Twegos 2020: big lessons for an innovative future

It was a tough year for the world, but as a future-focused company, we’re not going to spend too much time dwelling on that. The corona crisis has also been a huge learning curve about so many things, including the importance of the human element in business. At Twegos we’re on the cutting edge of HR, and we’re ready to advance our people-centric vision so that businesses can come out stronger. Here are our lessons for 2020 and what our big plans are for the new year:

HR is becoming more strategic

The world of business is changing rapidly, and HR has never evolved at such a fast pace. Based on scientific research and powered by AI, 5 years ago Twegos developed a widely applicable online tool to predict the fit between an individual and a company’s culture and values. Even more so than competences or personality, this value fit is an extremely accurate predictor on what candidates will achieve in their position. This helps companies reduce turnover, up productivity and save costs. Just look at what we’ve done for Bridgestone, whom we helped hire employees who were more productive and engaged, reducing turnover by 22 percent and absenteeism by 28 percent!

We’ve seen that Twegos is a bit ahead of its time, especially in Belgium. The market for a data-driven, strategic approach to HR hasn’t quite matured yet. Our customer base is mainly made up of pioneers who have a deep understanding of the direction HR is going in. For most companies, HR has always been an operational element that rarely came up in boardroom discussions.

“There has been an evolution from age-old operational HR to approaching HR more strategically and then realizing that strategy” 

Now we’re finally seeing some movement. HR has started on the path toward digitalization and is gaining more strategic importance. After all, HR affects every aspect of how a company functions. So there has been an evolution from age-old operational HR to approaching HR more strategically and then realizing that strategy. And we are ready to help build that momentum.

More than ever, culture requires a data-driven approach

Because so many people had to shift to remote working this year, companies have gotten a clearer look at how their culture works and how important it is. The realization that a data-driven approach is essential is gradually growing. Understanding company culture isn’t a matter of gut feeling: it is made up of two main components that are in fact highly measurable. The first are employee values, which you can extrapolate to the entire company. The second is concrete behavior, around which we are currently developing a new tool (scroll down to read more about our big plans for 2021!).

“Companies have talked a lot about culture in recent decades, but not in a way that is supported by data.”

Working with company culture in a more concrete way is still in the early stages. Companies have talked a lot about culture in recent decades, but not in a way that is supported by data. I’m convinced we will see that change beginning to happen now.

People-centric organizations always win

The companies we work with usually need three things:

• Optimizing their recruiting process by identifying the best cultural fits and fast-track them through the recruitment process and when possible excluding people with a poor fit, whom they would probably rule out themselves after interviewing.
• Reducing the recruitment and training costs caused by high employee turnover
• Increasing individual engagement and achievements by offering an environment where people feel at home (the one-on-one fit with their direct superior is also of crucial importance here).

“If you want to sell your vision to customers, you have to start by applying it yourself.”

All of these changes are only possible when you pay enough attention to the human aspects of your organization, which are the ones that matter the most. The biggest health crisis of our time has made us realize how precious our health is. Not just physical health, but also mental health. That has put the human element higher on the agenda. The adage “culture eats strategy for breakfast” seems more on point than ever.

If you want to sell that vision to customers, you have to start by applying it yourself. That’s why at Twegos we do everything we can to make sure the people who work for us are happy, fit in with our values and can effectively perform meaningful work. As manager and co-founder I’ve always tried to balance the human match with competencies so that the two are equally important. 

?What will 2021 bring?

Things are moving and shaking at our company! Next year we’ll recruit at least 5 new talents to strengthen our national and international position. Not only are we expanding our product, but thanks to Flemish subsidies we’ve also embarked upon a second R&D track to strengthen our frontrunner status, because innovation can never stand still. This R&D is led by two international thought leaders: Professor Timothy A. Judge of The Ohio State University and our Chief of R&D, Professor Dr. Joeri Hofmans of the VUB.

Our new product, BehaviorFit, measures the desired attitudes for a job function and indicates what type of training an individual still needs to acquire those behaviors or responses. Together with ValueFit it will provide a highly accurate prediction of the complete soft skill match between an individual candidate and a specific job at a particular company. This sets companies up for success and prepares them to face any challenges the future may bring.

Want to know more about our big plans? Or want to be part of the action? Check out our website!