Interview with Oana Popescu, Managing Director Humangest Group
- First of all… why the Human Resources services?
The role of the HR has changed with social, cultural and economic changes, and this evolution will continue as technology takes over from the tasks people perform. But no matter how much it evolves, technology will not be able to completely replace them: people will remain the heart of the organizations. Of all the roles the HR has, the essential mission remains to listen, a mission that has added new dimensions over time, challenging the specialists in the field to add new, more and more technical skills.
For the Humangest team, providing staffing services on all levels that the HR operates gives us the chance to have a real impact on the development of this role and of the partner organizations, by identifying valuable people and integrating them into performing teams, contributing to the building of the organizational culture of our partners, but also by protecting the companies we collaborate with by providing consultancy when the legislative changes require it. Humangest supports the HR mission and gives it the opportunity to listen and understand the market in which the organization operates.
- What are the challenges a company in the beginning in this field should consider?
I believe that the most important thing for an organization is to define from the very beginning its mission and strategy in a differentiated manner and to translate them into the organizational culture.
The human resources services market has evolved a lot in recent years, both in terms of the diversification of the services provided and through the technologies that have emerged for HR. It is important for the organization to properly size its resources and determine the niche it wishes to walk in order to be heard.
- Is the Romanian market ready for outsourcing in HR?
It is an ongoing process, but what makes us happy is that people increasingly understand the usefulness of working with a human resources service provider and see the efficiency of working with an external partner.
- What is outsourced most often? What’s new?
Most often during this period, the Recruitment and Selection services are outsourced because the methods that previously worked no longer work. Companies are, on the other hand, more open and interested in finding qualitative information from the market, but also to make internal changes in order to integrate more effectively the people we select.
- How much has the role of the internal HR changed lately? How open are organizations to outsource?
I would not call it change, but rather an adaptation to what is currently happening in organizations. The focus lately has gone a lot towards HR’s competencies related to attracting and maintaining people in organizations.
Outsourcing comes to support the actions that the internal departments carry out and to relieve them of the redundant, cumbersome, time and resource-consuming ones, leaving them time for business-relevant activities. What we see, however, in recent times, is that outsourcing decisions increasingly have a long-term perspective, in which the benefits weigh more than the price.
- What are, from your perspective, the 5 most important trends that the HR must consider in the coming period?
The attraction of talents, the retention, the organizational culture in the context of the changes imposed by the hybrid work, the adaptation and integration of the new employees, but also the balance between personal and professional life will remain on the list of HR priorities.
- What are the main projects you are implementing within your organization in order to respond to the current challenges?
Training people and maintaining their delivery capacity in the current context remains our main project. We focus on developing soft skills and technical skills that allow our colleagues to adapt more easily to changes.
Then, we evaluate repetitive activities and try to find solutions for their automation and integrate new tools into our work.
- How have recruitment and onboarding changed from new perspectives, remote or hybrid?
Generally speaking, recruitment and onboarding kept the structure known, but they also adapted to the new context. For us, switching to online recruitment was not a novelty, we were already working with remote consultants, and, with few exceptions, recruitment was mostly a remote process.
Regarding onboarding and online training, we cannot say that remote processes have proved their effectiveness yet. We see an increase in the dropout rate in the first months of employment, in close connection with the adaptability and integration capacity of new employees.
- How do you keep the morale and involvement of teams, departments/and employees?
Even though we’re not that close to each other physically, we still stay connected. We have regular meetings and projects designed to support the continuous learning and development of our colleagues. We believe a lot and we promote within the organization an entrepreneurial culture, which relies quite a lot on understanding and customized approach. Our role as an organization is to provide the right resources and approach for each of our colleagues to reach their development potential.
- How important is the technology for HR?
Technology has long surpassed the stage of nice to have, playing a key role regardless of the industry in which we operate. In HR, the market expects quick reactions, in real time, information available with a single click, self-service platforms, in which HR people can find answers through a simple query, in which they can access documents with a single click or can issue reports that they can easily customize.
- Is the HR market ready to adopt the latest technologies?
HR needs to keep up with the novelties, and the adoption of new technologies today is essential. Obviously, their integration comes with a lot of challenges for HR providers who have to adapt their solutions to the particular needs of their customers and think of a product that allows for the rapid adaptation and integration of new requirements or changes imposed by changing legislation.
- A few words about the organization.
Humangest Romania was founded in 2007 and currently has a team of over 60 consultants. In 2019, the company acquired IHM Total Consult, a Romanian company, headquartered in Timisoara, expanding its coverage nationwide. Humangest is currently positioning itself on 4th place in the top of human resource service providers.
- A few words about the person who signs.
My career in HR started in 2006, I worked in both consulting and internal HR. The decision to work in HR was carefully weighed after I graduated from college. At the time, it was extremely important to me to work in an area where I felt like I could grow and where I could really contribute. I am glad that I was lucky to grow in an industry that contributes so much, to have a job where I constantly have to learn and which challenges me constantly but also to work with such nice people.