Majo Castillo, CEO of Sesame: “Remote working drove the digitization of HR. People management has never been so important”

The emergence of new technologies continues to pose new challenges for companies, changing not only their business model in many cases, but a whole series of processes and departments, including Human Resources (HR). Against this backdrop, EAE Business School Barcelona, which belongs to Planeta Formación y Universidades, was the venue for a conference entitled "HR Tech - Trends in HR and their relation to digital transformation and new technologies”, within the framework of the Innovation Talks organized in collaboration with Connecting Talks, which were held yesterday afternoon in the Ágora Hall.

During the event, the participants discussed emerging trends in HR for the year ahead, reaching the conclusion that digital transformation focusing on talent management and acquisition will be the main challenge for small and medium companies. Despite these challenges, Spain ranks among the top three countries in Europe in terms of making the biggest investments into digitizing Human Resources, according to research by SD Worx.

The event welcomed leading professionals, including Daniel Carro, the Regional Director of Talent Management at Quirónsalud. Healthcare is one of the sectors that has had to transform most in order to adapt to digitization. As a result, new technologies have revolutionized healthcare practice, placing people at the centre of everything and using data as a driver of change. Advocating digitization in healthcare, Quirón Salud has developed an entire transformation plan over the last few years with the aim of making patients, professionals and the organization more digital. Thanks to this vision, they have achieved great results, as Carro explained. “Taking on a challenge like that, implementing a technological platform requires you to learn new ways of doing things, changing the established patterns, which is perceived as a cost. The return on any investment comes when the employees rate what you are doing positively. In our company, the wellbeing of our employees and their desire to work has a positive impact on the patients”.

One of the great benefits of technology in the field of Human Resources is its application for attracting talent. One such case is Kingsley Gate, the tool used by Seeliger & Conde to resolve its clients’ talent acquisition needs. This is how one of the firm’s partners, Eduardo Conde, explained the power of artificial intelligence in the identification and analysis of candidates: “Historically, we have not made much use of technology but, a year ago, we realized that we need it to be able to operate at an international level. My job is to find the right person for a certain position. If we make the most of technology, we can do these processes far more quickly and efficiently”.

In terms of employee organization and management, during the session, the participants discussed the latest trends in technologies applied to organizing timetables, optimizing working time, the efficacy of remote working, etc. According to Majo Castillo, the CEO of Sesame, an HR management software specializing in simplifying the simplifying the department’s tasks and improving the employee experience, “the changes that have taken place over the last few years, with the spread of remote working, have forced HR departments to reinvent themselves with new formulas to control the work of their teams. With the generational change, COVID and the Worktime Control Act, the process of digitization accelerated in the area of people management”.

Spreading knowledge of the new talent attraction and management tools throughout the business community is one of the key goals of Connecting Talks. “Without a doubt, digital transformation is one of the great evolutions of the 21st century and we all have to learn to embrace it. With this in mind, we find it fascinating that, from different areas if the business world, we can share our experiences of this digitization that has taken place in the field of HR. This benefits us all as we all want to know what the future holds and what we can do to improve it and play a part in it ”, explained Eduardo Conde, the Founder of Connecting Talks.

As part of this transformation, companies and employees cannot flourish without training, which is an essential factor in knowing all the uses of the new technologies and being able to apply them effectively to their working environment. Therefore, EAE Business School Barcelona has added the Executive Master in Human Resources and Talent Development to its portfolio, the program of which includes insights on the latest trends and digital tools and their impact on HR. The Director of the Master, Maite Moreno, who moderated the discussion, emphasized that that “training is the keystone to this transformation. At EAE Business School, we recognize the need to equip our students with the skills and knowledge required to tackle the challenges of the modern professional world”.