noticed that everyone feels more like a team player and their willingness to help each other out has been much stronger. "HeyTaco has definitely helped us create strong relationships within the teams and build a culture of recognition," Account Manager Teuta Reci says. "Celebrating small wins every day makes each of us realize the impact we have on our communities."
Tosho agrees. "We sometimes give one-to-one private tacos, but we find that giving the tacos publicly has the most impact. People want to feel respected, appreciated and valued in this company. HeyTaco reminds you and motivates you to be a better leader and a team member. It's a nice way for everyone to see how they're contributing to the company's success."