coeo Inkasso Austria relies on hybrid working models and satisfied employees » Leadersnet
| editorial staff
| 08/03/2022
“The wishes of the employees for more flexibility and personal responsibility are taken seriously.”
Like many other sectors of the economy, the debt collection industry is also affected by the shortage of skilled workers. coeo keeps up with the times in order to find suitable personnel, both professionally and personally. “The provision of free drinks is no longer accepted as a benefit. In the meantime, the workplace has to be adapted to private life in order to bind satisfied and motivated employees to a company in the long term,” explains Christian Giehler, Managing Director of coeo Austria. Giehler, who has been managing the Austrian branch for a few months and the Vienna team, thinks holistically when looking for personnel. The desire for sufficient free time, flexible working hours, opportunities to help shape things, fair pay and respectful interaction has replaced the desire for fixed working hours.
The advantages
The Vienna-based company provides its employees with the annual ticket for Wiener Linien or alternatively a free parking space. Requests for company bicycles are also fulfilled if required. Several three-course menus are available for lunch breaks, from which you can choose daily. Profit-sharing in the form of a transparent and performance-related bonus is also a fixed component, as is the cyclical organization of company celebrations, after-work activities and yoga courses during breaks. Meetings are also held at coeo as part of a business breakfast or while jogging, if the agenda allows it. The offices have been modernized and the rooms designed in a friendly manner. The respective requirements of the workforce were taken into account and the workplaces were designed to be functional.
Almost everything is possible, almost nothing is necessary
“Of course, the satisfaction of our customers must not suffer from the working time models. Not every department can work 100 percent in the home office, since direct, rapid communication with the team is unavoidable in some situations,” says Giehler. coeo also enables this to enable at least two to three days of internal work after prior agreement and precise planning. For some positions, however, personal presence is only absolutely necessary in exceptional cases. Here, coeo relies on mobile working without necessarily having to write from home. A stable Internet connection is important, then working at a second home or abroad is probably conceivable. In addition, coeo Austria is currently developing practical models for a 4-day week and the previously organized change between full-time and part-time employment.
The “new” employee
coeo primarily relies on allowing its own team members to move up when a position needs to be filled or is created. In the future, the company will also train apprentices itself. According to a press release, knowing about advancement opportunities in the company increases employee satisfaction and their willingness to learn new things.
coeo also works with universities, offers internships and support for theses. In this way, students would get to know the company during their training and could switch directly after their studies if all the factors for working together were right for both sides.
“We attach great importance to the personality of the applicants. Not only knowledge and willingness to learn count, the person must also fit the team and vice versa,” says Christian Giehler.