The hkp/// group Experts Dr Harriet Sebald and Frank Gierschmann on the new online tool of hkp/// group allowing applicants to deal with the topic corporate culture in a fun yet serious way.
Since recent days, the “hkp/// Recruitomat” can be found on the hkp/// career site. Mr. Gierschmann, Mrs. Röper, what is it all about?
Frank Gierschmann: The hkp/// Recruitomat is an online tool that allows visitors of our website, to reflect on their own expectations and preferences with regard to corporate culture in a playful and fun way. As a result, users receive a feedback on how well their preferences fit to the corporate culture at hkp/// in little time and while dealing with the topic in a fun way.
Harriet Sebald: What may sound quite complex at first is actually really easy. Users rank nine dimensions of corporate culture from “important” to “unimportant” after which the fit between the individual preferences and the corporate culture at the hkp/// group is calculated automatically.
That sounds exciting. How come that you have decided to develop such an online tool?
Harriet Sebald: In recent job interviews we have noticed that corporate culture is gaining importance amongst our applicants. To us, corporate culture entails aspects such as having the chance to work creatively, to accompany a variety of projects and to work together with colleagues in a strong team. As an employer we want our employees to stay with us in the long-term and retain them at hkp///. In order to achieve this goal, it is important that new hires feel comfortable and fit well into our culture.
…and this way, applicants can assess their cultural fit before the first job interview?
Frank Gierschmann: Exactly. The idea is to offer anyone the chance to assess their cultural fit even before they submit their application.
But how realistic is the hkp/// Recruitomat? How well does it reflect the corporate culture of hkp/// and is an online tool even capable of achieving this?
Frank Gierschmann: We are well aware that the hkp/// Recruitomat is not a sophisticated, scientific, and highly valid test to check how well someone fits to hkp/// group. To be clear, it is not our goal to select applicants with the hkp/// Recruitomat – which is also why participation is entirely anonymous. We have developed the hkp/// Recruitomat in order to give users a realistic impression of what it means to be part of our team. We deliberately chose the format of an online tool as a very easy tool for prospective applicants and others to inform themselves about what it means to work at hkp///.
Harriet Sebald: In order to depict a realistic picture of our company, all analysts and consultants jointly decided which subjects are to be included in the hkp/// Recruitomat. In a second step we have arranged these items in a way that best reflects the corporate culture of hkp///.
Let’s say the Recruitomat is telling me that my fit with hkp/// is rather low. Is there still any value for me in using the hkp/// Recruitomat?
Harriet Sebald: Yes, in fact there is! Regardless of how well ones preferences fit to hkp///, by – consciously or unconsciously – identifying and ranking ones preferences the user had to figure out what is actually important to him or her when it comes to corporate culture. This is a very important step in finding a suitable employer and it provides users with guidance while searching for other options.
This way, the hkp/// Recruitomat is also useful to applicants at other companies!
Frank Gierschmann: Absolutely. In fact, the hkp/// Recruitomat comes with another great feature: for the three items the user ranked as most important to him or her, three questions will be suggested that one may use to gather more information.
Harriet Sebald: These questions can be asked in job interviews – whether at hkp/// or at another company – to ensure that aspects of the highest importance to the applicant, are discussed in the interview.
What happens if I realize that I fit in very well with hkp///? What are the next steps for users who are interested in joining hkp///?
Frank Gierschmann: Besides the cultural fit, it is particularly important to us that candidates have a strong interest in our focus areas in HR Management: compensation, talent management as well as HR strategy and organization. We are very excited about candidates who are enthusiastic about these topics!
Harriet Sebald: Candidates can learn more about vacant positions and who to contact by visiting our website hkp.com. After a candidate convinced us with his or her written application we invite them for an interview in order to get to know them better.
…and in order to address the questions suggested by the hkp/// Recruitomat?
Harriet Sebald: Possibly, but that’s not really the goal we have with the hkp/// Recruitomat: We want to encourage candidates to think about our culture and focus topics and ask the questions that are important to them. Yet, if an applicant brings along a question from the Recruitomat we will be happy to answer!
Mrs. Sebald, Mr. Gierschmann, thank you for the interview!
* Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
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