Applicant Management in the fashion and lifestyle world of New Yorker

New Yorker has more than 1000 stores in 40 countries, making it one of Europe's largest fashion businesses. Since opening its first branch in the northern German town of Flensburg in 1971, New Yorker has never looked back. By targeted investment in the future, it has not only created new jobs but has also developed into an international clothing company.

A staff of 16.000 – full-time and part-time – serves over 4 million paying customers each month. In contrast to the general trend, New Yorker has seen strong growth and continuously increased its profits in the last few years. This success can be attributed to effective market positioning and strong expansion in Europe. Its flat hierarchies enable New Yorker to be efficient and profitable in all sectors and realise the network principle in the company, providing the foundation for its stable and forward-looking development.

For Austria, headquartered in Vienna, the company was looking for a software solution to better manage the large number of applications and to optimize communication with the internal decision makers and the candidates themselves.

The web-based Applicant Management Software rexx Enterprise Recruitment  was able to convince with its tried and tested functions and the easy handling. Built-in features such as the form-writing system for mass mailings and scheduled cancellations as well as the easy way to create and edit job listings via the WYSIWYG editor, were just some of the points, the software solution from rexx systems was best suited to meet the requirements.

“Also considered subsequently the decision was absolutely right. Working with rexx systems made our processes in application management much easier.” 

Sandra Litschauer, New Yorker Austria KG

Applicant Tracking System Selection

The following article is based on excerts from a piece by Alexander Popp in the German publication "Sozialwirtschaft aktuell", published in March 2014. Alexander Popp is a personnel officer for the Bank für Sozialwirtschaft AG (social economic bank), and was responsible for the selection and implementation of an applicant tracking system.

The Bank für Sozialwirtschaft, based in Cologne, is a specialised credit institute for companies and organisations from the sector social economics. As a mid tier business, the Bank für Sozialwirtschaft has to deal with the same recruiting challenges as any other comapny from differing industries.

Preparing for the decision-making process

Firstly, we undertook an investment consideration, taking into account parametres such as number of vacancies, number of applications, legal requirements and related documentation and retention requirements.

We then subsequently analysed the already-established recruiting processes. This analysis lead to identifying the required core functions, which the desired software had to deliver. These functions included the management of intuative applications, mass actions, automated ranking functions, corresspondance, administration of talent pools, schedule planning and archiving.

Distinctions at a second glance

Having established and catalgoued the requirements, the numerous systems available on the market were then considered. At first glance the majority of the systems seemed to fulfil the majority of the necessary requirements, albeit in varying degrees of clarity and applicability. This meant, that e.g. creating a job within a system didn't necessary mean that said job could be published automatically via the utilized channels, or that job applications accepted by email were automatically available and viewable in the system.

The time and effort required per job application has been reduced considerably!

Alexander Popp Personnel officer
Bank für Sozialwirtschaft
 

Choice of suppliers

As a result of the pre-selection, the representatives of six ATS system suppliers were invited to present their solutions. Several provided us with the option to test their system for a specific time frame, in order to obtain a feeling for the usability and handling of the software.

Having conducted a final evaluation of all suppliers, we finally decided on the rental version of the applicant management software rexx Enterprise Recruitment from rexx systems.

Initial impressions

After just a few weeks of going live, the positive effects of the system are already discernible. Right from the start, the process was supported and adopted by all internal applications. Through automatically sent acknowledgments of receipt as well as the possibility of mass activities, such as the simultaneous transfer of several applications within the system to the appropriate line managers, the time and effort required per job application has been reduced considerably. This has thus enabled us to invest more time in issues such as Employer Branding and Individual Recruiting Strategies.

References from rexx systems in the banking and financial sector also include:
Wüstenrot Württembergische

Elektrobit

Since 2005, the German Elektrobit branch has been relying on e-recruitment with rexx. The software company specialises in so-called embedded software, software for the automotive industry, as well as so-called wireless software for mobile end devices.

In 2008, with approx. 1,800 employees, the Elektrobit Group achieved an international turnover of approx. 170 million euros. Elektrobit not only has subsidiaries in Europe, but also in the USA and Asia.

Almost everyone has indirectly come into contact with Elektrobit software because, as Europe’s largest provider of navigation software, the company licenses software for a number of well-known providers of electronic devices. In addition, Elektrobit software is also integrated into many car information systems, e.g. that of Audi.

In 2007, rexx Recruitment was introduced as the standard software for e-recruiting and applicant management in the entire corporation, including the headquarters in Finland.

The special challenge for IT recruitment consisted of identifying high potentials early on in the application process, even as a recruiter or at management level. Due to the very specialised professional requirements, the rexx job portal offers a detailed complex of questions that optimally pre-qualifies the suitability of an applicant for different roles and job profiles.

In 2011, additional rexx modules were introduced, for example rexx skill management. The employees' competencies are mapped in a 360° view: self-appraisal vs. appraisal by the superior, as well as development goals for individual skills.

On the one hand, this creates an excellent basis for fast and efficient project staffing, as the skills can be queried via the powerful rexx search as required and matched with target profiles. On the other hand, skill management in combination with the integrated performance appraisals and training plans provides a fully-integrated tool for integrated personnel development – often also referred to as talent management.

Toluna SAS

A long history – at least in the fast-paced online age: In early 2007, the former ciao! introduced rexx HR as a comprehensive, web-based and multi-lingual tool for personnel management. In addition to the purely administrative function such as personnel master data management, the modern rexx employee and manager self-services were also established within the framework of an employee portal.

Even at that time, Ciao already consisted of different business units. One part of the company ran the price comparison portal; another – Ciao Surveys - was responsible for online surveys and market research.

In 2008/2009, Microsoft acquired the entire company and shortly afterwards sold the market research section to Toluna, whose headquarters are located in France.

After the restructuring phase common to company takeovers, Toluna quickly recognised that the rexx personnel management tool, which had already been introduced at Ciao, was the ideal tool – even for the "old" Toluna business units in the different subsidiaries around the world. It was therefore only a small step to introduce rexx HR to the entire company and to harmonise the pervious software landscape in the Human Resources area internationally.

With subsidiaries and online panels in more than 30 countries and around 4 million members, Toluna is among the most important providers in the area of online surveys (as of March 2011). Anyone who registers and takes part in surveys can collect Toluna points and is rewarded, for example by interesting discounts for online purchases.

It is precisely this spirit of modern, internet-oriented companies that rexx HR caters to optimally. The “digital natives” no longer want longwinded forms, tedious application processes or antiquated HR tools. They want short processes, self-explanatory and fast self-services. This is an important building block for employee retention, which is increasingly gaining in importance in the face of demographic developments.

So it is no wonder that besides Toluna, countless other media and internet companies are relying on rexx HR when it comes to personnel work, e.g. www.unterwegs.biz, the leading online mail order company for the outdoor sector, which supplies customers in all corners of the world.

Starbucks Coffee Switzerland AG

The Starbucks Coffee Company is the leading global provider, roaster and marketer of coffee specialties, with over 13,500 branches and stores in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, as well as the Asia-Pacific region. Starbucks – surely everyone knows the very memorable logo of the successful company, which could actually be regarded the founder of a completely new industry sector.

Starbucks Switzerland and Starbucks Austria were looking for a flexible and easy-to-use recruitment software in order to meet the demands of a decentralised recruitment process. At the same time, the high-quality and real-time support of all applicants was to be ensured.

With the new e-recruiting, local store managers now work completely autonomously in the recruitment process. Within the framework of centrally managed templates, they create their own job advertisements and select suitable potential candidates according to corporate criteria.

 The software, in order to support the store managers in the recruitment process as far as possible and to comply with central regulations at the same time, automatically generates a multitude of data for the work contract according to location, pay scale and job profile.

The rexx workflow engine supervises and controls all processes, provides warning messages and thus contributes to the optimal support of applicants as well as a positive and unified external appearance of the company.

The web-based technology of the recruitment software enables a simple roll-out across all branches. The branches need nothing more than a web browser – and off they go. The software supports all languages that are needed, amongst others German, French, English, Spanish or Italian.

Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG

(CoWo / 2005-12-09) The merger between Wüstenrot and the Württembergische Versicherung was what triggered the IT supported modernisation and reorganisation of the human resource management.

In 1999, out of the merger between Wüstenrot and the Württembergische Versicherung, an independent financial services provider emerged with its headquarters in Stuttgart. Currently, integration within the group of the Karlsruher insurance group is in the pipeline. The merger also demanded that the work of the HR department be put on a more professional footing, in recruitment for example. In this context, the integration first and foremost of the internal and external recruitment processes was considered essential. The aim was to achieve a standardized and integrated IT platform for all the positions involved in the job applications process.

Joint project teams

HR and IT specialists from the group were commissioned to research into a solution at the beginning of 2005. A provider was sought who would not only supply the software and customising, but who would also operate the IT systems, ensure accessibility and support, and take care of the individual business processes.

Improvements to quality, rapid implementation and reducing costs were the main reasons for choosing an external provider – and the W&W group struck gold with the Hamburg-based recruitment specialists, rexx systems.

"Our goal was the electronic support of all the relevant workflows right down to the specialist departments”, said Bernd Seybold from the Württembergische Versicherung. In a joint project team made up of service company representatives and users, the processes and screens were modelled on the basis of a prototype. "Rapid prototyping in dialogue with the users helps to focus our imaginations and develop ideas on the basis of a concrete example" said Jens Brüggemann, project leader at rexx systems.

Complete digitalisation

An important requirement for a workflow without any paperwork bottlenecks is the complete digitalisation of all information concerning the applicant. It is equally important for the HR staff to quickly receive standardised information about the status of the application, applicant data or positions vacant. To this end, the candidates perform the electronic preparation of the data themselves, through the self-service facility in the online application system. Paper applications are captured and converted into digital form at a collection point outside the company, operated by rexx sytems.

With its rexx-Suite and smartSolution products, the company provides standard software solutions for the CRM, Recruiting and Human Resources.