Inside Unit4 – Q&A with our global People Success team
At Unit4, our people are at the heart of everything we do. From coming up with brilliant ideas and concepts to delivering value creatively and passionately to our customers, our people shape how we succeed as a company. Our “People First” philosophy means that we make sure to deliver an extraordinary environment for our people enabling them to really contribute to the business and have a positive impact on their teams as well as on the people we serve as a business.
We believe that without motivated, inspired, passionate and engaged people we would not be able to perfectly realize our goals and ambitions. Our business is supported by a strong global People Success team that does its best to empower our people by enabling them to be and define who they are. As a company that is people-centric, we believe that creating the right opportunities for our people to grow, as well as giving them a working environment that inspires them to be the best version of themselves is the key to a healthy and successful organization.
We sat down with Kirsty, Robbie, Lisa-Moné, Charlotte, Imre, Isobel, and Camille to know more about the global People Success team at Unit4. They shared with us how it feels to be part of the team, how their careers have been enhanced by Unit4, the company’s culture, and more.
What gets you excited to come to work at Unit4 every day?
Charlotte: “At Unit4, every day is different. And in my role, I have great initiatives and processes to work with, but also the freedom to use them in the best way that works for my region. We have great people here and that certainly makes me look forward to working every day. At Unit4 we operate at pace and fortunately for me, I like to think fast and make things happen.”
Imre: “ “Coming” to work hasn’t been applicable to me since I started at the beginning of COVID, so all my interactions have been virtual. Even though that has its challenges and I miss meeting people face to face, it does excite me that we have such a flexible workforce at Unit4 that has dealt with this pandemic and accepted changes the best way possible. The relationships I have built with colleagues feel as strong and as genuine as the relationships I built face to face in the past. So it’s really the people and the interactions that make me want to “go” to work every day.”
Camille: “What gets me excited the most is being able to work and collaborate with such wonderful colleagues. We have talented and diverse teams, with people who can always bring a different perspective and are always willing to help. I also enjoy the content of my job very much. It’s never the same and every day and year feels like an evolution in the right direction.”
Robbie: “I have been working at Unit4 for 7 years now and this organization still gives me the same energy as when I joined Unit4 on the 1st day. No day is the same, there are always new challenges and I work together with lots of great people from whom I learn a lot.”
How does Unit4’s people-centric philosophy and culture come to the fore in the work that you do?
Imre: “It’s embedded in everything we do. From talent management to health and wellbeing sessions - and more generally – empowering leadership by being a true advisor and business partner with regards to our people. The most important goal is to find ways to keep our people happy, healthy, and challenged as I’m convinced this leads to great performance and therefore enhances our business’ success. This isn’t always easy, but it is at the core of everything we do: Being successful by taking care of the talented people Unit4 has.”
Kirsty: “With my team, People First is essential! How we interact with each other impacts the service we offer to the wider business.”
Robbie: “Everything I do is focused on transforming work to be more meaningful and inspiring for our people. Reducing the burden of time-consuming administration. With more free time, employees can focus their efforts on more meaningful and challenging activities. I'm constantly looking for improvements in further integrating our system landscape to remove manual work related to onboarding new employees, payroll, responding to queries from our employees in a timely and efficient way. Everything to make sure our people feel appreciated and taken care of at work. Ensuring employees at Unit4 can focus on the work that really matters and makes a difference for our customers.”
How closely involved is Unit4’s leadership team in ensuring a great people experience?
Charlotte: “Unit4 is the only place I have worked where so many of the people-focused initiatives originate from senior leadership. In my role, this is really refreshing. It means that we don’t need to spend time convincing senior leaders that creating an environment where our people feel trusted and empowered is important – we can just get on with doing it!”
Kirsty: “We are all involved. We don’t always get it right, but we have the aspiration to provide a great people experience.”
Lisa-Moné: “We work hand-in-hand daily with our leadership team in NA to ensure there is a great people experience. With the data that People Success can pull globally and locally, we have great tools to support our leadership in decisions they make on a daily basis and for planning for the future. Our team meets regularly with the leadership team and all NA managers to be sure they feel enabled and empowered to lead their teams.”
What initiatives you’ve worked on encapsulating the company’s culture?
Kirsty: “I have been part of the task force that has put in place the development career planning for Business Development and Digital Sales teams. I am also proud of the work that the Customer Success Leadership team is doing around people’s wellbeing and supporting their teams - this is pretty much across all leadership teams to be fair. We have also delivered a number of transformations which haven’t been easy, but always ensure compassion and understanding to help people cope with change.”
Isobel: “In my role as Junior Sustainability Officer, which began as an internship, I have had the opportunity to work on many impactful and change-driven initiatives. Our most recent program is in partnership with the nonprofit organization iamtheCODE. Together, with a team of Unit4 mentors, we support young women in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, developing technological-based solutions that address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Not only does this reflect our people-focused culture, but also a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing, resulting in opportunities for self-development.”
Robbie: “For the next few months, I’m focused on changing our operational HR processes to become automated and data-driven. A digital transformation with technology at its core. Humanizing impersonal systems and processes to maximize the productivity and engagement of our workforce. You can think of intelligent workflows that support the employee journey, contract and document automation, a manager workspace with real-time access to employee data, enhanced self-service capability that empowers people to find their own answers, or a virtual agent that helps resolve issues faster and supports employees 24/7 with an intelligent chatbot.”
Camille: “I have created and today continue to work on our company values recognition program, Kudos4U. Every quarter, we recognize and reward people all over the world for embodying our values, which contributes to bringing our company culture to life. The winners get an experience gift of their choice, from a spa treatment to a paddleboard lesson, or even charity donations. It’s great to see our culture being celebrated!”
How would you say your career has been enhanced by working at Unit4?
Imre: “Since working for Unit4, I have had the opportunity to work closely with colleagues around the world. It has enhanced my knowledge regarding international People Success practices and differences in local law. Even locally within the Benelux, I have found the chance to learn more, coming from a smaller-sized company that wasn’t as far advanced in certain processes/initiatives.”
Kirsty: “I have been involved with elements of People Success at Unit4 that I was never exposed to in my previous employment. I have grown in my confidence and my role with the People Success team and the wider organizational team, so yes I would say my almost 8 years at Unit4 have been a great enhancement to my career path.”
Isobel: “I started at Unit4 as an intern, my first real job complimenting my current Master’s degree. I have learned so much about the CSR field and gained invaluable experience working with various other departments throughout the organization. The experience has opened many new doors and avenues of research for me, including the opportunities for sustainable business and how a business can narrate and engage their sustainability journey with employees.”
Lisa-Moné: “I've had opportunities to take on stretch roles working with global teams and on global projects, speaking engagements externally on behalf of Unit4, and taking my learning and growth into my own hands. I've been thankful to have great leaders that have given me many opportunities to do what I truly love to do and want to see me develop in my role.”
Robbie: “I’ve really made a career at Unit4. I joined Unit4 7 years ago as the recruiter responsible for hiring talent in the Benelux. Soon after I was not only working for the Benelux but doing recruitment across Europe. Then I moved into a team lead role and ultimately, I got the opportunity to lead the Talent Acquisition team. Through this journey, I got more and more interested in Human Resource Management and three years ago, supported by Unit4, I started a Master’s degree in this area. Today I’m no longer working in recruitment and moved into the People Operations and Enablement team where I look after our people processes and projects.”
Camille: “The great responsibility and trust that you are given as a young professional enable people to grow fast, and for me particularly I was able to switch paths after one year and move into a role in sustainability and social responsibility. This is not only extremely interesting and purposeful but a wonderful opportunity to build skills and knowledge that are in high demand when we see how the world and businesses are evolving, with an increased focus on sustainable growth.”
--
Our growing cloud company is hiring in a range of new roles across multiple departments! If you are interested in joining the team and being part of the global Unit4 family, head to our careers site to explore our current opportunities, and to learn more about working here: https://bit.ly/33EPplf
You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter!
