Personnel recruiting, staff retention, processes in human resources, employee management and development, and knowledge transfer in the company – the classic tasks in human resources are chaning, due to skills shortage, digitization, and a declining number of graduates and applicants as a result of demographic changes. Heinrich Beck, Apleona HR Head, describes how the leading real estate service provider is dealing with these changes, and in fact, is using them to redefine its strategies and HR processes.
The answers he gives, are part of the title story “HR Heads reveal their strategies” in the Sept issue of Immobilienwirtschaft.
Please explain your strategies in human resources and their significance for Apleona.
A skills shortage and a declining number of graduates and applicants as a result of demographic changes create a distinct recruitment market and present great challenges to companies with regard to recruitment and staff retention. This is particularly true of the real estate services sector with its specific economic conditions.
Apleona is responding by increasing the number of apprenticeships and is investing considerably in training and qualification measures as well as employer branding and recruiting.
Applicants will be presented with a specific offer as quickly as possible. This includes the fact that the operational units that provide notification of the vacant positions are required to be actively involved in the recruiting process in a completely different way. Checking the application documents and conducting job interviews quickly have absolute priority for our management. Not least because of this, the recruiting process at Apleona has also been accelerated considerably, i.e. the amount of time from receiving an application to concluding an employment contract has been significantly shortened.
In addition, we have considerably increased the tolerance and permeability for applicants who do not completely fulfill the desired criteria for vacant positions, i.e. applications are no longer “presorted” based on ideal profiles, but rather, each one is checked individually by qualified recruiters. As a result, applicants with gaps in their resumes or are missing qualifications have a significantly higher chance of filling vacant positions and proving themselves through corresponding qualification measures or through learning on the job in this application process.
For Apleona, staff retention is at least as important as recruiting. Apart from fair, market-based payment, company culture and working environment are decisive. The Apleona claim “Realizing Your Potential” also applies to Apleona as an employer: Commitment, taking on responsibility, and solving problems flexibly and quickly. In the sense of corporate action, this is not only welcomed but also expressly encouraged at Apleona. Latitude for judgment and freedom of action are always part of the service culture for teams and employees at Apleona. This creates variety and a high level of identification with the task presented and with the company and creates a sense of responsibility toward customers—freedom that our employees value greatly.
As a result of Apleona’s strong growth, it is possible to take on responsibility in the operational areas within the shortest possible time and to take on new challenges, which means that there are few if any artificial barriers between customer portfolios and movement upward on the career ladder.
What role does the topic of digital transformation play in this, and what effects does this have on the understanding of leadership at Apleona?
Employees and applicants expect Apleona, as one of the leading European real estate service providers, to take a leading role in the development of digital customer and user solutions and in the digitization of its own organization and processes.
In April 2018, Apleona concluded a development partnership with IBM for digital and cloud-based applications in real estate management. The aim of the cooperation is to develop operational applications together with IBM and major customers, to test them live in portfolios managed by Apleona, and then to roll them out to all customers as standard applications. In addition, the second key element of the digitization offensive is the establishment of a completely cloud-based digital platform called the Apleona Digital Ecosystem. This enables us to integrate many more data-based solutions and processes, especially internal ones.
For example, part of the digitization offensive is the comprehensive introduction of collaboration and communication tools, which will change cooperation and communication in the company and make them more interactive, quicker, and less hierarchical.
For the digitization of human resource processes, Apleona will introduce the leading HR cloud software SAP SuccessFactors, which will handle all essential HR processes more quickly, more efficiently, and more transparently.
Let us stick with the key word “digitization”: How will this affect recruiting in your company? (Are there already plans for getting into contact with potential talent via chatbots and WhatsApp?
Apleona uses a broad range of social media platforms with employer and company profiles to position itself as an employer. In addition, the recruiting tools offered by the various social media platforms are used, or potential candidates are approached directly via a particular recruiter. Initiatives from its own workforce are actively supported and used (e.g. XING groups such as “Klimatechniker aus Leidenschaft” (passionate HVAC technicians)). The actual application process is simplified and accelerated considerably via SAP SuccessFactors.
To what extent does your recruiting strategy also include bold and creative employer branding? What plans do you have to present your company as an attractive employer?
Apleona will continue to count on an active social media presence and, in particular, support initiatives from its own workforce with their own chats and position itself there as an attractive employer. The marketing mix also includes many classic communication channels and measures, which, in particular, consider the regional structure and demand for staff and the large variety of jobs and positions. This includes recruiting fairs (regional), on-site advertising, such as at hardware stores and supermarkets, on shopping carts, radio advertisements, or even perimeter advertising at soccer stadiums. A further element of this is internal campaigns, such as “Mitarbeiter werben Mitarbeiter” (employees recruit employees), which have very high rates of success.
Which of your human resources strategies presents the greatest challenges for you? Where do these challenges lie?
The consistent digitization of human resources processes requires considerable preparation and good strategic and conceptual preparation to gain acceptance from users, meaning the employees. You must present a clear added value, such as by enabling quicker processing times and significantly increased simplicity in terms of handling. A bad process will just become even worse in a digital form, and an inconsistent digital processes creates more annoyance than motivation. For example, an absolute no-go would be to require documents to be processed further in between stages, such as needing to be printed out, signed, and then scanned again.
How far are customers / employees involved in the dialogue for developing human resource strategies (key word, co-creation)?
At all-day events, which take place once per year (“Apleona dialogues”), employees from all areas and levels of the hierarchy are surveyed during workshops concerning topics such as recruiting, staff retention, and company culture—many of the insights gained from this flow into the concepts and into the daily business of those responsible for HR. For example, specific suggestions on employer branding, such as regional radio advertisement, were taken up and implemented.
How can you measure the success of human resources strategies?
Apleona relies on employee surveys and surveys from former employees concerning their reasons for leaving the company and measures the cycle time of applications and other classic HR key figures (see below)
What selection of key figures influences success in HR controlling?
The “classics” are as valid as they were before, e.g. turnover rate and period of employment. We supplement these through targeted analyses based on employee surveys.
