Kate Kharchenko, Head of HR at Ajustee a cloud-based solution provider that enables teams to manage, organize, and control changes across multiple entities during the Software Development Life Cycle completely risk-free joins us in this TecHRseries interview to discuss some of the common hiring challenges facing the Tech industry while also sharing her tips and insights on best HR practices.
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Tell us about yourself Kate! We’d love to know what a typical day at work is like for you, and also what your favorite part about being in HR is!
My favorite thing about my job is that it’s never boring. I like to “wear multiple hats”, as I’m combining HR duties and business development management. While in the head of HR role I dive into talent acquisition, managing strategies related to recruitment, and then it’s refreshing to switch to communicating with the clients, mass media on behalf of the company and making sure we are addressing their needs.
I think when you work at a startup, which is a fast-paced and ambiguous environment, you have to develop a high-performance and that helps you grow as professional.
What are some of the biggest HR challenges you face currently in the tech marketplace?
The biggest challenge is and always was to find a talent. Especially developers with experience in new or fast evolving technologies such as NOSQL Data Bases, FaaS functions.
But today it’s not about selling them a particular role in your company, it’s about understanding their motivation and determining if they’d fit together.
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What are some of your top tips/best practices when it comes to capitalizing on HR technology to drive employee engagement and other employee experience activities?
Since it’s difficult to find a professional with required experience, for example in AWS cloud and serverless, we are engaging talents with limited knowledge but great motivation to evolve. If they are willing to learn we’re always ready to help them.
According to you, how can global B2B teams capitalize on HR Technology more to improve their work culture and environment? Besides HR Technology, any other suggestions you’d like to share for HR teams to drive or build better cultures?
As a head of HR, I deeply understand the importance of work culture. We have adopted some practices which help us to be more productive and create a healthy work environment. One of them is increased transparency from senior leadership, better career advancement opportunities. Currently we are working on some other benefits for employees.
Could you share some examples of game changing HR activities undertaken by some of the world’s best tech companies, that you look upto as examples or industry benchmarks?
I can’t name just one, all variety of activities are important! The main goal is to make equal efforts for staffing, compensation, development, safety and health, and employee/labor relations, keep all them in balance.
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How do you see the role of HR Technology/AI in HRTech change how companies recruit/manage and retain employees in future?
I believe AI should dramatically improve and speed up talent search on web sites like Upwork or Freelancer. Right now, when you create a job posting, you’ve got pounded with people you don’t know and it takes a lot of time and efforts to find a better match. Having the ability to ask a few more questions and running it through AI would really help have a smaller list of candidates. Then all you have to do is to talk to them to figure out a personal fit.
What according to you are the top 3 HR Tech Trends that will define 2020?
On-demand, online platforms will become increasingly relevant, because more companies adopt remote work options.
Employee experience will impact by AI. Obviously, people will do less manual work and focus more on higher-impact tasks.
Meaning of the company culture. You can’t overestimate the meaning of putting your employee first.
Your favorite quote on employee engagement/recruitment/leadership?
My favorite quote belongs to Mr. Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group. He said: “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”
Tag (or mention/write about) the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read.
I’d like to read an interview with AWS head of HR or one with their Talent Acquisition Directors. It’s interesting to know about how this cloud computing giant is sourcing, tracking and managing candidates.
Any parting thoughts here you’d like to share? It could be on anything, work-life balance, career goals, etc.
Although I’ve accepted the fact that there is no work-life balance, especially when you are involved in startup, I know you still can make time for yourself and your loved ones. So, while chasing your goals and dreams don’t forget to enjoy life, folks!
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Ajustee is a mission-driven startup, offering a smart cloud-based solution that enables teams to manage, organize, and control changes across multiple entities during the Software Development Life Cycle completely risk-free. Ajustee takes the good old feature flags and brings the principle to the new level. It goes beyond feature toggles – handling parameters like strings, numbers, date & time, and secret data type. A DevSecOps enabler with a user-friendly interface, Ajustee makes configuration management an easy task for non-developers.
Kate has over 15 years of work experience in HR and recruiting, she has worked for several airlines, PR agencies and law firms in the past.