Starting a new job is an exciting but also challenging experience that raises countless questions among the new employee, starting with the simplest logistical questions through social and professional questions, but setting out on a new path just after the outbreak of war - is a completely different challenge.
So how did new employees in the big companies deal with the complex situation?
Start work remotely
Yifat Leichter
's starting date
was October 8, when she was appointed to the position of Human Resources Manager of the headquarters units in Beer Sheva at ICL, the global mineral company and one of the largest industrial companies in Israel.
It seems that the term "diving into deep water" could not be more accurate.
Only a day after the war began, Yifat found herself working remotely, when her predecessor in the position that was supposed to overlap and accompany her, was recruited by order 8.
"I felt a kind of return to the Corona period. In the first two weeks, I did not physically meet anyone. My manager called me on Saturday night and apologized for the situation But she explained that precisely in light of past experience with remote work, all the systems and work procedures work well online," says Yifat.
manage the event from day one
Yifat Leichter./Naama Ben Simhon
"Every entry into a position is challenging, but in light of the extreme event we experienced, the challenge was more significant. Throughout the first days and weeks, we actually functioned in 'event management.' In the first week on the job, I had to activate the "mourning procedure" in the company, when two employees and several relatives of employees were murdered," says Yifat.
"With the help and guidance of many people in the organization, we implemented the procedure sensitively, time after time. During the first weeks, I had many phone calls with laid-off employees, trying to understand what they needed while learning the boundaries of the sector and what the organization could help. In practice, I was excited to find out that ICL responded Responding to every need that arose from the employees, the reservists and their families, the communities that were evacuated and the residents that were affected, starting from donating equipment and furnishing apartments to the evacuees, through countless volunteering in the various communities, to providing mental and emotional care for every need."
A catalyst for knowing the organization
"As a resident of the south, in addition to the challenge of joining the organization, I had to deal with a lack of settings for children, anxiety and great fear of the situation," says Yifat.
"In my experience, entering a new company like this is a crazy catalyst for getting to know the organization and the people. We were all used to working in emergency situations of operations and shooting rounds, but this event is on a completely different level that none of us knew or experienced. The feeling of satisfaction to succeed under such conditions to help and respond For every hardship of an employee, even though I have only been in the organization for a few days, it made me believe more in the organization I chose to join and that I am walking the right path."
More in Walla!
Strategic location, spectacular view and luxurious apartments: the intriguing neighborhood being built in the center
In collaboration with Aora Real Estate
When new employees cover the reserves
Lotan Portal./Hadar Shaked
Lotan Portal, an engineer at Applied Materials
, a global company in the field of systems for the production of chips and advanced screens, completed the recruitment process during the war and started working for the company about a month ago.
"I started a selection process at the company, and I was supposed to attend a physical interview on October 8. I was very worried and I was sure that the process would stop and be frozen because of the situation, but to my surprise the recruitment department contacted me to tell me that they had not forgotten me, and that they wanted to postpone the interview a little. The preparation for the interview and learning, after the shock of October 7th provided me with an opportunity to disconnect from the hard news and gave me something positive to look forward to," Lutan says.
"Since a high percentage of the company's female and male employees were called into the reserves immediately after the war began, the recruitment department decided to be creative and not wait and freeze the recruitment procedures. The person who interviewed me was a manager from a parallel department. A few days after I was hired, a phone call came from Ofir, my manager, who found a few minutes of a break from fighting and decided to call me to introduce himself and wish me success in the position. My integration into the company was excellent, I received a lot of help in acclimatization and learning also from parallel teams, and the company did not allow the situation to disrupt my absorption process in the company. Only a few days ago, almost a month after I started working In the company, I met for the first time Ofir, my manager, who in the meantime managed to be released from the reserve service and return to work."
When the flag is called, the new position will wait
Efrat Shapira./NESS
Along with the integration of new employees into workplaces in the shadow of the war, there are also cases of employees who were supposed to start working immediately at the outbreak of the war at a new workplace, but reality changed the plans and they were recruited by order 8. The NESS company had 10 such employees who were taken on paper, but a place to get to the place Work on October 8, join the security forces.
Some of them recently returned from the reserves and began the process of acclimatization to work, and for others, the position is still waiting.
According to
Efrat Shapira, Senior Vice President for Human Resources at NESS
: "We reserve for the new employees who were recruited into the reserves the positions we designated for them before the war and are waiting for them to return safely.
As soon as the situation allows for their release, we will help them integrate into the new work environment and provide an envelope for the various needs that will arise due to the extended reserve days." "We are in contact with the family and pray every day for his return," says Efrat.
When the new employee is recruited for the war
Elial Komei Dror./Relationship
Elail Komei-Dror
, started working at Amdocs as the Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion, in the middle of August 2023. After a family vacation during the holiday months, with the outbreak of the war, she was drafted into the reserves for her position as a major in the Home Front Command - and took part in the task of locating the missing. After an absence of four months, she She returned to work on January 7 and actually took up her position for the first time: "Throughout the recruitment period in Order 8, my manager and my team kept in close contact with me and made sure I stayed up to date.
I received encouraging messages from them, a lot of care and concern - and most of all, they maintained and promoted the projects that I was supposed to take care of," she says.
"I have already been recruited for a long time in previous workplaces - but I have never felt like this.
There were moments when I was afraid, because I had just arrived at the position and had already left for a long absence.
My manager, Idit Dovdevani-Aharonson, kept in touch with me from the other side of the ocean with exciting professional openness.
She repeatedly told me that they are proud of me and my work, that they are waiting for me and that they are doing everything to support me.
I can't begin to explain how significant it was for me when I was in Otef, to know that I, the children, my partner and my professional role were taken care of.
It freed me to concentrate on the mission I was sent to.
Since I returned, I have been acclimatizing, receiving a lot of support, and I am very proud of my amazing team in Israel and abroad who supported me when I was away and continue to be true partners in the work," says Ilail.
In conclusion,
Crises and changes always affect the labor market and also require companies to act flexibly and creatively so that stability and continuity can be produced despite everything.
There is no doubt that taking on new employees in the shadow of the war is a challenging but necessary move to maintain business continuity.
The ability to move forward even when the end of the war is not in sight is part of the DNA of business society in Israel.
More on the same topic:
The labor market
reserves
Recruitment