Arantxa Anduaga

What is the current need of ULMA Architectural Solutions in terms of the subject in question; is this a priority for the Business?

In our Cooperative, after a few years in which the market situation has been difficult, we are in a period of significant growth, due, on the one hand, to the recovery of the market in the construction sector and, secondly, to an significant transformation within the Business itself, at the level of international subsidiaries and at the industrial level, including the medium-term robotization of the production process. In this sense, for us it is a priority to enhance the existing talent at ULMA Architectural Solutions with new capabilities, adapting to new needs, as well as attracting external talent that, in line with the values of our Cooperative, will help us to move ahead.

Talent is the ability and quality that allows people to learn or develop an activity in a manner that is brilliant; however, do you think we know how to identify the qualities of each person in the organisation and enhance them? Where do you think this talent should be sought? From our cooperative or from the academic environment?

The closer the academic and employment world are, the more beneficial it will be for both and, by extension, for society. As companies, we must communicate our needs to education, and education must communicate what motivates the students in their classrooms. It is also important for the students to hear companies first hand, so that they can begin to feel the working world when they are in their classrooms. In this sense, important steps are being taken, such as dual training, which is expanding at this time. For people who are already in the organization, identification of their qualities comes in two ways. On the one hand, the organization must see how to improve the training and performance of each person. Then the employees themselves propose improvements for their professional development.

How do you value the ULMA Group in this area? This is a period of transformation for the recruitment and retention of talent.

In this sense, the ULMA Group is working proactively, together with the main actors in today’s society, both in the educational world and in social institutions and organizations, to address different types of projects aimed at recruitment and training while responding to future challenges, and through the management of personnel, trying to identify the type of professional we will need in the medium to long term in our Cooperatives.

Do you feel you are in tune with the rest of the businesses?

At the ULMA Group, we have Cooperatives in different sectors, of different sizes, some with a lot of business experience and others recently created. However, with regard to Talent Management, harmony is everything. We work with the same objectives, as a team, which means we can tackle more ambitious projects that would otherwise be more complex.

It seems that having a good Business strategy is not enough. We need to incorporate a Brand and Communication strategy that will define us as an Employer Brand.

From ULMA Architectural Solutions, how would you like to be recognised by your target audience in this area?

During 2017 and at the start of 2018, we worked on the values we want to have in our Cooperative, updating them with the contribution of all the people of the organization. We would like our audience to recognize us as an organization that provides constructive solutions for the construction sector, and also to perceive us as a human team where we move in relation to the values we want as our identity.

Finally, do you think we need to invest more in generating and developing the talent we already have rather than recruiting and attracting external talent? Or is it about finding a balance?

I think that there must be a balance between the two. We must develop the professionals that are already in our organization through training, internal promotions, etc. with a double objective. First, so that their professional development leads them to perform different functions within the organization and secondly to retain the talent that we already have. It is also essential for us to bring in personnel from other companies with different circumstances that give us another vision and people coming from the academic world with new ways of approaching different business projects.