The desire to reflect our way of working/recruiting !

When this health, economic and human disaster struck our world, it soon became clear that what had existed under the name of "telework" in some companies before was going to spread all over the place. Some jobs are obviously more affected than others. Recruitment and the HR function in general had to take advantage of this pivotal moment to understand that the world was changing, moving into a much more digital and remote world, and that the way of recruiting had to change as well. From this observation came the desire to reflect on our way of working, recruiting and understanding the company as the epicenter of social life.

First of all, before thinking about the ways in which we can work today, I think we need to differentiate between teleworking and working from home during the confinement that prevents us from functioning as we should or would like to. We must not forget that teleworking, like any other socio-professional development - because that is what we are talking about: a major change linked to the digitalization of companies - is a voluntary, strategic and impacting decision: in opposition, therefore, to working during confinement, which is not voluntary, but just as strategic and impacting.

After the confinement, the majority of companies will keep this functioning: telework will be encouraged, for various reasons (being a digital company, saving time, money and space, followed by a fashion that seems to last) but it will absolutely be necessary to do it in a reasonable and moderate way. But it is an indisputable fact: voluntary telework, which has become a norm, was born in a constraining context.

In this context, it will be necessary to create new team dynamics, as positive and stimulating as possible, as well as a coherent working environment. HR monitoring will have to adapt, to be more distant, to deal with scattered teams, which will have to be monitored even more regularly, both on the business aspect, of course, but also on the moral, psychological and continuity aspect in terms of adherence to the collective project.

Recruitment will change, too. Convincing someone to join your company in this new context will require an explanation of the company's missions and values. I've found in the companies where I worked / where I practice that we recruit brilliant people with hard skills, but creating a collective mindset, cohesion, a collective fit - everything that depended on soft skills - was much more complex. These criteria are the most difficult to measure in a person, because it is measured by feeling, by feeling, by exchange rather than through a technical test. Nothing, therefore, seems to be able to replace a face-to-face interview to gauge all these factors. Teleworking will therefore be a brake on the evaluation of these "soft skills" as opposed to "hard skills". It will therefore be necessary to adapt to a new world and to put a certain number of things in place.

Video or telephone interviews may also seem more immobile and standardized than live interactions, and the feeling of distance may make it almost impossible to expose or read certain behaviors or feelings on which a decision or refusal to recruit would be based. Several things can be put in place to try to regain this naturalness: creating warmth, that is to say, surrounding this exchange with a certain closeness, through the familiarization of the person - in startups, scale-ups, SMEs, the familiarization has long since disappeared, because it was considered too procedural, but this familiarization can be applied everywhere, whatever the sector or the size of the company. We can also tell ourselves that a big smile is as reassuring as many words. It's a tragedy to have to say it, but recruitment is done with a smile, to put some warmth, but also because it's a job in which we give certain people the chance to prove, exploit and realize their potential. It is important to be aware of this and to make this observation a vector of joy and confidence in these troubled times and/or the changeover to the digital age.

Although the nature of the interview process may be different through a video interview, particularly for companies for which this is a new exercise, the characteristics that are considered essential for a given role should remain the same. Sometimes, companies and the people within them who deal with recruitment, focus on leading questions, answering yes or no answers. Under normal circumstances, it would be ubuesque to imagine that these questions would identify someone. But adapted to telework, not only does the interest of such a question seem obsolete, but there is also a huge chance of destabilizing the desired dynamic and of having answers which will not move forward, or even slow down the interview, and prevent the definition of whether the suitability in terms of state of mind can be validated. On the other hand, the use of scenarios, and more precisely of role-playing scenarios, both linked to the position (which will make it possible to validate both soft and hard skills simultaneously) will have the opposite effect and will give excellent clues as to whether or not recruitment will take place. This will make it possible to determine the person's technical skills and human values, but also the person's adaptability to a context without personal preparation. In the world in which we live, and particularly the one that will emerge post-covid, the ability to adapt is one of the strengths that will have to be validated as a priority.

Understanding (and eventually adhering to) the company's culture is a major step in the recruitment process. If an interview at the office can give the candidate the opportunity to discover the work environment, to exchange with the team, videos do not - on the surface - allow this. But what, in the end, is the point of filming offices, going from team to team, making the exchange interactive? Nothing. The real limits are the ones we set for ourselves. Walk around with your smartphone, be the window to your business and sell your business, sell the surprised smiles you trigger, sell the atmosphere of your business. The candidate's reaction will be one more chance to measure his or her suitability.

Then, before judging a reaction, talk to your candidate, and therefore potential future collaborator, about your company, the reasons why you like working there, what makes you get up in the morning with a smile, with the desire to give the company your energy and your time. Talk about the company culture, the events that bring people together, but above all about the people, the strengths of each team, what each person brings to the common goal. Show your team spirit, show your involvement, explain how you are participating in a cause that is important to fight for, that is an opportunity to join. Some HR managers, recruiters or decision-makers often forget that recruiting is not about searching, finding, but also about selling. We are in a job market and more globally in a world where everyone has many choices. Make sure that choosing your company is their best decision, that there is no more hesitation.

At a time when we are all moving into a more digital and therefore more distant professional life, we will have to get closer to people through all this. And manage to continue to sell the intrinsic qualities of this or that team, this or that structure. As a person in recruitment or human resources, you must not forget your most important responsibility: recruiting is above all selling. Selling your company, selling the project, the stakes, the objectives, but also selling the well-being of the employees who are already there, selling the construction of a professional family.