Erasing the border between recruitment and retention — Natalija Petrovic, Siemens
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Siemens is a global well-known brand — this German Engineering company with a long, successful history has its offices in more than 200 countries worldwide, and one of them is based in Belgrade. We spoke to Natalija Petrovic, a Regional Talent Acquisition Professional at Siemens Serbia, and got a better insight into their best practices.
What are the greatest challenges that your TA team faces and what are the steps you take in order to overcome them?
It’s no surprise that our team is facing the very same challenges as the majority of employers in the market when it comes to recruitment of technical talents which is not only a lack of such profiles in general, but a lack of good quality qualified candidates. This is why we often decide to hire junior profiles who we develop and invest in, and this approach sets our company up for long term success.
In addition to offering them the chance to work on exciting projects and to make real what matters, we focus on work-life balance by providing various benefits including home office and flexible working hours.
The deficit of tech talents is a big challenge. Why should companies visit conferences to improve Employer Branding?
There are certainly multiple benefits of attending the conferences, however, I believe a most important one is the opportunity to engage with others and represent your brand by bringing your Engineers, the real people working on real projects and solving the real problems, to talk about their experiences — they are the ones audience wants to hear from and this makes them feel closer to your brand.
When does the process of recruitment end? And when does the process of keeping the employee and motivating them to stay as long as possible in the company begin?
In today’s war for talent, the very clear endpoint to the process of recruitment has been erased. In order to stay competitive, an ongoing engagement with the candidates should be maintained from the very beginning of the recruitment process, through the offer acceptance, till the actual start date — a so-called preboarding. Therefore, the process of employee retention starts even before they officially join the company.
How should the company approach the career plan of Senior tech profiles, as opposed to the Juniors?
Technically proficient communicators have every option available, and over time they can qualify for various roles. The career plan of Senior candidates will mostly depend on their aspirations and should be revised and evaluated on a regular basis. While Juniors will be most probably still interested in gaining their operative technical expertise, Seniors may want to pursue Team Leading or Managerial roles. Yet, some may abhor the idea of being a manager, however, being open to continuous learning and development no matter the role sets them up for continued growth and success.
