personal: 48 years old, married and mother of three education: Master’s degree in work studies from Tel Aviv University number of employees: 1,800 employees, of which 1,500 are directly employed Seniority in the company: 7.5 years
My career path. “I grew up in the world of finance. For 16 years I worked in Clal insurance and finance, where I started as a customer service representative as a student job and later was promoted to the position of recruitment and training manager of the national center. Then I managed the training in a subsidiary of Clal, and the last position was HR Business Partner of two large divisions At the age of 40, I decided that I needed to look for my next position, so I left Clal and moved to Tiv Taam.”
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Diverse employee profile. “We have a wide range of positions in the organization, and it starts with ‘blue collar’ employees in the network, such as cashiers and janitors, production workers, warehouse workers and warehouse workers. Opposite all of these are the headquarters employees, including men and women from human resources, finance, trade and marketing. This raises A big challenge of creating connectivity in a decentralized organization, where a significant part of the employees are not at all near a computer. To this end, we developed an application in which relevant data is accessed for each employee, such as sick and vacation days, rights and obligations. In addition, the human resources team is indeed a staff position, but once a week Each of the team comes to the field. The management comes once a quarter.”
Hybridity and flexibility. “We do not have the possibility of hybrid work for reasons of solidarity. Even during the Corona epidemic, we did not allow the staff of the headquarters to work from home. We said that it was impossible for us to have employees who are at the front and work so hard, while we, the ‘supporters of the fighting,’ would be at home. But today it makes it difficult to recruit To the staff. The first question of applicants is whether there is an option for hybrid work and how it is divided, and some people reject applications based on this background. Convenience and ‘what will happen to me and my family’ occupy a more significant place even than the possibilities of promotion. Another big barrier for us is the need to work on Saturdays and holidays”.
Competition for candidates. “Salary is another parameter that has become a recruitment challenge. If in the past our competitors were the other food chains, today it is the entire retail world. Many of the ‘blue collar’ workers are survival workers, those who live from hand to mouth, and if elsewhere they are offered one shekel more – they simply will leave us. Therefore, we do a lot of work in recruitment and retention. For example, our managers have undergone training on how to create a good experience already at the application stage, such as facilitating a meeting in coffee shops. An experience that will create differentiation from other companies – also in the fair salary that is adjusted based on experience and not only in fixed salary ranges of roles”.
Organizations with a committee. “When I worked at Clal, the committee was very dominant. On the other hand, there is no committee by nature, but I believe that we operate as if there is one. We did not fire employees after the corona virus, and we made sure to optimize in a different way. I approached each of the department heads and asked them to find a way to become more efficient that would not require Of us to fire, certainly not survival workers. Instead, we saved in other places – for example, we stopped the use of disposable cups. In the midst of all this, we did not harm the welfare budget. I think that working with committees can sometimes create value for the employee, but less so for the employer.”
The market situation. “The situation will affect us and the bank. The customers’ consumption basket is expected to decrease and we will have to take action and look for creative solutions for saving inputs without harming employees. Recruitment will be much more complex and competitive due to the cost of living, and this at a time when our wages are relatively high. There are no more candidates in the market. The layoffs are Mainly in high-tech and in general among ‘white collar’ workers, but they won’t come to us.”
HR role. “I wear both hats – both that of the employee representative and that of a high-ranking official in the management. This dissonance is very difficult. One hand has to reach out, and the other has to be the gatekeeper. It’s a daily struggle.”
The most important question in job interviews. “In our world, there is the holy triangle – the employee in the middle, with the direct manager in one corner, the organizational culture in the second, and the team in the third. The most important side to me is the direct manager, and this is more than the organizational culture and the team. Therefore, I ask the candidates what is the most important thing in their eyes in a direct manager , and asks for an example of a case where they didn’t get along with the latter. My chances of success are much higher if Match is there. An employee who strives for independence will not be able to work with a centralized manager.”
Dealing with layoffs. “When I was working at all, I faced a voluntary retirement process, where unfortunately we had to say goodbye to 400 excellent employees. It was very difficult for me. I remember that the division managers and I would talk about how difficult these conversations were for us. I always try to deal with hearing processes, so As much as possible, there will be satisfaction on the other side as well.”
A management mistake I made and learned from it. “I know how to talk very nicely about work-home balance, but not apply it myself. I can’t do it in an organization that works 24/7, and it has a price.”