Lukas Sommer has been involved in sales, consulting and services for over 10 years. His motto is very straightforward: to not overwhelm the customer with a flood of tech talk and 80 pages of Power Point presentations in the first meeting. Sommer may already be known to some people, most recently he was responsible for the German business of JobCloud HR Tech under the Swiss and Austrian flags.
Recently, however, Sommer became responsible for the distribution of conXisto, headquartered in Düsseldorf, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region. What is it that the company does? “We are a service provider for partial or complete business process outsourcing of all personnel topics”, he tells ToTalent in an interview.
Welcome to RPO 101
During the third and final day of the upcoming Webinar Tage, held from September 17 until September 19, Conxisto’s Lukas Sommer will take to the virtual stage. That final day will revolve around a singular topic: Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). “I’ll make make RPO understandable for everyone”, Sommer says. “So that in the end everyone has a basis to make their decisions for or against the topic.”
‘Customers want to be visible these days’
When we asked Sommer about the big shifts in recruitment, he didn’t mince words. “These days, it’s all about being seen”, he said. “Customers want to be visible these days. Most of them want to present themselves as their own brand these days. Because who wants to stand in the second row when they can also have a box seat?”
“Who wants to stand in the second row when they can also have a box seat?”
Automation is on the rise
The Webinar Tage is the first of its kind, bringing together some of the finest voices in HR and recruiting the country has to offer. Zooming in on Germany in particular, what does Sommer see as the biggest, most important trend? “Automation is on the rise”, he says. “Smaller teams now have to complete more tasks, so it makes sense to hand over some or all of the processes. It is important to have a partner at hand who can advise on the processes to be automated and help with implementation.”
“The fear of change or choosing the wrong thing presents many with a challenge that is not really a challenge at all.”
When it comes to adapting to these trends, Sommer acknowledged that many German companies are dragging their feet. “The fear of change or choosing the wrong thing presents many with a challenge that is not really a challenge at all. Here, too, I can recommend getting an expert to explain the options to you in an understandable way.”
‘You have to be careful’
But there’s a reason to be judicious about the process in choosing a potential partner, Sommer warns. “You have to be careful. We’ve all burned through money. So keep an eye out when choosing support. How long has the company been on the market? Are there suitable references for them? Are they sufficiently networked. These are all questions you must ask.”
“We’ve all burned through money. So keep an eye out when choosing support.”
What is the use for data?
Data is a key ingredient in any recruiting process, so much has been made clear by experts from a vast array of different places and spaces. But when delving into the German market, are companies doing enough to leverage the wealth of data options available to them? “What use is data to you if the basis for evaluation has not been created”, Sommer says.
“Of course, we in the industry know that most of them do not have proper data processing. Ultimately, however, I ask myself the question: even if the data were available, at the end of the day, it is the process of using the data that makes sense? It’s useless if you don’t know how to squeeze the good stuff out of it.”
Join the Webinar Tage for free: from Sept. 17 to 19
Due to interest from Germany and other German-speaking countries in all the new developments in the field of recruitment, Werf& and ToTalent have organised a three-day event: the Webinar Tage. From September 17 to 19 this year, several experts from the Netherlands and Germany will present their exclusive insights during various webinars. Attendance is free of charge for all participants. Sign up now!
