Why “Due to the large number of applications, we are not able to provide individual feedback.” isn’t enough anymore

According to the Swedish Discrimintation Act (diskrimineringslagen 2 kap. 4 §) internal and external applicants have the right to receive written information on the qualifications of those candidates that have been invited to an interview or that have been selected for the position. Based on relevant literature and legal practice from the Swedish labour court, I analyse a couple of anonymised answers from employers which received a request based on DL 2 kap. 4 §. Replying to those requests can be a tricky undertaking if you don’t follow a competence-based and structured recruitment process. I elaborate on practical implications and provide suggestions on how to improve recruitment processes so that “DL 2 kap. 4 §”-requests don’t take you by surprise.

This essay is written in Swedish but automated translation to English usually works pretty okay. 

Learning & Development Resources

The list below is a collection of learning and development resources I have collected during the past two years. Feel free to recommend more resources or review existing ones in the comment section below.

Leadership in cross-cultural contexts (Part III)

Almost a year ago I have taken on my first formal leadership role as team lead. I have had experience from informal leadership roles (project leader, central function position) in cross-cultural contexts and some theoretical knowledge on cross-cultural management. Now I was curious about the concept of leadership in cross-cultural settings and enrolled in a university course on that topic. This is part three of a series of three posts (find part I here, part II here) describing my main learnings from the course.

Leadership in cross-cultural contexts (Part II)

Almost a year ago I have taken on my first formal leadership role as team lead. I have had experience from informal leadership roles (project leader, central function position) in cross-cultural contexts and some theoretical knowledge on cross-cultural management. Now I was curious about the concept of leadership in cross-cultural settings and enrolled in a university course on that topic. This is part two of a series of three posts (find part I here, part III here) describing my main learnings from the course.

Leadership in cross-cultural contexts (Part I)

Almost a year ago I have taken on my first formal leadership role as team lead. I have had experience from informal leadership roles (project leader, central function position) in cross-cultural contexts and some theoretical knowledge on cross-cultural management. Now I was curious about the concept of leadership in cross-cultural settings and enrolled in a university course on that topic. This is part one of a series of three (find post II here and post III here) posts describing my main learnings from the course.

Effective ways of reducing the number of competent (international) HR applicants (Swedish edition)

Feel free to copy this job posting blue-print for your next HR-professional opening for a Swedish company. You will greatly reduce the number of applications from competent (international) candidates and in addition severely harm your employer brand. All translations my work, originals taken from real job descriptions.

• Du har en PA-utbildning och minst tre års erfarenhet av brett HR-arbete med HR-frågor. (= You have a ”PA”-qualification and a minimum of three years of experience from broad HR-work with HR questions.) [1]
• Erfarenhet av att arbeta i process med ARUBA (= Experience from working according to ARUBA) [2]
• Vidare är du en street-smart person. (=Besides that, you are a street-smart person.) [3]
• Du älskar att vara spindeln i nätet. (= You love to be the spider in the web.) [4]
• A sense of humour is greatly appreciated [5]
• Swedish and English mandatory [6]

2018: Knowledge & research, agility and neuroscience

Already in 2016 I reviewed my digital year that passed and now I am expanding this review beyond digital resources to my most valuable resources 2018 which helped me advance professionally and personally. Don’t have much time? These are the essentials of what I write about in this blog post:

• Knowledge & Resarch
  • Aså Wikforss’ work, especially her book “Alternativa fakta”
  • Research Digest by the British Psychological Society
  • German journal Personal Quarterly
• Agility
  • Personal Quarterly 03/2018 
• Neuroscience
  • “Brain & Behavior” by Bob Garrett and Gerald Hough
  • “In your own image” by George Zarkadakis
  • Documentary “My Love Affair with the Brain”
  • Episode 13 of the Psych Crunch podcast

Digitalization is not about changing employees’ behaviours

Does technology determine how we work or should we determine how we want to work with technology? Maybe it’s a combination of both, a symbiotic relationship? Recently, digital behaviour change has been in focus of human resource professional discussions. HR is supposed to drive and support this behaviour change to fully embrace a company’s digitalization journey. “[…] Implementing a digital solution is one thing, to change people’s behaviour to use and like the solution is another.”, wrote an HR professional in a social media feed.

Here’s a balancing perspective.

You don’t have to network during network events

I love to get some inspiration from a range of events, be it presentations, seminars or network meetings. Most of them come with a mingle-part in the beginning, in the end or both. I have always felt the pressure to make meaningful contacts during those mingles. Until I realized that sometimes it can be as meaningful to sit out the contact phase and be for yourself a bit.

Three common missconcepions about German dual corporate studies (“Duales Studium”)

In a increasingly global world with applicants from all over the world, understanding international degrees becomes more and more important. Applying abroad with a German dual corporate Bachelor degree (“Duales Studium”) made me aware that what is regarded as competitive study program in one country might not be seen as such in another. Here are three common misconceptions I faced during my application processes.