Talent Acquisition Team: Finding Secret Ingredients

What does the work of our Talent Acquisition department consist of? What is their role in the entire CC HBC cycle and who is on our Czech team? We asked our Senior Talent Acquisition Manager for Czechia, Slovakia and Austria – Michaela Madová and her Czech team.

Míša: The work if our Talent Acquisition Partners is wonderful and difficult at the same time. Seeking new people is a key process that requires a lot of effort. They care for the applicant from first contact until the final offer, guide them through the entire process and through their approach help to “sell” our corporate culture.

I myself went through an agency, which was a great lesson for me at the start of my career. I then moved to the side of the client, tried various HR sectors and also working as a headhunter. During maternity leave, I create a non-profit organization to help single parents. All of this enriched me, always in a different way, and I was able to use all this experience in other roles. It was similar with the other team members. I believe that diversity is very important and beneficial at the same time, which is why I am happy to have put together such a diverse team.😊

Milan is an absolute expert in the recruitment field. He came from Brno, worked abroad for a while and then arrived in Prague. He also went through the agency environment, where he was responsible for temporary employment and service on the part of the client. He joined CC HBC after gaining experience in the food, coffee and brewery sectors. There is very little that can surprise him. He enriches the team with his experience and is a great buddy for individual team members. He is a reliable partner for the managers and you can never overlook him. He is characterized by his beard, diverse tattoos, very loud laughter, Stella (his French bulldog) and food.

Lucka is another member of our team. She came to Talent Acquisition via the position of Educational Specialist and HR Specialist. Her experience from the previous positions was a great contribution. She’s a great listener, and can easily identify exactly what the stakeholder needs. She works very thoroughly both with internal talents and external candidates. She is our Harley girl, she loves the wind in her hair and clears her head with yoga or mountaineering with her sons.

The youngest member of our team is Katka, who joined CC HBC as a temporary part-time worker. After completing her studies, she had the opportunity to switch to a full-time TA Specialist position, which she took and was thus went through the complete recruitment process from start to finish. She is currently on maternity leave, and in addition to the baby she is looking forward to the project she will be able to work on from home, if she starts to miss us. Katka never ruins any fun and always have a fun film quote for us. She loves her two dogs, singing and dancing, and her persevering energy contribute to the wellbeing not only of the team, but the entire HR department.

How as the work and recruitment processed change during COVID?

Míša: Each person to it different and faced their own challenges. Some were at home with their families, some missed people from work and personal contact, some had to come with defining their own lunch hour and time for themselves, not just work. But I think that everybody adapted quite quickly to the change of work environment and found the ideal way to function, at least in our case. Even people who could not quite imagine work from home at the start ended up finding the positive aspects and are currently enjoying the related benefits.

Naturally, this period favored even greater opportunities for the growth of internal talents, partial or short-term employment and the approaching Future of Work or “GIG” projects, which a probably change from the management of people to the management of tasks.

As concerns recruitment at CC HBC, I take the liberty of saying that we were fairly well prepared for remote hiring. Even before Covid, we were able to offer online interviews, video questionnaires, or online competence testing, which candidates can do anywhere and anytime. Therefore, our style of work has not changed much. On the contrary, we devoted ourselves more to regional projects such as: Recommend a Talent Program, Management Trainee Program, Diversity and Inclusion, Talent Marketplace, GIG Economy and others.

What is the normal day of a Talent Acquisition Partner like?

Milan: Generally it involves sourcing, where we seek suitable candidates, prepare candidate pools for either current or future recruitment. We not only seek candidates, but actively contact them and of course process the received reactions to advertising or from the Recommend a Talent program. 

Other areas include interviews with candidates either in person, online or via telephone. We use the format of video questionnaires a lot, to help us get to know the candidates better. An integral part of our work is the competence evaluation of candidates via our online tool. There are also meetings with recruitment managers, team meetings, or training designed specifically for our Talent Acquisition team. I am also responsible for training managers in recruitment and management and the acceleration centers for our internal talents.

We also participate in local and regional projects, and have other activities outside of our work duties, where we seek to learn outside of the office and attend various lectures, workshops or online training that help us to innovate our activities or processes.

What do we try to do differently?

Lucka: We have a fairly sophisticated selection process, which clearly indicates who the candidate should meet, which evaluation tools to go through and which competences we expect on which levels. This allows the objective comparison of candidates’ performance in the recruitment process. We keep up with the times in terms of technology and digitalization - be it online evaluation platforms, video interviews of gamification. We strive to introduce our candidates to our culture and environment as best we can, so they know what to expect. Although it is important for us to ensure that the candidate meets our expectations, it is equally important for us to understand theirs. This can then be changed into an opportunity. If we have something to offer the currently identified Talent, we are happy to introduce them to the line manager of another position. If not, we remain in touch with the candidate until the next opportunity arises.

Our recommendation for how to prepare for an interview?

Katka: It’s good to be ready. J A good basis is knowing the name of the company for which you are interviewing, the contact person and position you are applying for. Unfortunately, it happens that the candidates do not even know who they came to see, which company is in question and what position they are applying for. I recommend reading the invitation beforehand, finding some basic information about the company online, checking the position (advertisement) the candidate is applying for again, and if possible finding some basic information about the people they are going to meet (e.g. from LinkedIn). Be ready to present not only your achievements, but also the situations you learned from. Be specific, answers using examples are sure to help. It is also good to know where you are headed, what your ambitions and motivations are. Definitely be natural. Simply be yourself. Also, don’t hesitate to ask question about the things that interest you.

We look forward to seeing you!!!

Your CC HBC Talent Acquisition Team

Míša & Milan & Lucka & Katka