HR Wave - No Bullshit HR Conference 2019

After that, Maja Gojtowska shared with us one of the most important topics- candidate’s experience. I have to be honest- it was my favorite lecture of the day. I was totally interested in this topic because recently I wrote an article about the whole employee lifecycle. Maja totally knew what she was talking about. She draws our attention to the fact that every company has something to offer to potential candidates. This „something” is an experience which builds them as people. It shapes their personality and character. That’s why it is more important than any fringe benefits they can receive. Every person is a number of previous experiences not just free fruits, coffee which can be found in the office and sports benefits. We have to take care of the way we treat people even if we are not interested in hiring them at the moment. We often think about why there’s a lot of passive candidates and why they are not determined to find a job. It’s a result of a bad experience- silence, no response, no feedback. Our inappropriate behavior and attitude creates bad candidate’s approach so we should feel responsible for the labor market. In her talk, Maja went through all stages of employee’s lifecycle. She analyzed the employee’s path and pointed out what is important in every stage. She emphasized the value of communication and transparency during the whole period of work. Maja said something which can be a good start to each day- Do everything so that at the end of the day your employee would think twice about replying the message from the other recruiter.

After that, we had the pleasure to listen to two talks. At first, Marcin Sieńczyk was talking about a customer delight in Randstadt. He talked how they combine modern technology with openness to other people to create a friendly environment. Values used in communication with candidates were promising. They put special emphasis on feedback which they analyze and try to improve the things in their future strategy.

As we talk about strategy… Anna Mikulska and her partner prepared a list of issues we should discuss and formulate when we think about creating employer branding. We can put it in 7 stages:

1. Awareness - why we need a new strategy and if we are ready for changes
2. Strategy and data - how we see the company’s goals in the future and how does it impact on our potential candidates
3. Employee - think about a candidate, how their profile affects the places where they are seeking for job offer, what they are thinking about development possibilities
4. Labour market and candidates - analyze opinion about the company from the candidate’s perspective
5. EVO - evolution
6. Communication - consult your idea with a target group. We have to remember that our personal opinion doesn’t matter. What counts is the result so that makes us think like our candidate.
7. Survey - always measure results

We have to remember that branding is a process. It’s time-consuming but it always pays off.

The last thing before lunch was a panel discussion. Five people from totally different kinds and sizes of the companies were talking about an effective way to appreciate and find talents in the organization. They discussed giving employees a chance for promotion and challenges it generates. Discussion raised about feedback and annual interview which always is a very hot topic.

There were also two interesting lectures after lunch. The first one really surprised me because it raised the problem we tend to forget about- candidates are different and they have different needs. I didn’t know that deaf people have to cope with so many difficulties during the recruitment process. Employers are not prepared for this kind of candidates and they don’t even know how many people and how much profits they miss. This presentation was thought-provoking. Moreover, I was impressed because Sławek Łuczywek, the speaker, was deaf. He uses lip movement to communicate, but it doesn’t bother to talk with clients as his work requires it. It gives hope and shows that it’s important to increase awareness that people with disabilities can be great employees.

The last talk I attended was about sourcing. I found it a particularly interesting topic. Mateusz Macha (CEO & founder of Humeo) prepared a nice presentation with a funny twist. He told his story about how he became a recruiter and sourcer despite he has never thought about it. He showed how he achieved some things and it can be funny for the qualified recruiter but uplifting for beginners. In my opinion, he paid attention to the fact that everyone struggles with the same problems when they start playing with sourcing. This work can be monotonous so he encouraged us to experiment, make it fun, and do it in the most creative way.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the last lecture. During the whole day, too many questions arose and topics were discussed that there was a little delay. Maciek and Zuzanna from Bee Talents explained how to build an effective recruitment team. I’m sure they know it because Bee Talents it’s a dynamically growing and popular company. What a pity that I still find it as a mystery :)

To sum up, as I said at the beginning, it was a great pleasure to participate in this kind of conference. I can’t wait for the next edition! Organizers chose the name accordingly — zero bulsh**t, only facts. The number of people at the event suggests that I’m not the only one who thinks this way.