We talk a lot about transformation and the need to continually prepare for it. But the decision to move forward is never easy. It requires courage and also confidence, not only from the leader, but also from everyone involved.
We are familiar with the cartoon in which everyone raises their hand for change, but nobody does it when we ask if they are prepared to change. But can we still ask the question?
No, the world has changed and will change even more. It’s not an option. All studies speak of unprecedented speeds in this digital transformation. It is therefore our responsibility to assume our leadership in experimenting with new tools, in the knowledge that we are going to discover a new way of working and transform the world of work. But we never do it alone. Even less in our case. We do it in the belief that the innovations are for our customers, our employees and our candidates.
YouPlan is this story. It is already a year old, but still far from its full potential. In 2018 we made Portugal one of the first countries to use the product. We believe that, just like in discoveries, the gene of courage and vision not only instils a will to be greater than any terrestrial limit, but also does not limit us. It only gives us the advantage of testing and implementing new solutions. We know our customers. We know your pains and your willingness to recognise the potential for innovation and the courage to be with us on this journey.
In the first half of last year we were developing the product, adapting and influencing it to be closer to our local needs and drinking in all the information and good practices we needed from the countries involved. In the second half of the year we released YouPlan. We wanted to listen to our customers and move towards the implementation phase, while recognising the need to parametrise and always be at your side. The year exceeded our goal in terms of acceptance. This success encourages us to want to go even further.
2019 is the year for using the product. We are already working with you so that our employees not only have the application, but also use it. We have a plan to make this app more and more relevant. Its content is not just about schedules, shifts and evaluations. We know that the mobile trend is widespread and countrywide, so we believe that we are one step further in connecting and communicating with these people.
This solution also allows us to segment people so that they accept shifts and schedules faster. This type of communication does not require emails and drastically reduces administrative work. But the future holds even greater potential. We want not only more content but also more functionalities and fewer restrictions on access. We want to use the app for administrative processes and with a recruitment and retention platform.
Our global innovation team is constantly working on new developments. In Portugal a unit is focusing on this and other implementations. For you, us and the talents, we will always be at the cutting edge of new products that make the difference in the world of work. And because it only makes sense if we do it together, we have this newsletter to share the experience of the people on board this transformation with you and share best practices, tutorials and our figures. Every month Bernardo Bello, our product owner, will write about what is coming. In May we will even hold a webinar so that he can answer your questions and share experiences with us and our customers.
I would like to thank you personally. Thank you for your confidence and courage, the boldness of our consultants, the innovation of our teams and our employees’ acceptance of a product that we believe will transform the world of work.
José Miguel Leonardo, CEO Randstad Portugal