The Three Questions #2 - Laureen Mertin - HR/TA Expats in Portugal
Leo Capelossi
Founder @ambi.careers I Helping funds, startups and scaleups to grow their teams across Europe and abroad ?? Exploring the Future of Work.
???Sponsored By?Idea Spaces
IDEA is a community. If at first glance it may seem like a network of coworking spaces, the truth is that, when experienced, everything becomes clearer. A community cannot be explained, and neither can the IDEA experience. With more than 2.500 members, more than 360 companies, 4 premium locations in Lisbon, it is one of the first coworking spaces created in Portugal and one of the largest communities of entrepreneurs in the country. You can learn more about IDEA and its memberships on its digital channels, or stop by for a visit!
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??First things first
Wow. We are now more than 2.000 readers, in just one issue. Sounds amazing, but it seems we can go further! Please share this with people you think would like to read content on HR/TA, deal?
Just a quick piece of info before we go. As the economy cools, LinkedIn’s?Global Talent Trends, October 2022?report shows that hiring rates are slowing globally:
Ok, after this not-so-good news, let′s change the vibes.
Today I′ll come up with a story, a tale actually. Yes, we all have lots of things to do, read and worry at work, and it′s all very real. But, when was the last time you read a tale? Take it easy, you can read a tale and stay productive, can′t you?
When I was researching the newsletter name, The Three Questions, I figure out, there′s a tale with the same name, from Leo Tolstoy:
Synopsis: A king determines that he will be able to cope with any occurrence if he has the answers to three critical questions:
1. What is the best time to begin everything?
2. Who are the best people to listen to?
3. What is the most important thing to do?
Many educated men attempted to answer the king's questions, but they all came up with different answers. The king decided that he needed to ask a wise hermit in a nearby village. The hermit would only see common folk, however, so the king disguised himself as a peasant and left his guards behind to see the hermit. The hermit was digging flower beds when the king arrived. The king asked his questions, but the hermit went on digging rather laboriously. The king offered to dig for him for a while. After digging for some time, the king again asked his questions. Before the hermit could answer, a man emerged from the woods. He was bleeding from a terrible stomach wound. The king tended to him, and they stayed the night in the hermit's hut. By the next day, the wounded man was doing better but was incredulous at the help he had received. The man confessed that he knew who the king was and that the king had executed his brother and seized his property. He had come to kill the king, but the guards wounded him in the stomach. The man pledged allegiance to the king, asked for forgiveness and went on his way. The king asked the hermit again for his answers, and the hermit responded that he had just had his questions answered.
The most important time is now. The most important person is whoever you are with. The most important thing is to help the person you are with.
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???Three Questions - Featuring?Laureen Mertin?- HR/TA Expats in Portugal?
0. Could you share a short bio? (just a tiny paragraph about you!)
I’m German, studied law in the Netherlands and worked at two big corporate companies in Germany before joining Emma as a Recruiting Manager. By the time I started conversations with Emma I had just changed jobs and was not looking to change again but my former team lead convinced me of the possibilities I would have at Emma and he was right: after a good year I moved to Lisbon to open and grow the office there and in the process became a Team Lead for the first time. After a good half a year my initial “mission” was completed (by then we were almost 100 employees in the Lisbon office already) and I relocated back to Germany and took over leadership of the team here as well: hence became the Senior Team Lead for Recruiting Europe and Mexico.
1. Laureen, you′ve worked in Lisbon for a while coming from Germany, and now you are back in Germany again. Could you share your personal experience about living and working in Lisbon? What was the strategy behind building a big hub in Portugal?
?Moving to Lisbon in a professional context was challenging at first. I had to learn how to become more patient (not my strength) since especially bureaucratic topics can take a really long time and I’d say in general life happens at a different speed in comparison to Germany. On the positive side, I was amazed by the warmth of the people and the inspiring office environment that developed throughout the first months. Emma is and has always been a fast-growing company that required finding new top talent very fast.
?2. Emma definitely has a strong employer branding presence. It′s indeed?a technological company, not selling software but mattresses and sleep products. What Emma does do well to attract and keep great people? What defines the culture at Emma?
?I think “great people” for a company is something subjective: for Emma, this means people who have drive and passion, and are willing to take calculated risks to drive things forward. We are looking for people who seize opportunities, take ownership across the company, have a can-do-mindset and make things happen. With that we are also very transparent by saying: Emma is not for everyone. We are a high-performing, fast-paced environment and not everyone thrives in this kind of environment so I think the best thing we can do is to be transparent about this in our message to make sure we attract the right people for Emma.
?One of the main reasons why people decide to join us and stay with us is because they know they can create and see impact from day 1, learn fast and hence develop. We offer structured feedback processes and various learning opportunities (we have a very dedicated internal learning & knowledge team!).
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?3. Your career development is quite clear when we see the fast progress you are having in the past years. What could you say to people who would become leaders in Talent Acquisition? What drives you??
What drives me is knowing that the company’s success depends on the people you hire. Seeing people I hired 2 years as interns leading entire markets or categories nowadays reminds me of the importance of my team’s work and that it is the foundation of Emma’s growth.
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???Stuff
We are also starting a recruiting community, check it out here:?The Recruiters Gang
Are you building a community and need help to grow? Check it out what Product Folks can do for you.
Did you read the Linkedin 2022 Global Talent Trends?
Web Summit is gone (if you were there, I′m sure this monday feels a bit strange), but there some?related events in the next weeks. Web3 is hot btw.
Want to have your stuff here? Get in touch!
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???Great tools and some deals
Do you need to record your screen, calls and much more? Loom, dude.
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Want to have your tool or deal here? Get in touch!
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