CVWarehouse supports Kinepolis as it expands in the Netherlands
Kinepolis Group offers an innovative cinema concept via its European network of cinemas which serve as a model within the sector. In total, the group has 35 cinemas, spread across Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Switzerland and Poland. Each year, the group provides over 20 million cinema-goers with an unforgettable film experience. But Kinepolis does much more than showing films: it is also involved in film distribution, event organisation, cinema advertising and real estate management. Kinepolis is still expanding its business activities. Recently, Kinepolis started operating in the Netherlands too. Since July 2014, it has been operating 9 cinemas there, and is developing 3 construction projects there.
Kinepolis Group has 2,100 employees. The over-arching and local HR activities are managed from head office in Ghent. In addition, each Kinepolis country has HR responsibilities. Recruitment and selection is one of them. In 2011 Kinepolis Group automated its selection process, relying on the recruitment tool from CVWarehouse. Martine Kestens, human capital manager at Kinepolis Group: “We are very proud about what we have achieved in the collaboration with CVWarehouse. Using the tool, we were able to put our recruitment policy into practice easily, based on the culture and the priorities of each Kinepolis country. Together, we have the same objectives.”
Templates and standard letters
On average, only 10% of the available possibilities offered by a software tool are actually exploited. “With the CVWarehouse tool, we want to reach at least 50% and thus increase the speed and quality of our work still further.” That is why Kinepolis Group invests the necessary time in getting to know the tool and finding the fastest methods of using it.
The CVWarehouse tool offers the option of saving templates and standard letters. Kinepolis Group uses them a lot. “We have drawn up a list of situations that we encounter regularly, and optimised those templates. And of course, it makes sense to inform everyone about the existence of the templates, or about the changes. The interaction between knowledge and use is the main challenge. We have a long way to go before we can use all the possibilities of the tool, but so far, we have already come quite a long way.”
To get to know and use the tool better, Kinepolis Group has appointed one super-user per country. Super-users meet regularly to exchange tips and tricks. They all have direct contact with CVWarehouse. During an annual refresher course, CVWarehouse explains to them what has changed and which (new) features may be of interest.
“We submit our questions in advance. And they are answered during the workshop. The last time we received feedback about it in the form of a small manual with photos which the super-users could share with their team. That approach fits totally into our philosophy of ‘self-learning organisation’. CVWarehouse is very good at that kind of interaction.”
Now that we are also operating in the Netherlands, we can create a database very quickly that our colleagues will be able to use. We are not starting from scratch, because we have a whole range of material available. That leaves us more time for direct contact with the candidates, because we no longer have to devote our energy to creating a workflow that fits the mood of the company.
— Martine Kestens, Former Human Capital Manager
More time for contact
“From the outset, we opted to work with different databases, one for each country”, Martine Kestens explains. “In that way, we can communicate in a consistent way, but retaining our own autonomy. Each country can use a database in its own language. The message is the same in each country, but the language and word usage is not. That pays off every day. Now that we are also operating in the Netherlands, we can create a database very quickly that our colleagues will be able to use. We are not starting from scratch, because we have a whole range of material available. That leaves us more time for direct contact with the candidates, because we no longer have to devote our energy to creating a workflow that fits the mood of the company.”
Modular
“For us that tremendous flexibility, the modular design, was really important. We are a company that is constantly diversifying and expanding, both in terms of countries as well as locations and activities. We were looking for – and found – a solution that can grow with us one step at a time. Our local HR teams collaborate internationally. The multilingual nature of the system, which means that users can do everything in their own mother tongue, breaks down barriers. The language is not linked to a job or database, but to the user. This is one of the things that makes expansion easier. Another example is the Kinepolis jobsite. Using an international map, it shows our international presence with the various job vacancies per country. When we expand, as we are doing now in the Netherlands, that map can be easily updated without us having to spend a lot of time or money on it.
Measurement leads to understanding
“The situation is different in each country. Thus the workload in Spain is higher, because on average, there are more applicants for each vacancy, while in France and Belgium, it is difficult to find some profiles. We can measure and find out all of this, because CVWarehouse offers us an extensive set of standard reports. For that reason, we decided from the beginning that our Kinepolis jobsite would be the only way to apply for a job, so that all applications came into the CVWarehouse tool. If someone sends in their CV in a different way, then the applicant is sent an e-mail referring to the jobsite as the first step in the selection process. Only in that way can we measure properly and guarantee a response to all applicants.”
