THE PASSION FOR TEAM MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN RELATIONS MARKS THE ROADMAP OF IVAN GARCIA, HR DIRECTOR OF VIROSPACK
Today we talk about the role and challenges he faces every day as human resources director of a company with a workforce of more than 400 workers that do not stop growing.
IVÁN GARCÍA | Chief HR Officer. Talent Development. HR Strategy and Change Management.
Responsible for the organization and strategic planning of Human Resources. Referent in the selection and recruitment processes designs and plans the training plan trying to provide the necessary training for the performance of specific tasks linked to the objectives of the company. Responsible for the administration and issues related to OHS and labor relations of the 4 work centers that Virospack has.
In Virospack you are the leaders’ manufacturers of droppers, something that says a lot about you, and more when we see that in your company culture, one of your values is the internal development and in-house manufacture of all your products. That at the structural level translates into 3 production centers, 11 production sections, more than 400 people on staff, of which more than 90% are in production. What are you most passionate about in your role as Head of Human Resources at Virospack?
I am passionate about human relations and team management. And although with more than 400 employees, it is not always an easy task, I love listening and being able to help workers during their working life in the company. One of the things that motivate me most about Virospack is the strong commitment of the management to promote and precisely enhance this, a philosophy that undoubtedly greatly facilitates our work as HR. Being able to work and grow professionally in Virospack is a challenge that when it was presented to me, I did not hesitate to accept.
You receive the raw material and turn it into a final product, which implies that at the productive level, you cover the entire manufacturing process. From a training point of view, all risk prevention training must be key. How does Virospack ensure that all your equipment is comfortable and safe working?
Using a sentence from our CEO, the greatest strength of the company is the people who work in it, and their safety is paramount to us. We have ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications, as well as EMAS, and this year for the first time we have also been certified with ISO 45001. Certifications endorse us and say a lot about what concerns us and concerns us, the safety of all our workers. From Virospack we are investing many resources in training our workers on many issues related to occupational safety (emergency equipment, first aid, work at height, electrical work, hot work, load handling, …). A large part of our training credit is allocated precisely to this type of training. For Virospack the safety of our workers is paramount and non-negotiable. Just in PRL management, and for our commitment to it, we have recently received an award in the last edition of the Antonio Baró Awards.
Another important factor that worries us equally is the mental and emotional health of our staff, that is why this year we have created a work team to carry out a new psychosocial study, in which we are now immersed. We wanted all parties to be present and that is why we have formed this group integrated both with members of the RLT, as well as members of different departments and sections of the company. Management has bet and has been given all the importance and dissemination that a study like this has, with the sole purpose of reaching as many workers as possible and having a significant sample of how their mental and emotional health is to, if necessary, propose actions to improve it. We expect a lot from this study and want this to be just the beginning of many other actions in this field.
On your website, you declare that your team is your greatest asset. Of everything you do, what do you think a worker value most about being part of the Virospack team?
As you indicated at the beginning of this interview, Virospack has 4-work units, 11 production sections, and more than 400 workers, a dimension that could make us think of the format of a large multinational company, with very rigid procedures, and a vertical organization chart and a lot of hierarchy, in which it could be difficult to be heard. But is rather the opposite, in Virospack we encourage personalized and very humanized treatment towards our workers. We invest a lot of resources and a lot of effort in analyzing and treating each situation individually, which is undoubtedly valued by our employees. Despite being a great company, we do not want to lose our DNA as a family business, in which we all know each other, and in which we all row with the same interest. We hope never to lose this philosophy and to be able to maintain it for many years, as it is something that makes us unique.
And looking to the next future, what challenges do you have from Human Resources for 2023?
We come from 2 very complicated years, with a global pandemic, a war, and an excessive inflation of supplies and basic products. Without any doubt, even if we want to forget it, we bring these concerns to work, and it affects us in our day to day. From Virospack, for 2023, we want to minimize that generalized “pessimism” that the negative inputs received from abroad cause us every day. Our intention is to motivate and enhance the optimism of our company in which fortunately we have maintained our commitment to customers, even in the most complicated moments.
Another of our challenges, in a complicated labor market, is to retain the talent we have in the company and above all identify it. On many occasions companies go to the labor market when perhaps we already have in the company a fully capable worker to fill a position and assume new responsibilities. Sometimes you must look inside before going outside.
With a well-defined CSR Policy, Virospack wants to contribute to society and push in helping people who have more difficult access to the professional world, people with different abilities. In this sense, another of our objectives for 2023 is to increase the % of workers in this group.
