Talent acquisition in pandemic time! A reflection on our Challenges and Strategies.

Effective recruitment and integration is essential to our day-to-day successful operation and sustainability. Our future depends on finding people with the required skills, experience and qualifications in order to make a positive contribution to our values and business objectives.

Consequently, talent acquisition is one of the most important pillars of NOA human resources, therefore it is a process that is carefully carried out and built on well thought out strategies.

Our goal is to identify and integrate new employees quickly and thoroughly, so that they can be performers as quickly as possible.

Last year marked a radical change in terms of human resource work and strategies and we can say for sure that it was a challenging year, but on the other hand it tested the whole economy and especially the sector where we operate. Despite all these challenges, we decided not to interrupt our mission and vision in servicing our customers who do not have or have limited access to the financial system. Consequently, we did not interrupt the research, the employment and the integration of staff capable of meeting our clients' growing needs.

The biggest challenges we faced in terms of talent acquisition, especially in identifying them, are related to the constraints imposed by the situation, the confidence of doing business and the inability to have a clear vision of the future, the confidence of the clients to receive financing, the perception of the market sector, the massive demographic movements towards Tirana, insecurity of job candidates to change job positions, the readiness of the institution to adapt to the situation, the skills within the company /staff to perform, the experience of the candidates in using new online platforms as well as the ability and opportunities to provide online training etc.

On the other hand, it was a combination of elements which turned the situation to our advantages, e.g. having a diverse institutional culture which has historically developed outside the offices (65% of our staff is in the field), institutional readiness, investment in technology and innovation. Our loan officers are equipped with tablets since 2015 and can file loan applications anywhere, at anytime, without having to work in offices. We have also been familiar with long-distance communication and we are characterized by a unique operational and infrastructural model as well as the strongest values of responsibility, commitment, dynamism and flexibility.

A strong communication strategy, no layoffs, no benefit reductions, new employment opportunities, moral support and care not only to our staff, but to clients as well, were among those things that were assessed as extremely positive helping us in this challenging process.

Our success consists in the combination of these essential elements with the strategies undertaken in terms of talent acquisition. Among the undertaken strategies, we would list the following:

- Normal business operation continuity, financing continuity;

- Strengthening the connection of the employees with the company and reflection outside the organization;

- Increasing communication to provide support, care and guide to the staff;

- Increasing external communication on our values, beliefs, pride of being part of this institution;

- Extreme staff engagement in promoting our values

- Launching the campaign “Choose Albania”;

- Building partnerships for recruitment;

- Increasing staff referrals for employment;

- Switching to 100% online recruitment and choosing the appropriate platform;

- Simplifying the recruitment process by switching to a single interview process;

- Re-contacting former employees for employment;

- Focusing on internal recruitment for managerial positions;

- Training of managers on recruitment and online recruitment;

Developing performance metrics to measure success and drawing relevant lessons as all these changes at once do not come at no cost.

Providing integrative online training and focusing on integrating new staff especially through coaching in the branch.

The effects of the situation we left behind will continue to be felt, but we are ready to respond and to adapt to any kind of situation. As a company that is constantly expanding, we will continue to look for new talents that would like to join our business strategy, by investing in the identification and in the development of their professional talent.