Optimapharm

“The specifics of our industry forced us to turn to advertising on specialized job boards. And the investment is definitely worth it!”

When Mateja first joined the company six months ago, she was determined to switch things around and implement TalentLyft. She used the tool in two previous companies she worked for, so this seemed like a logical first step towards more structured and planned hiring. At the very beginning of our conversation, she mentioned:

“The hiring process used to take up much more time for everyone involved in it. It was a classic email/ Excel spreadsheet kind of approach, and there was a lot of back-and-forth communication with line managers for each position we were hiring for.”

Speeding up the Process

Soon after implementing TalentLyft, everyone involved in the hiring process felt the difference. Instead of waiting for multiple approvals from line managers before even sending the first candidate to the interview process, now, everyone who needs access to any part of the process can quickly get it in the tool. As Mateja says, “it made it easier to collaborate and speed up the entire process.”

In her words, the entire recruitment process is now transferred to TalentLyft. It starts with predefining the need for a new employee, writing a job description, setting up ads on relevant job boards, and collecting all applications. Once all applications are compiled, line managers and recruiters sit down to discuss future steps and decide which candidates are going to the next round and which aren’t adequate for the position.

There was one interesting thing she pointed out while explaining the entire process. By establishing this standardized procedure, she was able to determine all bottlenecks of the process. Every issue they had with the hiring process was now transparent and tracked through metrics defined in the tool, making them more tangible and easier to tackle.

Mateja says:

“All issues were now out in the open, which made it easier to pinpoint and tackle them. That was a great benefit to implementing TalentLyft since we improved our entire selection process and handled issues, we previously weren’t even aware of. I still benefit from that because I can now take time and step-by-step improve every part of the process.”

Finding Specific Talent in Specific Job Markets

One thing that makes hiring so specific for Optimapharm, which is more and more present in various companies operating in the international job market – is the need for particular tactics to attract talent with a specific skillset. Being a company with offices across 17 European countries with partnerships from Israel and the US forces them to face challenges that go along with attracting global talent. But, as we all know, this is not such an easy task. As Mateja mentioned, finding candidates with the skills they are looking for is a challenge in itself. Adding the component of specifics of each market they hire for, the challenge becomes even more extensive.

That is why they came up with a unique tactic to overcome this issue.

“Since there are always at least 10 open positions around the world at any given time, over time, I got to know the specifics of the 17 job markets we hire for. Then, I research relevant job boards in the country or industry for each position that we hire. Afterward, I also check whether the competitors use the same job boards for advertising the same positions. And if there is no success, I keep digging and interviewing our current employees about relevant job boards in their countries. This goes on until we make knowledgeable decisions on which premium job board we should allocate our resources to. So far, we’ve had success, but we are still improving our targeting with each position”, says Mateja.

She adds: “It really depends on the country and industry. Even though LinkedIn became a golden rule for posting job ads, we see the benefits of advertising our openings on more specialized boards. And we believe the benefits will only get bigger once we become even more skilled in our targeting.”

When concluding the topic, Mateja pointed out how creating a localized and relevant candidate experience is definitely something they try to always have in mind. She mentioned an example of recruiting in France and how much she had to learn about that market before posting any jobs online. Since, in her experience, French candidates are hesitant to apply for jobs written in English and aren’t always looking for jobs on LinkedIn, she had to get extra creative in reaching out to those candidates and increasing the visibility.

What About Saving Money?

As Mateja mentions, the industry is really dynamic, and the average employee spends up to two years in one company, replacing it for bigger corporations afterward. That is why Optimapharm takes pride in achieving a staff turnover level of less than 12% per annum reflecting stability and commitment to their company and clients.

She believes that having the right recruitment solution helps them achieve such great results by providing a faster process leading to a better candidate experience. More specifically:

“TalentLyft continuously helps us react on time and hire the right candidate faster, not leaving enough time for our competitors to hire them first. This not only saves us money directly due to a faster recruitment process, but it also improves candidate experience immensely – which ultimately reflects on our revenue as well.”

Final Word

After a very insightful conversation we’ve had with Mateja and learning about the challenges that come with hiring in this specific area of the pharmaceutical industry, she gave an overall conclusion for anyone still considering implementing a recruitment solution.

“By modernizing your recruitment process with a recruitment tool, recruiters and all other stakeholders can save a significant amount of time and minimize repetitive manual work, leaving everyone with more time to focus on strategic areas of their jobs. Ultimately, less time spent on recruiting translates into more money, so I firmly believe that having the right recruitment solution is a smart business decision for everyone.”