The Future of HR in E-commerce: Insights from Award-Winning Czech HR

Connecting HR and E-commerce

🎤 Petra, you have worked in HR across various industries. What unique challenges do you see in HR in e-commerce compared to more traditional sectors?

E-commerce is an environment with extremely rapid dynamics – what is valid today may be outdated tomorrow. It is precisely this speed and constant need for innovation that places HR in the role of not only an operational but primarily a strategic partner. There has long been a shortage of talent in the market, not only in IT or digital marketing but also in other specialised roles that e-commerce requires. The ability to respond quickly is decisive – whoever manages to flexibly adapt recruitment processes, work with data, and truly understand candidates’ motivations gains a head start.

Compared to traditional sectors, I also perceive a different type of mistakes that companies make. Due to pressure on performance and growth, they often underestimate the long-term impact of employer branding, the absence of structured recruitment, or inconsistent communication of values to candidates and internally. In a smaller market, such as the Czech one, these mistakes are also very visible – and their reputational impact can be significant and long-lasting.

In e-commerce, it is common for companies to face significant fluctuations in demand – typically during periods such as Black Friday, Christmas, or during special campaigns. This places demands on the rapid scaling of the team, often in short-term collaboration mode. In e-commerce, you need to manage both team growth and contraction – quickly, but without losing quality. For example, filling 800 warehouse roles within 4 months leading up to Christmas, and so on.

In e-commerce, managing everything through numbers – sales, conversions, margins – is the standard. HR in this environment must speak the same language and be on the same wavelength as the rest of the company. It needs to understand the business and perceive the customer.

Talents suitable for e-commerce (especially in areas such as IT, UX, SEO, PPC, analytics) can work from anywhere – and very often also receive offers from abroad. This increases competitive pressure on wages, benefits, and how teams are managed. Arguments like “we offer a stable Czech company” no longer work with candidates – you’re competing with companies from Berlin, London, or Lisbon. In this, I definitely perceive a dramatic change over the last 3 years.

🎤 E-commerce companies often need to rapidly expand teams during growth phases. What strategies do you consider most effective for maintaining corporate culture and quality recruitment during these periods?

During periods of growth, everything accelerates – expectations for performance, recruitment, and adaptation of new people. If a company doesn’t want its culture to “dilute” with this growth, it must be extremely consistent in who it is, what it stands for, and how it communicates this – not just externally, but especially internally.

The basic prerequisite is to be clear about what kind of company we are, what our values are, what we expect, and where we’re heading. But this cannot just be an internal document or a page on a website. Values must be visible in everyday functioning – in how people make decisions, how leadership speaks, what is tolerated, and what, on the contrary, is not acceptable. The greatest impact comes when these principles are truly lived by the CEO and top management – if they don’t lead by example, any HR initiatives lose meaning.

In HR, this specifically means that recruitment respects and mirrors these values. For example, if a company cares about customer satisfaction, then this must also be evident in the approach to candidates – that is, I measure their satisfaction, give them feedback, work with comments, and actively look for ways to improve their experience. In some companies, I have specific KPIs set for candidate satisfaction, and if someone in HR consistently fails to meet them, it means they are not the right person for the team.

In the growth phase, the role of middle management as culture bearers is often underestimated. The CEO can lead by example, but if the values don’t “catch on” at the level of team leads and managers, the culture will fall apart on a larger scale.

Recruitment itself is not rocket science, but it requires preparation. Quality hiring is a combination of well-set processes and conscious communication – from advertising through the selection process to onboarding. In the scale-up phase, I’ve found it useful to plan hiring not just reactively, but according to predictive data – growth in conversions, customer base, etc. HR is then not in the wake of operations but can prepare in advance, and thus lose less on quality and be exhausted by constant changes.

🎤 How can quality HR contribute to the success of an e-commerce company in a competitive digital environment?

HR in e-commerce is not only about recruiting specialists but about creating teams that will be able to grow and respond to rapid market changes, which is crucial in this environment. An effective HR approach must be linked to the company’s overall strategy and understand exactly how it can support the business and positively impact PnL.

1. Connection with business: The fundamental pillar of successful HR in e-commerce is a deep understanding of the business, which means not only knowing the product but also the structure of income and costs. If HR understands these aspects, it can better set wage policy, benefits, and precise recruitment parameters. For example, setting salaries and bonus structures based on company performance ensures that key employees are motivated to achieve set goals. HR thus contributes to maintaining the budget and prevents overloading company finances, saving not only costs but also time.
2. Quality recruitment and talent selection: High competition in the talent market, especially in e-commerce, means that HR must not only respond quickly but also effectively identify suitable candidates. For example, personalised benefit offerings and balanced motivation based on individual employee needs can significantly improve the chances of job offers being accepted and reduce the rate of unsuccessful recruitment.
3. Proactive problem-solving in the team: HR in e-commerce is not just about recruitment but also about long-term team care. Proactive monitoring of employee satisfaction, quick conflict resolution, provision of training and development helps companies prevent problems that can arise with rapid growth. Regular evaluation of performance and worker satisfaction through feedback and measurement (e.g., NPS) helps eliminate potential problems even before they can affect company performance.
4. Flexibility and adaptation to changes: In the e-commerce environment, things change very quickly. HR should be able to flexibly respond to changes in company strategy or market conditions. This includes flexibility in the way of working (e.g., hybrid model), which allows companies to adapt to current employee needs while optimising costs.
5. HR as a data and analytical partner: HR should be built on solid data and analyses. Tracking employee turnover, analysing reasons for departures, benchmarking wages, and monitoring team performance contribute to decision-making processes that have a direct impact on company results. When HR is able to identify weaknesses before they become a problem, it saves the company not only money but also important human resources.
6. Automation and AI: Automation and AI can significantly streamline recruitment and other HR processes in e-commerce. For example, AI tools can automatically sort CVs, pre-select candidates according to defined criteria, or generate personalised answers to frequently asked questions. This saves time and reduces costs. Thanks to data, HR specialists can better predict candidate success and optimise the recruitment process. Automated systems also help maintain consistency in decision-making and ensure that selected candidates fit the corporate culture.

By not only supporting the company’s growth and stability but also actively improving corporate culture and strategic decision-making, HR becomes a true business partner and not just a “supporting” function. Quality HR can support the success of e-commerce by focusing on specific measures that are directly linked to the company’s performance and its goals.

Trends and Innovations in HR

🎤 How is artificial intelligence changing recruitment practices, specifically in digital marketing and e-commerce positions?

It’s important to realise where AI will bring the greatest benefit – whether it’s the automation of routine tasks, improving data analysis, or speeding up communication with applicants. If we use its capabilities where it really makes sense, we can significantly increase the efficiency and quality of the entire recruitment process without losing the human aspect, which is key for recruitment. And not just in recruitment, but generally in HR, where there is definitely something to eliminate.

🎤 Are there any tools or approaches that you consider particularly beneficial?

Approaches:

• What you don’t measure, you don’t manage.
• Without data, there are no decisions.
• If you want change, start with yourself.
• Culture is what we do when no one is watching.
• Let’s build teams, not fill positions.
• HR shouldn’t look but find.

Tools:

• Excel/Google Sheets
• Asana
• Notion
• ChatGPT
• Gamma
• Canva
• Loom
• ATS and HRIS systems
• Slack
• Shared drives and folders

🎤 What are the biggest changes in recruiting talent for digital marketing and e-commerce that you have observed in recent years? How can companies best prepare for these changes?

In recent years, there have been fundamental changes in recruiting talent for digital marketing and e-commerce. The main factors are the acceleration of the entire process and pressure on quality. Candidates today don’t want to wait for a response. If we don’t respond within two days, they go elsewhere. The approach must be personalised, the offer clear, and the approach during the interview friendly and professional. At the same time, specialisation is increasingly being addressed – previously we were looking for a general marketer, today it’s a specialist in email automation, an expert in paid social, or an analyst who masters GA4. Each of these candidates has a clear idea of their value in the market and what they expect from the company.

Another change is that talents in this field often change projects, companies, and clients. Working for foreign companies is common because quality candidates have very good English and are not afraid of this challenge. The complexity of positions has also increased significantly – for example, a PPC specialist who previously handled all aspects of this area now has to be a specialist in a specific direction. Companies must prepare for these changes, which means quick response, focus on specific skills, and a personalised approach to attract and retain quality talent.

Companies can also prepare for these changes through trainee programmes, internships, or collaboration with schools, where they can start developing young talent from the beginning of their careers. Another key step is to create a database of internal projects where young people can get involved and gain practical experience. It is also important to offer flexible working arrangements or the possibility of remote collaboration. Many candidates today are looking for work that allows them a balanced work and personal life, and flexibility in working conditions is often key for them. At the same time, the candidate may be able to retain their personal clients, which they might not want to give up.

🎤 On your profile, the motto “#sharingiscaring” appears. How do you apply this philosophy when building HR teams in a rapidly changing digital environment?

I believe in the power of manuals, checklists, shared drives, and regular team meetings focused on information sharing. I have also found inspire sessions useful, as the name suggests, focused on inspiration and best practices. In teams where we regularly shared experiences and systematically created wikis and manuals, we were always more efficient and successful.

Sharing successes is key – if you lead a team, your success depends on the quality of the team and your ability to work with its strengths. But sharing is not just about positive things. We regularly discussed what was bothering us in the team and what we didn’t want to do. Together, we looked for ways to eliminate these problems, and in 90% of cases, we succeeded.

  Practical Approaches and Strategies

🎤 You mention that you enjoy “devising intelligent solutions without a budget”. Could you share an example of a creative, low-cost HR initiative that brought significant results for an e-commerce company?

I remembered several situations that, in the context of the given company, saved time and money and long-term saved us from further unnecessary costs.

✔️ HRIS – In the company, we didn’t have a budget for an HRIS system, so the company didn’t use one for a long time. We lacked data about employees, which made the work of HR administration and the financial department difficult. I created a sophisticated Excel that contained what most HRIS systems do so that we had all the data available and could work with it. This allowed us to measure and evaluate various metrics, such as fluctuation, average age, holiday usage trends, wage growth over time, and plan the budget and finances. We connected Excel to the accounting journal. What was previously chaotic now works with one or two clicks and saved dozens of minutes of administrative work.

✔️ HRIS 2 – Within the company, we had a robust HRIS from which it was not possible to generate reports. If we wanted to have one complex report on four different things within one graph, it was not possible. We would have to combine several different Excel tables, which would take unnecessarily long. We knew we would be transitioning to another system, but we needed to intensively HR for about 4 months. I created an Excel with pre-prepared columns and values, as well as reporting for HR, managers, and CFO. Reports were divided per recruiter, per week, with different views as needed. When you called a candidate, you primarily chose between Yes/No in individual columns, and at the end, it was clear whether the candidate was proceeding further or not. In retrospect, we knew why it (didn’t) work out, and recruitment was finally under scrutiny. Historically, we didn’t have this data at all, and no one worked with it. We had a call script written for the table and recruitment, which even a newcomer to the team could handle.

✔️ Shared drive – Under PFC, I created a shared drive where each company can find everything it needs for HR. From contracts, reporting templates, market surveys, and manuals to recorded internal training. When a junior HR joins the company, with the help of the drive, they get a quality foundation on which they can easily build.

✔️ Links and hidden pages instead of attachments – As part of recruitment, we wanted to provide candidates with something extra. But when files are sent, emails often fall into spam, or sometimes we forget to add an attachment (unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to add an attachment by default to the ATS template). So the idea came to use what we already have, which is our website. On the website, I created non-indexed pages that were accessible only via a link and filled them with content for candidates. There were sections such as: how to write a CV, where to educate yourself, recommendations from our internal people, and more. It was very successful, it cost nothing, and we used what we already had available. We did the same thing during onboarding – we didn’t have a special onboarding tool. Again, we created a page where contracts were available for study, a video about the company, information about the first day, etc. In this way, we got rid of a large amount of administration associated with creating PDF schedules for individual newcomers.

Generally, I believe that when a person has no budget, it often forces them to think more creatively.

🎤 Data-driven decision-making is key in both e-commerce and modern HR. How do you recommend connecting these two worlds for better results?

Very much so! I can’t imagine quality strategic steps in HR without any data and working with it. Educate yourself in data, talk regularly with the business, think about costs and investments. Connection is about discussion, listening, empathy, but also knowledge of terms and metrics.

🎤 Could you share a specific case study from your practice where your HR approach significantly helped an e-commerce project overcome a challenge?

A specific huge achievement doesn’t come to mind, but I can mention a case from a company that had an ATS but terribly poorly set processes and reporting. It was complex, and moreover, the company was about to change its ATS, so there was no capacity to change anything. But we needed to start recruiting dozens of people every week and had the ambition to have everything data-driven. I therefore created a predefined Excel that allowed easy tracking of key metrics such as response speed, call quality, rejection reasons, average time of the candidate in the selection procedure, fluctuation, and more. This Excel allowed detailed monitoring and evaluation of the recruiter based on specific metrics, not subjective feeling, and this provided us with accurate and measurable results.

Thanks to the good structure of the table, it was possible to import data into the new ATS, so we didn’t miss any historical data that the team had been working on for a long time. I considered this key – thinking about how we would later use the data and making sure we wouldn’t lose it when transitioning to a new system.

Another case where I worked with data was a combination of internal satisfaction surveys and metrics such as performance, fluctuation, and promotion rate. This combination allowed us to quickly identify strong and weaker teams, but it also helped us uncover potential problems with (non)quality managers and respond in time to improve the performance of the entire team.

The third challenge was cost-saving. Thanks to the data that we had available long-term and tracking costs over time, after several iterations and analyses of various data, we found that instead of terminating several people in the company, we could find savings elsewhere. This process allowed us to identify areas where we could more efficiently allocate resources without having to reduce personnel costs. Importantly, these measures did not affect long-term performance, work quality, or team satisfaction. The key to success was a combination of data, detailed knowledge of the company and its strategy, and close cooperation with managers. This integration of data into the decision-making process allowed us to make an informed decision and achieve savings without a negative impact on the overall performance of the company.

Looking to the Future

🎤 How do you think the future of HR in e-commerce and digital marketing will look in the coming years? What trends should companies watch?

The future of HR in e-commerce will be primarily influenced by artificial intelligence, data analytics, and automation. I perceive the combination of marketing, HR, and product as key to building stable and quality HR that proactively contributes to the success of the company.

The importance of soft skills, such as creativity and the ability to quickly adapt to changes, leadership, ability to communicate remotely, etc., will also increase. It is expected that the hybrid work model will remain dominant, and companies will invest more in tools for remote collaboration and training.

Trends and what awaits us with the advent of younger generations: 

• Faster and more automated recruitment
• Elimination of operations and administration thanks to technologies
• Time for people and their individual development
• Focus on Employee Experience
• Use of data and analytics for trend prediction
• Emphasis on soft skills

For success in the coming years, it will be essential for companies in e-commerce to connect technological innovations with the human factor. Only then will it be possible to create an effective, agile, and attractive environment for talented professionals who will contribute to the company’s growth.

Final Question

🎤 What advice would you give to owners and managers of e-commerce companies who want to build truly competitive and innovative teams? What is your recipe for excellent HR that supports the growth of digital business?

For owners and managers of e-commerce companies who want to build truly competitive and innovative teams, I would advise them to start with themselves and set a positive example for people in their company. It’s important to throw away ego and want to build successful teams. To want to grow through people and to be able to listen.

It is key to invest in people and create an environment where they can continually develop and bring value to the company. This means providing employees with opportunities to learn, supporting creativity and innovation, and ensuring they feel part of a larger purpose. It is also important to approach work flexibly – offer remote work options and adapt to the needs of individual team members.

And the recipe for excellent HR? Know what HR I need in my company today, but also in one, two, or five years, and systematically pursue that. Be its support and partner.