Anik Stalmans - CHRO, Cegeka
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Anik Stalmans - CHRO, Cegeka
One of most important things a successful business does, as our CEO Stijn Bijnens says in the introduction to this year’s report, is to attract the most talented people in the field. Indeed, finding and retaining top talent, is a significant managerial challenge in the famous ‘War for Talent’. At Cegeka, we tackle this challenge on many fronts simultaneously.
In 2019, we have invested considerable effort in collaborative hiring, involving HR as well as employees at all levels of the organization, up to C-level. Selection criteria have been reviewed and rigorized. Today, cultural fit is a conditio sine qua non: candidates must align with our company values and ‘in close cooperation’ way of working. They must sport a healthy can-do mentality and be prepared to upskill. They must take ownership and aim for a spot on the top half of the accountability ladder.
As well as getting the best talent to join our community, it is important to keep that talent on board. The tech sector has among the highest attrition rates in the world, and we aim to be an exception. That is why, in 2019, we launched the “CEO of your own Career” program, which is designed to help ensure that everyone at Cegeka can see and exploit their opportunities for advancement. For a growth company in IT, continuous investment in training and career development is crucial.
Our retention strategy includes in-depth onboarding and mentorship, introductions to senior management, the creation of exciting career roadmaps and an ever-growing range of training options. All trainings align with our corporate strategy: they allow Cegeka as well as our employees to remain highly competitive and ‘future proof.’ In 2019, all managerial roles were invited to attend an Excellence Bootcamp. In 2020 we have set up a Cloud Academy.
The Cegeka Cloud Academy is designed to create a corporate Cloud Certified Taskforce. In 2020 alone, we intend to get 1000 employees certified in several aspects of the Azure cloud; we do so in collaboration with Microsoft. Our Cloud Academy will also offer trainings for other cloud services, including AWS and Google. These certificates make our employees highly coveted and employable in the market. And they ensure that our customers get the top-notch cloud expertise they need.
2019 was also a year of intensified HR collaboration. Cross-country virtual teams were created to connect, learn and to share best practices, all in a good ‘think global, act local’ spirit. Finally, we invested in a corporate HR analytics tool, to allow our HR staff make sound and data-driven recommendations to C-level, based on hard facts and ‘one single version of the truth’.
Anik Stalmans
CHRO, Cegeka