personal: 42 years old, married and mother of three education: A bachelor’s degree in law and a bachelor’s degree in business administration number of employees: 420 The company’s field of activity: Digital banking
My career path. “Originally I am a lawyer. In 2007 I decided to make a change and turned to the field of finance at a time when it was very attractive, before the global crisis in 2008. I joined the Psagot investment house, and was later appointed the vice president of the group’s strategic projects, and later served as the CEO of Psagot Investments and insurance agencies. At the end of a decade, I moved to become the head of staff of Ayalon Insurance Company, where I was able to get to know, among other things, the field of human resources. After five years, I was looking for a fintech company, and that’s how I ended up at One Zero.”
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Diverse specialization. “Today I understand that the fact that I was not only involved in the field of human resources is an advantage. I bring a lot of business knowledge to the field. All the methods in human resources no longer talk about the soft side, but much more about the business side. My business understanding, control of data, and sitting at the management table – Once as VP of Customers and a second time as VP of Human Resources – helps me to connect the various positions, and focus on the talents we are looking for.”
Candidate profile. “In the world of recruitment, there are two key populations that interest us – bankers who provide service to clients, and technology men and women. These are talents that come to us from the big high-tech companies. They come because they understand the vision of artificial intelligence. Exponential growth has advantages, but also disadvantages. We need a moment To stabilize, train the managers, take care of development, and arrange management and reporting avenues.”
The crisis in high-tech. “We are not affected by the crisis because we are still growing. We search on LinkedIn for employees who have been fired, and sometimes we even formally contact their previous company and offer to send us resumes. I see that the managers there want the employees to integrate elsewhere.”
Questions from employees in interviews. “I know that up until a year ago, employees mainly asked about well-being and balance between home and work, and I think they made too much noise about it. With us, the candidates are actually interested in the vision. Some of them ask if they will meet and work with Amnon Shashua (one of the founders of the bank, Shad), and with what technologies will deal Social events are less interesting to them, but more the meaning.”
Hybrid work. “We have employees who come from far away, and that’s one of the reasons why we allow hybrid work. We look at performance and don’t count working hours. Although we don’t have a fixed policy, a routine of two days from home and three from the office has been created, except for the customer division, whose physical presence at the call center is essential. The call center is available 24/6, and at night they work from home.”
The “hot seat” method. “At the moment we don’t have enough seats, another reason why we allow remote work, but in April we will move to new offices. There are employees on a temporary basis, and in the offices there are also several vice presidents who share a room. The ‘hot seat’ method exists with us in some units – more in technology and service, but also in others there is something open without hierarchy. The CEO and the chairman, for example, sit together in our transparent office, and if they leave the room, every employee can sit in their place. When I arrived I was shocked by this culture, because it is very different from the worlds I knew.
“I don’t have a desk at all. When I arrived at the company, I sat in the room with the VP of strategy, but I decided that I wanted to be closer to the customer division, which had no free space. Since then I leave my bag in the meeting room and usually settle down with my laptop in the cafeteria. I believe in management that includes meetings with the people.”
Management Development. “Some of the managers, especially the vice presidents, came from outside, but others grew from within. We understand that a good manager needs to create connectedness in his employees, lead them to excellent performance, and free them to be independent – and all this needs to be learned. Through an external instructor, we conduct several courses at the same time for the various management levels. Management is something that can be learned, but you need passion for it.”
Tip to Elon Musk. “Of course, I have a lot of criticism for the way Musk conducted himself. Happily, such a move is not possible in Israel thanks to the legislation that is pro-employee and the hearing obligation. Even in layoffs as part of streamlining, there is room for a much more measured process.
“There is a human side and there is a side of abilities – how can we test the performance of the employee? If it is a manager, to what extent can we really test his leadership? I believe that managers should give feedback to their employees throughout the year and set goals for them.”
Employee burnout. “If an employee tells me that he is a nine-to-five type, he will be less compatible with the pride of the unit and our patrol. It is true that the work wears off over time, but on the other hand, the employees feel a part and that it is in their interest that we succeed. We give each employee a package of options upon his acceptance into the company.”
A management mistake that I learned from. “The VP of Human Resources has a conflict between the desire to serve the goals of the organization and the demands of the employees. Throughout my career I encountered such conflicts, and in the case where I chose to just please the employee, it did not last long. It’s true that I have to take care of the employees, but I also have to be connected to the goals of the organization.”