Keeping up with tech as a manager

“When I started to work as a ­manager two-and-a-half years ago, I had the ambi­tion to keep on coding 50% of the time. That very soon turned out to be impossible,” says Michał Domagalski, Engineering Manager for Schibsted in Krakow.

This made him start thinking about how tech managers can keep up their tech competence, also to offer better support to their teams.

“Being a coder is a very ­uninterrupted job. But it’s the opposite when you ­become a manager; it’s a totally different pair of shoes, and it’s easy to lose track of new trends and approaches.”

As he thought about this, Michał ended up identifying things other than coding that managers could do to keep their tech skills.

“For instance, you can find a tech buddy to discuss problems with, who can inspire you and boost your energy,” says Michał. “Your team can also help you if you encourage and facilitate discussions. Being a good listener can help you grow.”

And, of course, reading is great. Documentation and staying updated on architecture and tools are important.

“Everything that’s new will help you to stay on track.” Michał used to miss coding, but not so much anymore.

“Today I feel close to tech, even ­without coding, thanks to discussing and brainstorming with colleagues.”

Improving women’s health

In Sweden, 100 women working in Schibsted were given the opportunity to participate in a health screening as part of a pilot project. The scan focused on women’s health issues and symptoms related to the reproductive system.

“This is a part of a larger effort to help our female employees improve their health and, in the long run, create a more equal workplace,” says Nina Hermansen responsible for the project, which is run in cooperation with the femtech ­company EsterCare.

Many women who suffer from these kinds of complications don’t seek help. And sometimes the attitude is that it’s simply part of being a woman. But ­having severe pain every month during your period, bleeding heavily, experiencing symptoms of menopause or struggling to get pregnant are all things that will ­also affect you at work.

In the pilot project, the women get a digital screening, and if the consultation results in a recommendation for a physical meeting with a specialist, then Schibsted covers the cost of the initial appointment.

“All 100 screening opportunities were booked in less than 40 minutes. We ­also see that many of these women were ­referred to a specialist – so it’s clear that this meets an important need.”

If the result from the pilot project shows a positive effect, the ambition is to scale it to all of Schibsted.

A good start for new employees

As a new employee at Schibsted, you should know what to expect, what to do, have all your equipment in place and feel inspired when you walk in through the door on that first day of work.

This is the ambition of a global ­onboarding project Karen Gonçalves is working on.

“This is part of a larger, strategic HR goal to deliver user-friendly people services, combining user needs with technology,” says Karen.

For a large and complex company, this is not always easy to put in place. But, for instance, new employees can now access Workday – Schibsted’s HR tool – before their first day, where they will find information and receive messages.

“Everyone should have the same ­experience and a good first impression of how we work and collaborate.”

When it comes to managers, the key is to give them the right information at the right time, in an automated way. For instance, automatically reminding them to take the right actions when a new ­employee is starting. A new micro-site is also in place where managers can find helpful information about how to welcome their newest team members.

“But this is just the foundation,” Karen explains. “The next step is to build an onboarding journey for new hires where they can learn more about Schibsted’s history and the entire Schibsted ecosystem.”