HR Manager Jirka Havel: Many new things in the pipeline!

Jirka has been with Notino as HR Manager since May. How does he see his work so far? And what does he expect from his team? Read an interesting interview, which will surely make you laugh more than once!

Jirka, you've been with Notino for over half a year. What do you think so far of your time here in our fragrant world?

Six months of hell! In my professional HR career, for the last 100 years, in all companies I have been hearing about CHANGE. The world is changing, business is changing, let's be ready, let's facilitate change, let’s do training on how to cope with change etc. So, in May I decided to change, got on the train and headed to Brno. And only here I found out what change in business really means.

But now, after a long time, I can truthfully say that I really enjoy my work. That is, if I had time to think about it.

Seriously though: I have a perfect team around me that is eager to learn and push, we are changing and will change many things, sometimes it hurts but it's a shared journey that has meaning. Thanks to my advanced age (editor’s note: it's not that bad) and previous experience I have a pretty decent comparison, and the possibilities Notino offers are unreal. I've been in companies where if you want to change even just a small thing, you spend half a year thinking about it, half a year tweaking some diabolical presentation, another half a year going through layers of approval processes, only to find out at the end that your idea doesn't make sense because it was just relevant those many months ago, or that there aren't the resources to do it. Here, one day you have an idea, the next day you start working on it, and the third day you are already rolling it out. Sure, nothing is perfect, you also have to be prepared to go left one week, right the next and back the third, but I think that's one of the reasons why Notino is at the top of e-commerce today.

You oversee the entire HR department at BBP, Brno. What qualities are most important to you in the people you work with?

Personally, I've been pretty clear on this for a long time. HR isn't rocket science, although it's also not just about "if I like people" I'll go work in HR – you can go bartend, you will make far more people happy than you will in HR. For me, beyond expertise (you can learn almost anything) it's really all about the mindset and attitude. Humility, friendliness, willingness to help, common sense, fairness… Always learning, not being afraid to have and voice your opinion, knowing how to apologize and admit a mistake. Speaking to others in a language that people understand, no HR gibberish (or HR hantec as we call it here).

And it also often comes down to the environment too. Notino, as I quickly learned, is not for everyone. So here I'm adding a few more ingredients to the composition of the ideal HR perfume: Being able to make decisions, working quickly and efficiently, being creative, facilitating change, being able to change direction and not be depressed about it – these are the notes I believe are necessary for success and survival. Sometimes going beyond the possible and impossible, but also being able to say that’s enough.

Oh, and a sense of humour, knowing how to make fun of yourself. At Notino, you work hard, but that's the same in all successful companies, and when I spend most of my time somewhere, I want to have fun, too, and not feel like I'm in the corridors of the manic-depressive ward in Bohnice (I was there, for the curious – not as a patient).

So, in summary – it is about attitude above all. I really don't ever want to read in any questionnaire that an appointment with HR is any worse than an appointment at the dentist.

Are there any changes afoot for the HR department?

There are and, in fact, they are already underway. Notino is an extraordinary company with a unique story that has little comparison in our country and therefore deserves extraordinary support from HR. In fact, extraordinary support from the People Care Team, because that is the term we will start using next year. In short: a shift from the Human Resources model to the People Care concept. We are not resources, and we don't care about resources. We are people and we care about and for other people – as best we can. It's not about a cosmetic change, but a whole paradigm shift in our approach and behaviour. And not only in HR but across the company, which is related to the development of the company culture and our shared values.

But the change in terminology is just like icing on the cake. Over the last few months, we have been collecting feedback on the way we work (almost 300 colleagues have shared with ustheir opinions by way of a questionnaire “What do you think of HR?“, and I would like to thank them once again; and of course it is not only them that will soon find out what we are planning in response to their feedback); we heard the views of many Notino people at different levels of management; I myself was delighted to have individual meetings with all members of my (mostly female) team over the summer and we put together our People Care Vision and Strategy to 2025. It is based on the overall vision of Notino. In short, we want to become as respected and positively regarded as an employer as we are in by our customers; the People Care team will be a respected, professional, and most importantly a welcoming partner to absolutely everyone in the company. The journey is long and challenging, we are completely rebuilding our structure for this, looking for gaps in our expertise and seniority, and we are also addressing the basic principles of how we operate inwards and outwards.

Can you please share some new things in the pipeline for all of us here at the company?

We are working on many things for the next year – in different areas. At the beginning of the year, we are planning a couple of open breakfast events for the People Care Team at Dex, where we want to treat everyone not only to coffee and something delicious to eat, but feed everyone information about what we have in store for you.

So, I'll just give you a few hints so that still have some suprpises up our sleeve. Don’t worry, we'll gradually bring everything to life:

? New design of our employee satisfaction survey and follow-up activities to improve the results

? Encouragement of hybrid working (simply put: remote working allowances and equipment allowances)

? New elements in remuneration (especially for those of you who have been with the company for longer)

? NotinoLife App is already in development and will be second to none

? Development, training, inspiration – more of it, more often and for everyone

? Cafeteria – or benefit system according to individual needs…

? …and we will also focus more and differently on recruitment, developing our systems, research and reward benchmarking.

Perhaps the most important thing is the redesign of our values and corporate culture, which is something we are already working on and at the level of Umbrella. I have to say that I personally see a huge effort to really shift and change.

Another thing related to culture is changing our HR communication. Communicating more information, in a lighter and more entertaining way, both towards colleagues and outwards from the company.

At the same time, we will focus on promoting Notino as an employer – much better and much wider than until now. Here we have a huge debt, but also an opportunity and room for growth. HR today is also about marketing concepts and where else should this be truer than at a technology company that is on the cutting edge of innovation. We want to be seen. To show that we have something to offer, but in a transparent and honest way. Notino is not for everyone, but those who can be successful with us need to know that. Today's image of Notino is, euphemistically speaking, neutral within Moravia, and almost nonexistent outside of Moravia. This limits us in recruitment and elsewhere, but since November we have had a smaller but elite HR Brand Cell with the clear goal of pushing the perception of Notino beyond the everyday.

Working at Notino is "fragrant". What's your relationship with beauty products? Has it changed in any way since joining Notino?

Before Notino, I was (or pretended to be – take your pick) the commercial director of Arval (the second largest operative leasing company) for two years – but there was a little catch. I don't really have any passion for cars and I'm not a salesman. So, naturally, I’m much better off here where I am now. Admittedly, as part of maintaining a certain level of dignity, I don't converse with my mates over beers about perfume and lipstick brands, but, curiously, my bathroom shelves have filled up with products. Maybe too many… for a guy.

Then, of course, I became a beauty consultant and procurer of our various products to all my friends, even those I hadn't heard of for years before joining Notino, so the question of "Now that you're at Notino, could you get..." really does come up. But overall, I really like "the smell of this place".

And the last question – what do you like to do in your free time?

I consulted a dictionary of to find out what you mean! Free time? What is this? Like this: Before moving to Brno, I exercised regularly (boxing, gym, games of all kinds). Since May, I've reduced my sporting activities to regular and intense staring at my gym bag from my bed. I'm getting significantly better at it; I can stare at it for an hour! Unfortunately, the bag is not very cooperative. I have made it to the gym twice during my time in Brno, and I almost fell asleep there each time.

Otherwise, I have the usual Notino hobbies – I drink a lot, sometimes I eat, I go on social media and so on… As a Gen-Xer, I still like to read a lot, mostly in English and French. Sometimes I get away, ideally alone, and my best recent wanderings have been in Georgia, Corsica and Montenegro.

But most importantly, I am well looked after by my dear teammates, who, in addition to feeding me regularly, also show me the mysteries and beauties of the city, with a strong focus on the various watering holes and bars. Fortunately, we still have a lot left to explore.