Amsterdam – Divers & Inclusive regularly speaks to companies about diversity and inclusion. ADI spoke to Sara Madhar (l) and Hajar Ouabba (r) about how Kruidvat/A.S. Watson is successfully ensuring talent flow in and out. Sara started at Kruidvat as a sales assistant and is now a resourcer for the Amsterdam and Flevoland region. Hajar started as a shelf stacker and advanced to the position of regional recruiter at A.S. Watson for the Kruidvat, Trekpleister and ICI Paris XL formulas in North Holland.
Kruidvat was nominated for this year’s Werf Awards 2021. What is so special about your way of recruiting and selecting?
In mid-March last year, Kruidvat launched a new job website where you can filter by postcode and what kind of job you are looking for. If you click on a vacancy, a short film will appear in which colleagues talk about why they enjoy working at Kruidvat. You can also calculate your salary and travel distance. The online process has been made as easy and user-friendly as possible. Kruidvat recruiters receive an application immediately and preferably contact the applicant via Whatsapp within 24 hours to welcome and ask about availability and any work experience. Sara: “People often respond enthusiastically to this with ”Wow, I didn’t expect such a quick response!” or ”Nice of you to whatsapp me!”. If the applicant meets the set criteria, we schedule a physical introductory interview with the applicant and the (assistant) branch manager. It is important that our threshold for applying is as low as possible. For the position of shelf stacker and holiday worker, you only need to enter your first and last name, telephone number and e-mail address. That’s it! For the sales assistant position, you also have to upload a CV. This new model ensures that more people are hired, fewer candidates drop out and are rejected. Resourcers work at different times of the day to reach the target audience. The speed and flexibility is very much improved by this new model.
So your recruitment is low-threshold. Does this make applying for jobs easier for (ethnically and culturally diverse) students?
Sara: “Yes indeed! Young people who would be a good fit for us, but have difficulty applying for a job don’t need a complicated CV or cover letter. They don’t have to stress about doing something wrong, they can just try. We are then perfectly capable of making our own assessment of the candidate when we speak to them.” Hajar: “Agreed with Sara! Of course, applicants can always walk into our shops for an interview as well. Immediately after the interview, the applicant hears whether he/she has been hired. No long waiting times and weeks where you don’t know where you stand, but instant answers. You can also recommend your friends to Kruidvat for a chance to win the recruitment bonus of €50 gross. In addition, our website is mobile-friendly. This is very important for this target group.”
What else do you do to make sure people apply to you?
Hajar: “We have been live for a year with a new recruitment campaign. We looked again at who really is our target group. That is, young people. We adjusted our in-store recruitment messages (i.e. posters and flyers) accordingly. We also do a lot digitally. We try to attract applicants through various channels, such as Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. Our social media channels have grown tremendously within a year, as we post different types of content. That has improved tremendously.
We also collaborate with Sleazy Stereo, a rap group from Amsterdam that makes fun raps and therefore connects well with our target audience. Among other things, they made a Kruidvat Jingle that went viral on TikTok. Soon, they will tell us about working at Kruidvat in an Instagram live session. We have also recorded and published videos with our own teams that show how much fun it is to work with us. Then we have Team Challenges, where teams compete against each other, such as which branch builds the highest tower of toilet paper or who makes a nice product presentation the fastest. In Kruidmattie videos, an employee is highlighted by a colleague. Furthermore, we have several contacts with schools to get in direct contact with potential interns and/or employees. So it’s all about thinking from your target group: which target groups do I want to attract, what interests them and how do I become interesting to them?”
For the Sugar Festival, for example, it is important to make gift packaging, sweets, biscuits and chocolates extra visible. If you also celebrate Sugar Festival yourself, you think about it more quickly.
Kruidvat has a diverse workforce. You can see that when you walk into the shop. What is the advantage for you of having diverse teams on the shop floor?
Hajar: “A diverse workforce provides diverse insights and connection with diverse groups of customers. You learn from each other and ultimately have the same goal: that customers leave the shop satisfied with a well-stocked Kruidvattas.” Sara: “The nice thing about a diverse team is that you get to know other cultures better. Personally, I find it fun and interesting to know facts and trivia from my colleagues. When I worked in the shop, we sometimes had customers who did not master the Dutch language. Fortunately, there were always colleagues who could help such customers or interpret for me. So these became regular customers because they felt understood and helped in our shop. In terms of sales, too, it is good to have more cultures in the house. For the Sugar Festival, for instance, it is important to make gift wrapping, sweets, biscuits and chocolates extra visible. If you also celebrate Sugar Festival yourself, you think about it more quickly. We also wish customers a happy holiday on these days, which makes for a better customer experience.”
What is Kruidvat doing to encourage flow?
Sara: “During appraisals, targets are set and possible career opportunities are structurally discussed. In addition, Kruidvat offers online training courses. The company is open to new ideas and wants to achieve success together with employees.” Hajar: “Furthermore, the advantage of such a large company is that you can grow in different ways. We have our own A.S. Watson Academy that offers training and education at MBO-2, -3 and -4 level. You can grow into a managerial position or transfer to one of our other formulas (ICI Paris XL, Trekpleister, Prijsmepper). You can also, like Sara and me, make the step to a head office position. AND our vacancies are shared internally to give our own employees the chance to grow too.”
You started as a sales assistant and as a shelf stacker and have since progressed to recruiter and resourcer. How did that work out?
Sara: Three years ago, I started working as a sales assistant at Kruidvat. That has been one of my most enjoyable side jobs. The tasks are nice and varied (checkout, shelf filling, mirroring), the team was fun and proactive. During that period, I was also graduating from the Human Resource Management course. During an assessment interview, I once made the comment: if a position becomes available that matches my education, I will be interested. I honestly assumed that this would not be the case and that I would soon have to look for a job that matched my education. Soon after, my branch manager indicated that the position of resourcer would be vacant and I could submit my CV. So I was enthusiastically surprised.” Hajar: “I have been working at Kruidvat for almost 10 years now and started as a shelf-filler when I was 15. This was a side job, besides which I was doing an education course. Soon I got the chance to grow to filler shift leader. The responsibility I was given motivated me to give my best and bring the team along with me. In 2017, I got the chance to work as a resourcer. A fun new challenge, but also very exciting. I am very happy that I did this. I speak to applicants, talk about my own experiences at Kruidvat and my growth. This makes for nice reactions, because growth opportunities are very important for young people. I am now regional recruiter for Kruidvat, Trekpleister and ICI Paris XL in North Holland. I also preselect applicants for management positions and maintain contact with schools, municipalities and other bodies. I am very proud that I have seized this opportunity and am developing nicely as a result.”.