CommBox: “Everyone did their best to make Covid-19 work”

The company didn’t close its doors during Covid-19, but it still had to adjust to a life of social distancing and facemasks

CTech 09:2918.03.21

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“There was mobilization on the part of all parties both in the company and on the part of the employees to maintain a supportive work environment,” explained Michal Cohen, Commbox’s HR Manager. The company serves large private companies and governmental entities, and so it continued to operate normally during Covid-19, albeit with social distancing measures in place.

“Everyone did their best to make it work. This year has brought us to create and strengthen the relationships we have built both professionally and personally,” she added.

Michal Cohen, Commbox HR Manager. Photo: Commbox

CommBox joined CTech for HR Post Covid to share how the company adjusted to what it calls ‘the new normal’.

Company Name: CommBox

HR Leader: Michal Cohen

Field of Activity:

CommBox developed AI-based communication and automation solutions to support digital transformation for service and sales teams. The company's main goal is to bring out a significant change in the quality of service offered by organizations to millions of customers and shift them to the era of digital service centers. The company developed AI and automation-based communication solutions utilized by intelligent Chatbots that solve 60%-70% of customer inquiries without the need for human touch, the main vision is that bots and agents are working in complete harmony with the main goal of resolving customer queries in a seamless way.

Customers can contact companies at any time convenient to them and in any communication channel they prefer, including email, chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, video channels, voice channels, social media, etc. The technology gives both the customer and the agent complete control over the service process, saves frustrating waiting times, and eliminates the repetitive tasks most support agents are not likely to do.

The CommBox solution has been implemented in 250 companies in Israel and around the world, serving an approximate of 30 million end users. The solution, which became the standard of the Israeli market, fully upgraded the service of telecom, insurance, banks, banks, retail chains, health services, municipalities, and more, and completely moved them to the age of digital service, providing improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Number of employees/locations: 80 in Israel

Professional background of HR Manager:

With over six years of experience in recruiting and managing human resources, bringing in a broad vision and knowledge sees great importance in creating a supportive and appropriate work environment for the needs of employees on a daily basis and in creating special events in order to strengthen the existing family atmosphere in the company. In the past two years, the company has been experiencing significant growth both in business and in the number of employees, so it is even more important to allow employees to grow with the company, thrive professionally and personally, and feel like a part of a big family.

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

As a vital organization that serves large private and governmental entities in Israel, we continued to work as usual during lockdowns. In addition, during this period the company experienced significant growth in its business activity, and this also affected the growth of the company in terms of the number of employees. With this being said, we realized that there was a global crisis and so there was a motivation for workers and management to unite and experience this period in peace and all together. It turned out that the employees came to the office between two and three times a week.

We even continued to hold happy hours every Thursday for capsules that worked in the office, of course under social distancing measures. It was very important for us to support the employees from home, to maintain the connections between the employees within the teams, which usually happens naturally when everyone is in the office. We managed to maintain this even in the period of social distancing.

With the removal of the restrictions of the last lockdown and together with the availability of vaccines and tests, we returned to work fully from our offices in Galil Yam. We maintain social distancing by wearing masks of course and are now beginning to adapt to the new reality that the Covid-19 has brought with it. Everyone has a great desire to get back to normal.

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

As of today, we haven’t yet deployed any special or innovative software to manage our recruitment process, we do have future plans for this but as of now, we are managing the entire recruitment process internally e.g., email, phone, and meetings.

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

With the change and the move to the work-from-home model, there was some apprehension about how we would be able to manage employees remotely and how the staff would be able to coordinate their work. In addition, it was important for us to maintain the usual relationships with the employees and help those who have to cope with the “new normal.” But very quickly we learned to work together in capsules and remotely. There was mobilization on the part of all parties both in the company and on the part of the employees to maintain a supportive work environment. Everyone did their best to make it work. This year has brought us to create and strengthen the relationships we have built both professionally and personally.

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

Bringing our work environment and employees all back to normal. There is a great accomplishment for all of us to return to full-time office work, but I anticipate that some employees will have to re-adapt and are currently working on creating a new routine in accordance with the situation. In addition, in the past year, we recruited about 30 new employees and because of the work-from-home and the work in the recruitment and absorption capsules, it took place remotely. The staff and managers excellently absorbed both socially and professionally the new employees and all, enlisted to assist in remote and office work. But in this situation, it turned out that I could not get to know all the new employees and even if the recruitment process is done remotely only now with the return to the offices, I am meeting the employees, so the other significant challenge is to produce an acquaintance process with the new recruits.

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

Yes, we are continuing to recruit more employees. The company continues to grow and we continue to recruit employees in the areas of development, sales, and customer management. Check out our open positions here.

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?

These days we are returning to work from the offices and the goal is to produce a routine that suits the situation. I guess the distance and wearing masks will continue but fortunately, the offices are in Galil Yam and we have a large yard-space so that anyone who wants and feels more comfortable can work, hold meetings and eat in the open air. The thing we most want to implement right now is our employee welfare programs and hold joint social events. We will do this in accordance with the guidelines and as soon as possible.