Visualization – Case Study

1. Challenge and selection    With our current online recruiting process, we realized that we received huge  amounts of applicants. However, only a few of these applicants were suitable to fill  the position and on overall would not fit into the company culture. For the organiza- tion this situation caused huge time and money losses. While on the other hand ap- plicants got frustrated with the overall application process. Hence, this was an issue  that needed to be improved.  	
   In order make the online recruiting a seeming less experience for both, the recruit- er, hiring manager and the applicant, we decided to use visualization. Changing a  common practice, within an organization is not an easy task. Therefore, we had to  think, how we could best sell in the idea. For us the success of visualization is to  show and uncover all aspects of a process, in order to ensure that all relevant fac- tors have been considered. Humans in general need to “see” it, before they believe  it. Therefore, our utmost task was to create a mental image of the intended pro- cess. As soon as we start to visualize our desired outcome, we begin to “see” the  possibilities of achieving it. Hence, to convince management of such an incremental  change, visualization seemed to be the best way to do it.    2. Application and insights    Visualization contains two methods, the first one is outcome visualization and the  second one is process visualization. To maximize our success and to create a strong  picture on the future recruiting process, we decided to apply both methods. For this  to happen, we established a project group of five people. We focused on establish- ing a divers team, with people who possess a broad knowledge and skill set and  who maintain a strong network within the organization. This for instance is im- portant in order to convince people, once the overall project is placed into action.    During the outcome visualization, it was important to envision our company achiev- ing the goal. For instance, we created a detailed map of the desired outcome, by  using all our ideas. Throughout this process we kept asking ourselves several ques- tions. These included: “How will the organization look like if we reach our goal?”,  “How will it feel like to reach our goal (internal/external)?”, “Which effects will it  have on our company image?” and “What are the feelings of recruiters, hiring man- agers and applicants, if the new process is implemented”?.  Of course, we had many  more questions that supported us in creating a good picture of the future scenario.   In the process visualization we focused on envisioning each of the actions necessary  to achieve the desired outcome. The focus was set on how to achieve each single  step to reach the goal. This means, we created a road map for each single step  needed, until the overall goal could be achieved. The roadmap supported us to brief  and convince management of restructuring the current recruiting process.

One of the insights we gained was that especially our internal recruiting department  was quite satisfied with the current process. The current, online system would au- tomatically filter out applicants that do not match the formal requirements of the  position. Hence, significantly reducing the time invested, of revising the skills of po- tential candidates.     However, on the other side, hiring managers have not been satisfied with the appli- cants invited for interviews. So, there was a clear mismatch between the actions of  the recruiters and the requirements of the hiring managers. With the visualization  tool and our divers project team, we managed to really show how the process could  look like in future. We realized how important it is to really consider all stakeholders  involved (internal/external). At this stage we realized that Design Thinking can really  support us in understanding our internal and external customers, by directly engag- ing with them.  With Design Thinking and visualization in general, we really man- aged to get a great picture of the current situation in order to picture the future  outcome.    3. Future outlook – room for improvement  	
   We learned how important it is to really understand the needs and requirements of  all stakeholders involved. This requires to experiment a lot more with tools from De- sign Thinking. In future, if we use Design Thinking as tool to innovate internal pro- cesses, we need to make sure to really dig deeper about needs and desired out- comes of potential users.


Visualization – Case Study 1 . Challenge and selection With our current online recruiting process , we realized that we received huge amounts of applicants . However , only a few of these applicants were suitable to fill the position and on overall would not fit into the company culture . For the organiza- tion this situation caused huge time and money losses . While on the other hand ap- plicants got frustrated with the overall application process . Hence , this was an issue that needed to be improved . In order make the online recruiting a seeming less experience for both , the recruit- er , hiring manager and the applicant , we decided to use visualization . Changing a common practice , within an organization is not an easy task . Therefore , we had to think , how we could best sell in the idea . For us the success of visualization is to show and uncover all aspects of a process , in order to ensure that all relevant fac- tors have been considered . Humans in general need to “ see ” it , before they believe it . Therefore , our utmost task was to create a mental image of the intended pro- cess . As soon as we start to visualize our desired outcome , we begin to “ see ” the possibilities of achieving it . Hence , to convince management of such an incremental change , visualization seemed to be the best way to do it . 2 . Application and insights Visualization contains two methods , the first one is outcome visualization and the second one is process visualization . To maximize our success and to create a strong picture on the future recruiting process , we decided to apply both methods . For this to happen , we established a project group of five people . We focused on establish- ing a divers team , with people who possess a broad knowledge and skill set and who maintain a strong network within the organization . This for instance is im- portant in order to convince people , once the overall project is placed into action . During the outcome visualization , it was important to envision our company achiev- ing the goal . For instance , we created a detailed map of the desired outcome , by using all our ideas . Throughout this process we kept asking ourselves several ques- tions . These included : “ How will the organization look like if we reach our goal ? ” , “ How will it feel like to reach our goal ( internal / external ) ? ” , “ Which effects will it have on our company image ? ” and “ What are the feelings of recruiters , hiring man- agers and applicants , if the new process is implemented ” ? . Of course , we had many more questions that supported us in creating a good picture of the future scenario . In the process visualization we focused on envisioning each of the actions necessary to achieve the desired outcome . The focus was set on how to achieve each single step to reach the goal . This means , we created a road map for each single step needed , until the overall goal could be achieved . The roadmap supported us to brief and convince management of restructuring the current recruiting process . One of the insights we gained was that especially our internal recruiting department was quite satisfied with the current process . The current , online system would au- tomatically filter out applicants that do not match the formal requirements of the position . Hence , significantly reducing the time invested , of revising the skills of po- tential candidates . However , on the other side , hiring managers have not been satisfied with the appli- cants invited for interviews . So , there was a clear mismatch between the actions of the recruiters and the requirements of the hiring managers . With the visualization tool and our divers project team , we managed to really show how the process could look like in future . We realized how important it is to really consider all stakeholders involved ( internal / external ) . At this stage we realized that Design Thinking can really support us in understanding our internal and external customers , by directly engag- ing with them . With Design Thinking and visualization in general , we really man- aged to get a great picture of the current situation in order to picture the future outcome . 3 . Future outlook – room for improvement We learned how important it is to really understand the needs and requirements of all stakeholders involved . This requires to experiment a lot more with tools from De- sign Thinking . In future , if we use Design Thinking as tool to innovate internal pro- cesses , we need to make sure to really dig deeper about needs and desired out- comes of potential users .