'People are our product and our greatest asset'

Despite having a strong background in psychology and neuroscience, Joana Oliveira's keen interest in business, building talent  and an upbringing of entrepreneurship led her into the HR field.

Now, as SVP of People and Culture at marketing and technology giant Viral Nation, she explains to HRD that the merging of those two worlds has only made her stronger.

"I think my background in psychology and coaching and understanding of business and entrepreneurship was a huge asset in adding value in the business world," Oliveira says. 

Her current role at Viral Nation demands adaptability and a forward-looking approach and is marked by its dynamic nature, with over 400 employees spread across nine different countries. While the company is primarily focused on social transformation for large Fortune 500 brands, and specializes in influencer talent marketing agency, it emphasizes a focus on technology and using that to expedite and accelerate the marketing side of operations.

Creating a framework for success

One of the cornerstones of Oliveira's career is a commitment to cross-cultural HR initiatives.

“Right now, we’re working on revamping our performance management program, which is great because it provides a fair and consistent framework to evaluate our talent, regardless of background, location or demographic,” she tells HRD. 

“This is especially important as whether you're in the office or working from home, there is an objective measure on performance, and we care about executing against your results and embodiment of our cultural values over anything else, that could create subjectivity in your evaluation. It’s all about creating a fair playing field for our employees”.

In the past, Oliveira says she has leveraged formal performance review programs to understand capabilities internally.

“This allowed us to pair skills development with internal mentorship programs so your talent can learn from one another, and help each other grow. This is a great way to build internal capabilities and also engage your top talent”

To stay aligned with her organization's strategic goals, Oliveira actively seeks external insights.

"It’s important to keep my knowledge fresh and up to date. I currently have a Gartner membership and am part of the Forbes HR Council, where I’m able to connect with other HR executives who are facing similar challenges in the current landscape.

“The people and culture function can be a lonely function internally due to the nature of the job being so high on  privacy and confidentiality. As such, I find it’s even more important to stay connected to a strong set of external peers to share perspectives and ideas and build people best practices as a community.”

People are our product and our greatest asset

Oliveira places great importance on working cross-functionally with her peer group, versus staying laser focused on her functional area, internally.

"I see the executive team as my primary team," she says. "For our business and many businesses, your people are our product and greatest asset."

By being closer and more connected to the key challenges of the business, the HR function can maximize its value for the internal team and company overall.

Looking toward the future, Oliveira reveals Viral Nation's focus on technology and employee advocacy.

"A big part of our strategy next year is expediting our technology products to support the rapid scale of our business" she says. "One of our products is called Viral Nation Empower, which is all about employee advocacy and how to use your own employees as influencers which I am very passionate about."

This approach aligns with the evolving nature of the employee-employer relationship, emphasizing the importance of authenticity in brand advocacy.

And, as they prepare for the future growth of the business, Viral Nation is hyper focused on engaging and retaining its employees, leveraging a third-party engagement survey tool to identify trends on key strengths and areas of opportunity that will propel our people strategy forward, Oliveira says.

"Overall, we are thinking about what’s most important to our employees, the needs of our business and the landscape around the future of work to drive our performance, upskill our company and continue to scale our company."