How do I get and keep good employees for my company?
At eBay Open, Sybille Franke, Recruiting Manager at eBay Germany, moderated the panel discussion on the topic “Employees in focus: How do I get and keep good staff?” Today she is our guest on the podcast to take a closer look at the exciting topic of recruiting. We asked how the “war for talent” came about, how you can still find suitable talent for your own company on today’s job market, and what employers can do to keep the employees they’ve won over in the long term.
**Important links**
Germanys major careers fair. Job fair and careers fair (connecticum.de)
Isabell: Hello, dear listeners, and welcome to our new podcast episode for our merchants and, of course, for everyone who wants to become one. Our guest today may already be familiar to many of those who were there in person at this year’s eBay Open in the Motorwerk in Berlin. Sybille Franke is a recruiting manager at eBay, and at this year’s eBay Open she led a panel discussion titled "Employees in focus. How do I get and keep good staff?" A topic that has been on the minds of many entrepreneurs, whether since the coronavirus pandemic or even long before that.
Tino: Yes, hello Sybille. Isabel already said it. You’re a recruiting manager at eBay. What does your job involve besides appearing as a speaker at eBay Open?
Sybille: Yes, of course there’s quite a bit more to it than that. It was definitely very exciting. Thank you very much for letting me be part of it. I lead the EMEA recruiting team together with a lovely colleague who is responsible for the tech area, so to speak. I’m responsible for the non-tech area. My team is spread across EMEA. I have recruiters on my team, coordinators, i.e. the employees who schedule the interviews, and sourcers who actively search for candidates, at various locations in the UK, and of course in Berlin. And then we also have a recruiter in Israel and in Amsterdam. And apart from the fact that I still occasionally fill roles operationally and have the pleasure of conducting interviews, I of course spend a lot of time with my team. That means 1:1s, team meetings, keeping an overview. What are the employees doing? How many reqs does each recruiter have? Creating a bit of balance there. And over the last few weeks I’ve trained a new colleague in Germany. That means we now also have a recruiter in Germany again, which is very nice. And then I’m also part of the global recruiting leadership team. That means I also have late meetings with the USA, where we discuss more strategic topics and goals for the entire team. Yes, that’s the gist of it.
Tino: And we’ll see you next week at the "connecticum" job fair here in Berlin too. I’m looking forward to that as well, because I’ll be taking part again. It’s always really exciting.
Sybille: Yes, exactly. Glad you mentioned it. Exactly, we’ll be there. We’re there for two days, on the 29th and 30th. And I’m glad you’ll be there too. Supporting again. It’s always very, very busy at the "connecticum," and it’s a lot of fun to talk to candidates on site. And now that’s possible again, and we also need a lot of support from the business.
Isabell: We just mentioned that you moderated a panel discussion at eBay Open. We had merchants on stage as guests. Can you share a few key learnings you took away from that day and the discussion?
Sybille: Yes, gladly. First of all, we found that the challenge exists in all companies and all industries, namely finding employees. Everyone basically has the same challenges. There’s no limitation to a particular industry. That was a bit reassuring, too, and that’s something I took away. And that it’s important for a company to define values and then also communicate them authentically to the outside world. Then, the clearer you are when searching for candidates, the easier it is to find the right candidate.
David: You just mentioned the “war for talent” or the search for talent and how it’s become more difficult. Where did they all go? Did they just suddenly disappear during the pandemic? Thinking, no, I don’t want to do this anymore? Or how does that work?
Sybille: You might think so. But in fact, the pandemic didn’t trigger it. The “war for talent” existed before that. In preparation for the panel discussion, I also exchanged ideas with the participants, of course. And one of the panelists also said that she had worked in advertising and that this problem already existed there ten years ago. So this isn’t a new problem. But of course, the pandemic intensified it in the sense that the first effect was that nobody wanted to change jobs. So just waiting for talent to apply didn’t work because of the situation. And then we mustn’t forget that there is generally a shortage of skilled workers. It’s there, it’s real. We’ve been talking about it for years. But it exists and it will continue. We’ll keep feeling it in the future and the market will remain competitive.
Tino: You just put it so nicely again. Talents, not just employees. I really like that. What’s the best way to find these new talents and keep them? Are there any current trends?
Sybille: So trends, one trend in particular is that you have to do a lot of sourcing. Sourcing means actively searching for candidates and not waiting for talent to come and apply. That also means finding and approaching talents who aren’t actively looking for a new job, who don’t yet know they’re looking for a new job. So the days when we could say, okay, we have a role here and post it on a job board and then get 100 applications are unfortunately over. We really have to be a bit more creative and go looking for employees.
Isabell: And once you’ve found suitable candidates, how can you convince them to be interested in my position or the open role?
Sybille: Convince in the sense of how do we approach them when we source them? Or convince in the sense of getting them to start with us?
Isabell: Both.
Sybille: So in the initial outreach, it’s really important to send the message to the talent in a very personalized way. If I think about it, we all get LinkedIn messages, sometimes several a day, and they’re sometimes mass messages, let’s say. We don’t reply to those. So the tip would be to personalize it so that you even have a hook. Because only when the first conversation takes place—well, the process is that the recruiter reaches out via LinkedIn. Then there’s an initial conversation where the recruiter or sourcer sells the role to the talent and convinces them: come back to interview with us, listen and see whether it’s even interesting for you. And only then does the process really start. In terms of convincing them to stay with us, it’s important that the company is authentic, meaning that even in the interview process you only sell things that are realistic, like benefits, for example, or home office, that can actually be delivered in practice in the end.
Isabell: Which job portals are better suited for which kind of positions? Or is there even a difference? You already mentioned LinkedIn.
Sybille: Definitely. You always have to think about what kind of role you’re looking for. LinkedIn works quite well, I’d say, for most of the roles we have, such as marketing roles and so on. But then we also have warehouse employees, for example, and customer support staff. LinkedIn isn’t really the right place for that. In those cases, you’d be more likely to use Indeed and other networks. So the important thing is always to look at who I’m looking for and then think about where I can actually find that target group and then use the different job boards or the different sourcing tools accordingly. Or job fairs are also a very important element. Being present, living employer branding more, making the company better known and linking it to the company values we have. That means when someone reads the name, they think, oh, yes, I’ve heard good things about them. And in times of, say, portals where companies are reviewed too, it’s also important to take a look there and listen to the feedback and think about what I actually stand for and how employees, but also talent, see me.
David: Of course, this has taken on another dimension because of the coronavirus pandemic. And if I think about it now, many of our merchants may not be that big yet or may not have such a big, well-known name. Naturally, they face completely different challenges. So what could you do in that position to still be able to attract talent? What levers are there, and how can they deal with this whole “war for talent”?
Sybille: Definitely, as I said at the beginning, defining values as a company is important, so even small companies need to say: what values do we actually have? What kind of culture do we want to live, and what benefits can we offer? For example, a BVG ticket or a gym membership. Or not everyone has the option of offering a gym, for example by paying for a gym membership. So there are various possibilities you can offer. And basically, it’s important to listen too, to listen to the employees who are already there and ask them: what do you want, what is important to you? And of course also ask the candidates in the interview process: what is important to you? What do you need? And then compare that and see whether it actually fits.
Isabell: At this point I’d like to share a little story that one merchant, who was our guest on the podcast a few months ago, shared with us. She was facing exactly this situation and said, okay, but I don’t have this huge budget. We can’t offer flexible working hours. And they actually agreed to do employee sports. So once or twice a week they would do sports together in the morning, before lunch. Once they had breakfast, so with a small budget they still created a bit more team spirit. What would your recommendation be for retaining good talent?
Sybille: Definitely a very nice example. And that would also be my tip, to start a conversation. You can define things and offer benefits at the company level, but actually also at the team level. So teams, including small teams, should talk to employees. Creating opportunities outside of work too, like sports, or saying, I don’t know, let’s go to the theater together, for example, if everyone likes theater. Of course you have to find that out. It also always depends on how big the team is and where the interests lie, or you go bowling together. I mean, now the options are there again to meet in person too. That was much more difficult during times of 100% home office.
David: You’ve already mentioned several times that you should listen and take on feedback. If you’ve been looking for a talent for a position for a while and realize you just can’t find anything, how important is it to take the feedback you may have received about the role and reconsider whether it’s the right role you posted, or the right position or requirement?
Sybille: Definitely a very important point. The interview process is, so to speak, a process of getting closer. You have an idea of the role and then you have to see whether you can also find the candidate you want. So it’s worth pausing and thinking during the process: am I actually on the right track here? You can see that from the applications that come in, let’s say. Does it fit or not? And then adjust the job description again or the requirements profile, or maybe think again: maybe I can restructure something in my team after all and design the role differently somehow. That’s possible too. Or, to give a concrete example, for us it’s often a question of German/English. So should I advertise the position in German or in English? That can be tried too—you do it one way and then you can always switch again. So being flexible and constantly rethinking things is important here too.
Isabell: Speaking of job postings, do you have any best-practice tips you could give our merchants?
Sybille: It’s definitely important to have a consistent structure. There should always be a so-called company profile at the top, so the first section. Then there should also always be a section that says a bit more about the team. What does the team do? What are the team’s tasks? And then it’s of course very important to describe the role itself. But my tip would be not to go into too much detail. So don’t list too many points. Cover the most important ones, of course, but not down to the smallest detail, because such a long role description can also be off-putting for candidates. It should rather give an idea of what the job looks like. And then there naturally also has to be a requirements profile. What does the candidate need to bring to the job? And here too, the recommendation is not to list too much. Only what is absolutely necessary. So if someone needs analytical skills for the job, of course that has to be included. But I’d say soft skills like being a team player—I don’t need to include that. You can also assess that during the interview process. And another point I’d like to make is to include that people can also apply, or are invited to apply, even if they don’t meet all the criteria in the requirements profile. Studies have shown that women in particular tend to only apply when they really meet every single point. And then they say, yes, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. Okay, then I can apply. To avoid that and to have a larger pool of applicants again, that would be the recommendation.
David: And once you’ve won the talent, what should you pay attention to in order to actually keep them?
Sybille: Definitely an important point, one I already mentioned, are the benefits. So think about what my employees need in order to be happy. And my tip there would actually be to ask and listen. Because at the end of the day, it’s about people and everyone has needs. Everyone has individual life situations. For one person, it’s important to have two hours at lunchtime to pick up the kids and have lunch with them. For me personally, for example, it’s important to have dinner together with our family in the evening and really be present. I then plan my calls around that. That’s possible, and it also shows flexibility from the employer’s perspective.
Tino: Sybille, if you could give our merchants your most important tips on recruiting, or the single most important tip, what would it be?
Sybille: From my point of view, it’s very important to be authentic, define values and also communicate them in the interview process. And to listen to employees and talent and ask about their needs. Because at the end of the day, we’re dealing with people.
Isabell: That’s a lovely final tip. Dear Sybille, thank you for your time today and thank you for the great conversation and for taking us into this exciting area. I think our listeners were able to take away one or two valuable tips and maybe even put them into practice right away. Before I hand over to David for the closing words, if you’ve already listened to one or two of our podcast episodes, you know there’s one last question coming: what was the last thing you bought at eBay?
Sybille: The last thing I bought was a book, for my eldest son. His school class is going to be part of a theater production, Emil and the Detectives, at the Atze Music Theater. And to prepare for that, I bought the book Emil and the Detectives there.
David: Yes, very nice. And that means we’ve unfortunately already come to the end of this podcast episode. Sybille, it was a pleasure having you here. I found it super exciting. I think I got much more insight into the whole recruiting topic. Please come back anytime! And otherwise, I think we’ll also link the current job postings we have. If anyone is interested in maybe starting with us, feel free to check there. Dear listeners, please write to us which of Sybille’s tips may have helped you. Or if you have any other ideas yourselves, feel free to leave a comment with us in the community. Otherwise, we’re always very happy if you like our podcast wherever you’re listening to us right now or even subscribe. And yes, apart from that, I’d say see you next time. Thank you Tino, Isabell, for your time too, and I’m looking forward to new colleagues.
Sybille: Thank you very much!
David: Yes, many, many thanks again to you, Sybille, and we’ll see you next week at the "connekticum" on November 29 and 30.
Sybille: I’m looking forward to it.
0 comments
