Challenges and wins in HR processes

First, the coronavirus, and then the beginning of a full-scale invasion, forced representatives of different types of business to face unprecedented challenges. While the coronavirus challenges became a problem for the whole world and the solutions applied in the USA were also relevant for the Ukrainian market, the challenges associated with the beginning of a full-scale invasion had no earlier precedents and were unique to our country.

Challenges, changes, and ordeals - became not only successfully overcome obstacles in 2023 but also lessons and experiences on the way to improvement. In this article, I want to focus on the main HR challenges of Newsoft, how we made our corporate culture better and worked on our brand.

But first of all, let’s get to know each other. My name is Nika and I am the Head of People at Newsoft. Newsoft is an IT company located in Lviv that has more than 40 workers.

In April 2023, DOU reported its lowest number of vacancies in three years, layoffs and benching became a topic of many meetings. Meanwhile, Newsoft actively recruited employees of various levels, from Junior to Senior, in total 15 Middle+ level professionals joined us.

Among our main challenges, I would like to talk in more details about:

• Search and selection of candidates
• Work on corporate culture
• The importance of company’s social responsibility

Search and selection of candidates

Unlike most companies on the IT market, our ideal candidate should be located locally in Lviv, be ready for a hybrid form of work and, of course, have a high professional level, because quality is our main priority. Therefore, many challenges are related to this topic. Our principle is that we have to present to the client a candidate that matches all the boxes. After all, by introducing an incompetent candidate, we can damage the company's reputation. For us, the level of experience, knowledge, skills, the location of the person, and the desired conditions or format of work are important. Each of the criteria must be at the appropriate level, so finding the ideal candidate is often very difficult.

Most specialists prefer the remote form and are reluctant to respond to vacancies where they are asked to visit the office. So how do we engage candidates?

We improve the corporate culture, care about personal needs of individual groups and people, and prove the company's social position by joining various fundraisings and initiatives.

Creation of corporate culture

We highly value corporate culture, a sense of cohesion and involvement in company initiatives, mentoring and training among employees. These aspects are difficult to quantify, but they are what make employees a team.

Among the advantages of visiting the office, I can highlight:

• Advantages of live communication
• Attending various events, games and trainings
• Provision of everything necessary in case of problems with electricity, Internet, etc

So, let's take eat this elephant piece by piece:

Live communication helps establish bonds, build and maintain friendships among colleagues. A discussion over a cup of coffee can reduce your meeting or a series of emails to a 3-minute conversation, and brainstorming ideas as a group in a meeting room is definitely more interesting than on an online call with(out) turned on cameras.

Recent studies have found that loneliness and a sense of isolation have become one of the main mental problems of remote workers, so it does not hurt to dilute the work with communication.

How do we encourage people to come back to the office?

You don't have to go the all-or-nothing route. Both remote and office formats have their advantages, and we understand that. Therefore, we actively implement various options: "in the morning at home and in the afternoon in the office", "three days in the office and two days at home", or any other combination.

All our HR activities can be divided into two areas: professional and personal development.

We value the exchange of knowledge among employees and learning from each other. Therefore, we conduct various workshops and trainings, and also support the initiative of employees to build their own brand, write articles and publish them.

Taking into account the wishes of different personalities, we have introduced individual table tennis classes, group yoga classes, and English language classes (they can also be attended online) on a regular basis. We also hold themed master classes (painting, weaving) and training (first aid courses) and we are only extending our plans.

With the increase in the number of employees, we have expanded the office and updated the workplaces so that each person has their own comfortable workplace. It is important that the environment is beneficial to productivity and energy conservation of employees.

Also, even in the event of a power outage, we can guarantee the presence of electricity, heating and the Internet in the office, thanks to powerful generators and starlinks. This not only provides comfort to employees but also gives our company an advantage over others that work remotely. Since all our employees are located in Lviv and can work without interruption even in unforeseen circumstances.

Of course, working in the office is necessary to improve work efficiency and psychological comfort. However, considering that the remote work format also has its advantages and many employees react to the complete exit from the remote mode with resistance, the mixed work format turns out to be a balanced and comfortable option. This allows to work with the benefits of both worlds, providing flexibility and maintaining constructive interaction between employees.

The importance of social responsibility of the company

More and more candidates are paying attention to the company's social responsibility and its charitable initiatives. While some preferred quiet help, some loudly announced their activities. As for me, modern realities dictate that good deeds should be talked about. Helping the army, involvement in development and solutions, and charity are not only indicators of the company's position but also a significant plus for candidates. We regularly take part in fundraisings, IT cluster initiatives, and also try to combine large-scale events with fundraising. For example, this July we celebrated Newsoft day, the 4th anniversary of the company's foundation, which was combined with a collection for the Come Back Alive Foundation.

Often such weighty obstacles as war become a heavy burden for any spheres but after overcoming it, we get a unique experience. The war changed HR processes fundamentally, forcing HR professionals to be more resourceful. That is why I believe that the experience of the Ukrainian HR segment will be the reason for changes in international practices.