For Jürgen Schaller, Associate Director, Human Resources EMEA, based in Munich, empathy is critical to his everyday work. Together with HR EMEA colleagues, Jürgen is setting guidelines for all European HR projects, ensuring that his team supports Novocure employees in a way that they feel valued.
“The focus of Novocure is always on the people and on the employees,” Jürgen said. “To understand how they feel and what they need, that’s very important for this role.”
Jürgen helps colleagues navigate challenges and resolve conflicts. He speaks with them to understand their views, considering each perspective and responding honestly. Sometimes the solution is simple. Perhaps an employee just needs more training. Maybe a conversation is enough to clarify a previous miscommunication between a manager and direct report.
“Honest communication is the key,” he said. “Then the employees open up also and show what they feel, what they think.”
Jürgen also meets with candidates for open roles at Novocure. Candidates are often nervous during interviews. Sometimes, when a candidate seems uncomfortable during an interview, he even says: ‘You don’t need to be nervous because we are human, as you are.’ “That breaks the ice because they don’t expect that much openness or honesty in the first two or three sentences,” he said.
Then, Jürgen aims to understand the person he is interviewing, beyond their application materials. He asks questions to learn why they are interested in Novocure and to assess their expectations. “Empathy helps a lot to calm the situation down and to talk to them at one level, so that they are feeling familiar with the situation and also the company and understand what our values are and also how we act in the day to day,” he said.
The focus of Novocure is always on the people and on the employees. To understand how they feel and what they need, that’s very important for this role.—Jürgen Schaller, Associate Director, Human Resources EMEA
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