You are the HR and Equipments Director at Arce Clima. What is your role in the company, what are your main duties, and what responsibilities do you have?

My main role in the company is to transmit to the workers the trust that the company has in them, as well as in the new incorporations. For Arce Clima, maintaining a culture of trust is essential, since it is a quality that defines us and provides differential value compared to other companies.

Today I am in charge of coordinating a team of 5 people to achieve that goal. Among my main duties are areas such as selection, hiring, development and training, occupational health and safety and motivation.

I also coordinate the integrated management system, which includes the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 standards.

In the department we are a multidisciplinary team that shares our passion for treating the staff as part of our family, attending to their demands and adapting as much as possible to their needs.

From your area, how do you manage a team of about 200 people, all spread across different countries?

Managing such a large team is always complicated, as we cannot forget that we are dealing with people. The fact that these people are in different countries obliges us to enhance our sensitivity towards the situations of each one of those 200 people.

At the management level, one of the first things we did from the People and Teams department was to create an “Employee Portal” that brings the company closer to all the people who are not physically in the office.

I consider it essential that people feel that they have the company on their side for whatever they need anywhere in the world, any day of the year, at any time of the day.

Recruiting talents is one of your team’s missions. What are the keys to achieving it?

To achieve this, we are committed to another of the company’s values, transparency. When we publish a vacancy we always try to offer as many details as possible about the position, explaining the tasks and knowledge required, as well as the benefits.

For the last two years, we have also promoted “employer branding” to convey to the candidates how work is done at Arce Clima, and what they will find when they arrive.

These two parts, together with projects such as “Nuevos Talentos” (New Talents) program, mean that we continue to attract the interest of great professionals.

In which areas is it easier and in which is it more difficult to find the right profiles?

There is no doubt that the most difficult position to fill in is the refrigeration technician. As it is happening with the rest of the traditional trades, there is less and less manpower, and this makes it a really valuable position, both when it comes to finding it, and when managing those profiles that we already have in the company.

On the contrary, the “easiest” profiles to find are those associated with management positions. Of course, we must not forget that we are looking for the best professionals, so finding them among so many applications is not always a piece of cake.

What makes these areas so difficult?

As I mentioned earlier, profiles related to traditional trades are not the most demanded by students. In addition, Arce Clima is an international project, so it requires the availability to travel, and that complicates the selection even more.

Arce Clima not only looks for talent in the labor market, but also creates it through its Dual Training or the New Talents Program. What are these initiatives?

The New Talents program has two main pillars: Students and Dual Professional Trainning.

The “Students” section is based on offering the possibility of incorporating people who have recently completed their studies, through training in work centers to obtain a degree, scholarships to expand knowledge in certain areas, or internship contracts to consolidate their knowledge.

Regarding the “Dual Proffesional Trainning” program, we must say that it is being a breath of fresh air for the incorporation of new professionals, who are trained and obtain an official degree from the company. Their incorporation into the company is gradual, and in a staggered manner, which provides many possibilities for the students to end up forming part of the staff in a stable job.

What requirements must a person have to be part of Arce Clima?

I have no doubt about this: Commitment, trust and sincerity.

Retaining talents is another of the great challenges of companies. What does Arce Clima offer their team?

The word retention is something we don’t mention in our department. At Arce Clima there is a place for all people who feel that the work they do makes sense, and is in accordance with their professional needs and personal motivations.

If I have to respond to something resembling a retention policy, I could fall back on an earlier answer: We trust people, and those people return that trust when they see that we are the real deal.

Is a happy team a more productive team? What are the keys to keeping a team engaged and happy?

I believe that commitment is innate to people, and it is something that we value in our selection processes, despite the fact that we are not always right.

For a team to be happy, each person who forms it must be happy. If we act accordingly to each of the individuals in the company, adapting as much as possible to their needs, we will make them happy, and they will naturally transfer it to the rest of the team, and even to possible future candidates.

It sounds difficult to imagine this situation in certain companies, but after 16 years in the company, I believe that in Arce Clima it happens naturally.

What are the measures or projects that you feel most proud of?

The management of the company, and its culture throughout all these years have made my job very simple. The objectives that they give me are clear, and I find myself in a position where I can do what I consider best to achieve them. (That is what I mean by “Arce Clima trust”)

The project that I am most proud of is the employment website, which nearly 200 people carry in their pockets and allows them to know, participate, give their opinion, and manage any procedure along with the company. It is a living project; I have hundreds of ideas to continue improving it, and the company has the resources to do so. It’s a WIN-WIN!