Swiss HR shakes up its practices #truGeneva
No slides, no speakers, no badges, no sponsors, no profits: welcome to a "non-conference".
#truGeneva, an event for the Human Resources sector that breaks the mould of traditional conferences, both in content and form. It's literally an "unconference", since #tru stands for "The Recruiting UnConference". Originally launched by Bill Boorman in London 10 years ago, the #tru concept has now spread to over a hundred events worldwide. And it works. Because on a #tru day, you're not passive: you come to exchange, give as much as you receive, and learn from others.
The organizing team is made up entirely of passionate volunteers from the HR sector, all of whom are active in French-speaking Switzerland. They are totally independent and refuse to accept any sponsorship or commercial pitch. #truGeneva is also a not-for-profit event. "It's an event by HR, for HR".
Indeed, the program is concocted by participants from previous editions during a brainstorming session. No taboos, everything is open for discussion.
Sharing ideas and concrete experiences for pure collective intelligence
Selected topics are openly debated in the form of "tracks" in 5 parallel rooms: 1 topic per hour per room. Without badges, participants do not represent any organization and are free to express themselves as they wish. The floor is shared equitably under the watchful eye of Track Leaders, who facilitate and energize the exchanges.
For its 4th edition on May 23, 2019, at the International Committee of the Red Cross, #truGeneva brought together 200 French-speaking and international HR professionals from different backgrounds. More than twenty debates were held around what is known as "People Attraction", such as recruitment, employer branding and HR marketing. Subjects that are not afraid to shake things up: "In Switzerland, do we have too much money to worry about HR? "How to recruit without lying? "Do recruitment agencies exist simply to compensate for the nullity of recruiters?" "This manager is a jerk. How do you keep/recruit people on your team?"
3 Swiss nuggets in #HRtech
#truGeneva brings technological innovation to the heart of the event by giving the floor to a selection of startups. Among them, we've spotted three that could well disrupt your HR management.
- Swibecoa Vaud-based startup that increases employees' purchasing power over the long term. Its trilingual "Flexible Benefits" digital platform centralizes all tax-free benefits, gifts and perks programs for employees in Switzerland. White-labeled, the platform can interface with all existing HR systems, delivering value with minimal additional effort on the part of HR. The Swibeco team itself has negotiated permanent discounts in all areas of activity. The startup has developed unique innovations such as "Swipoints" (to be spent on gifts, converted into REKA money or transferred to your 3rd pillar) and its own Swibeco lunch card, which is a visa card accepted at all food outlets, not only in Switzerland, but also in France, Germany, Austria and Italy.
- Assessfirst, officially represented by Hire&Keep in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, has developed a solution for better recruitment that goes beyond the CV. The platform enables you to assess your candidates' soft skills, systematically detect the best potential and put together high-performance teams. It promises to improve performance, save time and reduce turnover.
- Alayaa Vaud-based startup that is only 2 years old and already has 16 employees. Its digital platform facilitates the management of employees' commitment to social responsibility. The solution boosts corporate social responsibility and democratizes volunteering and donation programs, while guaranteeing transparency of impact thanks to an integrated reporting tool.
Author: Sandrine Barrucand, Communication & Content Manager for Alp ICT
