When lockdown comes, pick your platform poison, says Zebra Medical

During ‘the new normal’ and the post-Covid world of working remotely, Adi Bar-Oz is “currently trying out a number of relevant systems” for Zebra’s employees. As Talent Acquisition Manager, Bar-Oz is testing some of the ways that workers can stay connected and motivated during lockdowns and new work schedules.

“We use several different systems, such as Slack and Jira, for task management… Of course, Zebra's WhatsApp group has also become increasingly active during Covid-19.”

Zebra Medical joined CTech as part of its HR Post-Covid series to share how the company, which has more than 90 employees in three countries, is finding some of the best ways to communicate online.

Company Name: Zebra Medical Vision

HR Leader: Adi Bar-Oz - Talent Acquisition Manager

Field of Activity: Medical Technologies

Number of employees/location: 90 Employees with offices in Israel, New York, and Canada

Professional background of HR Manager:

Nine years of experience in tech recruitment and HR at various companies: NESS Technologies, Supersonic, Playbuzz, and Zebra Medical Vision

On a scale of 1-10, how much did the coronavirus pandemic disrupt operations at the company?

The pandemic disrupted the company's activity at around a 4. Many business trips and large important conferences were canceled or went virtual – meaning they resulted in a different outcome. The medical imaging segment is a "medical commodity" so Zebra could continue its client base growth as usual. We engaged in a few high-level partnerships, like the one with Canon, and received two FDA clearances and two FDA approvals.

What interesting technological tools do you use in employee management/recruitment?

For recruitment we use Comeet. As for the management of existing employees, we are currently trying out a number of relevant systems. Shortly, we will implement one of them across the company. Also, we use several different systems, such as Slack and Jira, for task management. Recently, we implemented an Asana system for project management, which enables project status transparency, so everyone can know at any given moment where the project stands, despite working remotely. Of course, Zebra's WhatsApp group has also become increasingly active during Covid-19.

What positive and/or negative impact did the outbreak have on the human capital of the company?

As expected, we discovered that Zebra-Med employees were independent, responsible, strong, and performed their tasks in the best way possible and enabled the company to achieve relevant goals. Our employees knew how to maintain an excellent working relationship even through video conferencing and strengthened the personal bonds between them despite the pandemic's long duration.

What are the two major challenges you are coping with these days?

The main challenge is to maintain a normal work routine, when everything is done remotely. The other challenge is the work-life balance and how to help employees find and maintain a healthy balance, even in this challenging time. The HR team and the company management are attentive to the employees' difficulties and define organizational rules of working from home: setting aside time for family breaks and shortening meeting durations. The HR team is attentive and maintains regular contact with the employees to verify if particular problems require treatment.

Are you actively recruiting? If so, what is the process and where can the applicants find you?

We are recruiting normally and are even in a period of massive growth. During the pandemic, Zebra recruited over 30 workers and we are still actively recruiting. You can find us and apply through the company's website, LinkedIn, Facebook, glassdoor, and Instagram.

Which changes forced upon you by the circumstances will stay in place after Covid-19 is over, and which are you most eager to revert back to normal?

Due to the pandemic, we had to move (like everyone else) to work from home. During this time, Zebra-Med, defined as an essential industry, continued to keep the office open and allow employees who wanted to work at the office to do so. The combination of work from home and the office during the week worked well. As for the future, the plan is to stay in the current format even after Covid-19. We are most eager to return to "Zebra-Med Together,” to the laughter in the kitchenette, to the hallway conversations, to the shared lunches we all had, and to strengthen and preserve the zebra-Med culture that we are so proud of.