✔️ 17 years have flown by
I joined the company in October 2007 as Back Office Manager. At that time I was the first employee on a permanent basis. At that time, my colleagues Petr Líčeník and Jirka Brusenbauch (they are still working here, by the way) worked for the company on a temporary basis. For a long time I was the only woman in the company. Only 8 years ago we hired my colleagues Verča and Kristýna as my deputy for the period of maternity leave. Veronika planned to stay for a year and go into education. She studied Russian and wanted to pursue it. But in the end she stayed here to this day.
I was returning from maternity leave in exactly two years and two months on a part-time basis, but already in a new position as HR manager. The company was growing and there was a need to look after existing and new employees. In addition to this position, I am also responsible for finance and the back office, where I oversee the day-to-day running of the office.
👌 I am happy in the HR role
I am happy in my position as HR manager. I am constantly learning. I go on psychodiagnostic courses, I enjoy this field a lot, I attend HR workshops, breakfasts, it keeps me moving, so it’s fun. I enjoy the people here especially. We have a very strong family atmosphere here. Even though we have the Home Office option pretty much unlimited, still most of us prefer to go to the office. We have a good time here.
According to the candidates, we manage to transfer this informal and pleasant atmosphere to them during the interviews. I encounter this when giving feedback on our company in the recruitment process. I am very pleased with that. It’s really extraordinary in a human way. There is solidarity here, the management is incredibly supportive of everyone. We believe that family and home life is important. If it works for everyone at home, it will be reflected at work. That’s why we all have the ability to deal with any problems and family issues whenever we need to.
👨💻 We’ve moved the whole employee onboarding process forward a lot
Psychodiagnostics also helps us in the selection of employees. It’s a useful tool that helps us choose the right people, in addition to references and personal feelings. Psychodiagnostics reveals what motivates a candidate the most, what are his/her behavioural manifestations and competences for a given position. It rarely happens that an employee does not fit in with us. We have shifted the whole employee onboarding, adaptation and care a lot. So our whole recruitment and adaptation is currently at an excellent level. I am pleased to hear positive feedback on our selections even from candidates we have not accepted.
💃🏻 A separate chapter is corporate teambuilding
I’m also in charge of our teambuilding. The water we rode in Znojmo was great. The Bull Rock cave was amazing, it was very adventurous, we crawled in the caves in places and overall it was physically challenging. Bike trips to Skalička, where one of the owners of the company has a weekend house, were also successful. We also enjoy the traditional company kegs. We usually prepare our own food and cook together. For example, we have an Indian colleague who prepares great specialties. Another colleague, who is a very good cook, prepares luxury pizzas in his own oven and other, often Balkan, delicacies. He prepares it even several days in advance, using original ingredients. He even once cooked lamb heads in a giant pot just before Christmas. He kept the tradition and cooked for people who stayed at work before Christmas and didn’t take holidays.
🍹 Any curiosity?
This was clearly the candidate who, during the first round of the selection process, which took place online under Covida, sipped intensely on juice and changed before our eyes during the interview. His condition worsened during the interview and by the end he was finding it quite difficult to articulate. He got pretty drunk.
❤️ I enjoy a lot
In my private life, I enjoy my husband and son the most. Power yoga and flowers. I really wish I had two jobs. Doing HR 3 days a week and the rest of the work week working with plants and soil. And I love to read. I read every night, I read tons of books, including fiction. I love Murakami, what was a total blast from him was The Death of Komtur or Norwegian Wood.
I’m really into galleries and traveling and electronic music. We often choose our destinations based on where there are good galleries and clubs. A few times a year we end up in Berlin. There we have it all in one place 😊
Jitka Šafářová, HR manager
