Virospack is one of the world's leading manufacturers of droppers. A fact that says a lot about you, especially when we see that within your company's culture, one of its core values is the internal development and in-house manufacturing of all your products. At a structural level, that translates into three production centers, 11 production sections, and over 400 people on staff, of which more than 90% work 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. Although we do have more than 400 employees, and it is not always an easy task, I love listening and being able to help my coworkers during their working life in the company. As a matter of fact, one of the things that motivates me the most about Virospack is the strong commitment from management to promote and enhance these relationships; a philosophy that undoubtedly facilitates our work as HR. Being able to work and grow professionally in Virospack is a challenge that, when originally presented to me, I did not hesitate to accept.

You receive raw materials and turn them into finalized products, 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 of your team is comfortable and safe while at work?

Stealing a line 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 ever, we have also been certified with ISO 45001.

Certifications endorse us and say a lot about our main concern: the safety of all our workers. Naturally, we are investing many resources in training our workers on issues related to occupational safety (emergency equipment, first aid, work at height, electrical work, hot work, load handling, etc.). For Virospack the safety of our workers is paramount and non-negotiable. Just in PRL management, and because of our commitment to it, we have recently received an award in the last edition of the Antonio Baró Awards.

Another important factor that equally worries us 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 fully immersed. We wanted all parties to be present, which is why we have formed a group integrated by both members of the RLT, as well as members of different departments and sections of the company.

Management has made bet and given all the importance that a study like this requires, with the sole purpose of reaching as many workers as possible and producing a significant sample of where their mental and emotional health stands in order to, if necessary, propose actions to improve it. We expect a lot from this study and want this to be 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 values most about being part of the Virospack team?

As you said at the beginning of this interview, Virospack has four work units, 11 production sections, and more than 400 workers, a substantial workforce that could make us follow the formats traditionally used by large multinational companies: very rigid procedures and vertical organization charts with intricate hierarchies, that makes it 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 huge company, we do not want to lose our DNA as a family business, in which we all know each other, and work towards the same goals. We hope to never lose this philosophy and be able to maintain it for many years, as it is something that makes us unique.

Looking into the foreseeable future, what challenges do you expect to face in Human Resources for 2023?

We come from two very complicated years: 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 job. For 2023 we want to minimize that generalized "pessimism" that negative inputs received from abroad cause us every day. Our intention is to motivate and enhance the optimism of our company which, fortunately, we have maintained through our commitment to customers, even in the most complicated moments.

Another of our challenges, in a complex labor market, is to retain the talent we have in the company and above all, be able to identify it. On many occasions, companies go seeking for new talent when they might already have suitable workers in the company 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 help people who have a bigger difficulty accessing the professional world, people with different abilities. Because of this, another of our objectives for 2023 is to increase the percentage of workers in these vulnerable groups.

Iván García

Chief HR Officer. Talent Development. HR Strategy and Change Management.

Responsible for the organization and strategic planning of Human Resources. A key agent in the selection and recruitment processes, he designs and develops onboarding plans 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 Virospack's four work centers.