24 de April de 2019
Almudena Gutierrez, the Director of Talent Development and HR Manager at Minsait, part of the Indra group, took part in a webinar entitled "Attracting and retaining talent in your company". Introduced by Pilar Llácer, the Head of Graduate Internship Assessment at EAE Business School, the video covers aspects such as attracting, hiring and development talent, as well as the employees' exit from the company.
Almudena began the webinar by discussing basic aspects with respect to the evolution of companies: talent (committed professionals who put their capacities into practice to achieve better results in their specific area and in the organization as a whole) and potential, which is related to the person's characteristics and attitudes. Moreover, she explained that companies have to take the same care when developing their employee experience as they do with respect to their customer experience. "We have to pay attention to the professional life cycle and the employee experience", she explained. Within this framework, the company's culture, values and conduct play an essential role in enabling the employees to feel aligned with the company in which they work.
The webinar was divided into four separate parts: talent attraction, hiring, development and exit. In the first section, focusing in talent attraction, she advocated using market analysis as a starting point for establishing dimensions such as the timing, needs, location and level of the profile. To find talent, Minsait uses social media such as LinkedIn, employment portals like Infojobs, business schools such as EAE, and technology forums, where they find an excellent variety of profiles currently in the highest demand, such as account manager, big data, engineers, IT technicians, and specialists in robotics and the IoT.
She then went on to discuss the recruitment funnel and selection processes, which she described as two-way streets to a certain extent (candidate-company and vice versa), and which comprise different stages, including pre-selection, an initial filter (psychometric tests), a second round of interviews and the final contact with the Division Manager and the HR Department. At Minsait, over the course of a year, they receive an average of 1,400 CVs, conduct 700 interviews and contract 200 professionals. In Almudena Gutierrez's opinion, "the profile of the talented professional has to fit with the company's values". They are also currently working on their employer branding in order to improve aspects related to the company's positioning as an employer brand (external, internal, values, CSR, working atmosphere, internal communication and rewarding good performance).
Incorporating women and diversity management were other key issues discussed in the webinar, which also focused on Minsait's Smart Start Young Talent program. This is a two-year initiative for people up to 30 years old aimed primarily at technological profiles
Once the company has attracted talent, it is important that it retains it. "The staff turnover rate in technological companies 13%. This rate fluctuates with the market". In the HR expert's opinion, it is important to generate a wow factor for new employees. "Helping them settle in to the company, learn the internal processes, do internal marketing about who we are, how we do things and what they can expect from us, reassuring them that they have made the right decision by joining the company". To achieve this, we have to get the management team involved and develop new technologies such as immersion apps, gamification and e-learning". She then went on to discuss the Innovators intrapreneurship program, in which 3 out of every 10 employees have taken part this year.
With respect to talent development, the HR expert emphasized the acquisition of greater levels of competence and responsibility, autonomy and opportunities for professional development. She also discussed the career plan, which includes the professional roadmap, competences, objectives and the route for development. At Minsait, their employee development is based on training programs, the detection of training needs and individual training plans to anticipate new capacities and gap analysis. The company also carries out performance assessments for certain profiles and mentoring programs, as well as high-potential initiatives and other programs for resolving low performance.
To finish off, Almudena Gutierrez discussed the issue of the exit of talent, emphasizing the great value of former employees, whom she described as the company's greatest advocates, because they can also become new customers. Although the main reason that professionals leave a company is financial, it is important to conduct exit interviews in order to gauge what is happening in the organization and, based on this feedback, be able to implement improvements.
Watch the full webinar at the following link to EAE Business School's YouTube channel.