May I ask how old are you? Trying to guess the age of the young Personio Country Manager became a bit of an obsession for me. “I am 29 years old”, he told me, acknowledging that it was not the first time he had been asked that question. Furthermore, it is that Aaron Cogolludo he “looks” like a newly released thirties. That is why it is so striking that the Spanish division of the German HR software company, which is growing like wildfire, leads the way, and that it put aside the jacket and the tie to present one of the most important events of its company in Madrid.
His self-confidence and grace on stage, in front of some 100 HR directors from all over Spain, all of them tied up, They were also very attention-grabbing. «I was surprised by your green cardigan and your slippers«, I kept telling him. It was not a criticism at all, simply that I did not expect such a Country Manager, something that we will undoubtedly see more and more in our country, but that has already become very common in the ICT environment of the United States.
Personio is a German HR software manufacturer that landed in Spain at the end of 2019, few months before the pandemic. Aarón joined the team from the beginning and, just two and a half years later, he already manages a staff of more than 140 employees.
We started the interview by asking him something easy: what was the most tedious thing about Human Resources management and that your tool solved and he explained to us that the administrative tasks, repetitive and boring, without a doubt. «I think that no HR professional studies this profession to spend all day with excel or sending emails (…). These tasks do not add value and take away focus and time to manage people.
The automation of these activities, as occurs with those of other sectors, represents a great relief and a decrease in mechanical activities. This not only reduces the syndrome of burn out of the professional, in the long run, but also allows you to pursue other, more creative tasks. «I imagine Personio as the way to bring the HR professional closer to loving their profession again».
«When tasks are being done in an automated way, the next level is to use that information so that professionals become an actor and an important factor in the company’s decision-making». Aarón considers that the HR department has to join the management to give direction to the company’s policy.
The role of technology in recruiting talent
When a new employee When you join a company, the machinery of bureaucracy begins to work and involves many processes. «In a company that is not digitized, when someone enters, there are many tasks that have to be done, by HR, the manager or the employee, what happens? That this is very inefficient, because imagine that there are 70 new additions in a month (as was our case)».
Also, do we think about the image that, as a company, is given to the candidate? «He sees that the company is not organized, he does not see that there is a flow of actions taking place in parallel, but rather a cascade of tasks… «.
Aarón tells us that, precisely, the Personio software democratizes all the functions of incorporating a new employee. «In this way, the person in charge of people becomes an auditor, verifying that everything is being done at once, since the software shows you a list of tasks and who is in charge. He no longer has to be personally behind people and the tasks are no longer a headache, neither for the new one, nor for the manager.
When we delve into the “guts” of Personio, we discover that it does not incorporate big technological trends, like the AI or the metaverse. The manager tells us why: «There is so much to do before Artificial Intelligence reaches HR… until we digitize and automate basic tasks, which we have talked about, such as the selection process or the registration of the day, it is better not to get involved in AI or blockchain. What we need now is technology that is intuitive, easy to use, that makes the employee happy…instead of reinventing the wheel or making a solution more complicated than anticipated.”
«Just as we cannot imagine a financial department where accounts are made with paper and a pen, we cannot imagine an HR department with emails and excels, but with software». To, after that, include advances such as Artificial Intelligence in this technology.
SMEs and the digitization of talent
Most Spanish SMEs no website, this has been revealed in that the highest percentage of requests for the Digital Kit were related to the development of one. We asked Aaron if, given the circumstances, digitizing HR was among smaller business goals.
«We focus on SMEs that want to digitize their company, in general, so we are in phase 2, after the development of a website. “Regarding our profile, it varies a lot, we have companies from 20 to 2,000 employees, with many sectors and office, retail or trade employees who are able to see the value of Personio.”
According to the results of a study carried out by the company, 44% of employees who work in SMEs plan to change companies in the next 12 months. Then, Is talent managed badly in Spain? «These data tell us that there is an option for improvement, not that we are doing it wrong. Right now we are in the great re-evaluation, that is, people are considering essential things, such as what I work for, why and what to expect from my company and this from me». “HR managers or managers need to know that the market is dynamic, just like people.
What did not matter before is now necessary and the rotation indicates that it can be improved.
According to the manager, these areas for improvement would be related to recognition, opportunities to grow, innovation… «You should not sit idly by or copy what the competition is doing. This does not work. Managers have to hear what their team wants and needs to, from there, absorb suggestions and launch a talent loyalty plan«. This will ensure that companies do not suffer from so much turnover.
«It is not necessary to be responsible for HR to manage talent, I am a manager and I do it because my success is that of others». Aaron thinks that a very common mistake is to stay in the analysis part and not being able “data in action”that is, those opinions collected by employees. «It is important to innovate and make someone decide to stay in my company«. For this, the manager believes that it is key that from the top of the companies they also participate in the choice of technology, specifically, in this case in the HR software. “Let’s take the initiative, let’s ask the manager. There is a very high range of purchase when a manager participates in the choice of software and gets involved.
For it, talk in business terms. We can convince them, according to Aaron, by showing them how much it costs us to hire someone, train them, retain them… or just the opposite: how much it costs us to fire or leave the person when they are already toxic.
Furthermore, according to some studiesrecruit 50% faster using an HR solution. And it comes to summarize everything we have said throughout the interview, «reduce the number of manual things you have to do; for example, posting a job offer on six different portals. It can be done one by one or by ‘clicking’, in a minute. We can also automatically coordinate interviews, identify trends within candidates, etc.”
