ANNnews – Félix Aguado (HR Director ACI) – Elliot Seymour (HR Director HAL) – Luis P. Galindo (HR Director ICSA) – Connected
6 December 2021
Within Aernnova’s communication plan, meetings between CEO and Employees have been organized. It is an informal round table in which issues ranging from professional to personal are raised. In this way, employees not only gain visibility with senior management, but also have their doubts answered and can initiate conversations or debates on certain topics of interest, encouraging a relaxed and close atmosphere that has a positive impact on commitment and the connection of teams.
Last July, the first of these meetings was held at Aernnova Composites Illescas (ACI), the second took place in August at the facilities of Internacional de Composites (ICSA) and finally, the last one took place in October in Hamble Aerostructures (HAL)
In these meetings, Ricardo made a visit to the facilities and had a talk with a representation of each of the departments that make up the different companies.
Ricardo thanked the employees for the efforts made to soothe the serious crisis caused by Covid19. Likewise, he informed about the current situation of the aerospace market and the forecasts of the sector in the coming years, as well as the manufacturing carried out in the plants of the companies in question.
“Health and Safety is the most important value for Aernnova in general and for me in particular, so I ask the entire organization for maximum involvement in this matter”
He entered into a dialogue with the attendees in which issues such as Health & Safety came to light, a matter in which Ricardo expressed the importance that this issue has for Aernnova in general and for him in particular, having required the maximum involvement in this matter to the entire organization. He also spoke of the importance of increasing the sense of belonging to Aernnova as a leading group within the aerospace sector, valuing the knowledge of the employees as one of the strengths of the company. Additionally, other issues were addressed, such as how we interact with customers or how we can contribute more efficiently as an organization to get out of the post-pandemic situation in the best possible way.
ANNnews wanted to carry out several interviews with some of the attendees:
ANNnews: What is your assessment of these meetings?
José Sánchez Soto: It is a positive experience, a sign of the company’s interest in the day-to-day work of the employees. At these levels of responsibility, it is appreciated that not only the figures are taken into account, but also how those figures are achieved.
Maria Isabel Marín Correa: I value the visit very positively, because acts like this show that our opinion and our concerns are important to the company, giving the opportunity to share these in person with our CEO and making it possible for us to know the situation of the aerospace sector and the Aernnova’s position within it at this moment.
Samuel García Valdivieso: From my point of view, it was very positive to make him aware of some concerns and/or areas of improvement that we believe the company should focus on and specially, to get to know firsthand the post pandemic direction.
Samuel Fernández Arranz: I think CEOs are seen as people separated from the manufacturing plants because of the functions they perform at other more global levels for the company. Therefore, Ricardo’s interest in learning about the reality of the people who work at ICSA was first of all a surprise, and then a good experience: It is not every day that you have the opportunity to chat with someone who has this level of responsibility and decision-making capacity, which quickly captured our curiosity and desire to participate.
Hamble (Jessica Whittington, Gill Williams, Jim Helyer-Kinch): It was good to meet with the CEO of the company and listen to his point of view of Aernnova business in the current climate, but also his view of Hamble and its progression to improve in all areas of the business, allowing us to be successful in our current work and be awarded of future work packages. Ricardo was very knowledgeable regarding the current challenges at Hamble, proving that he has a passion to make Hamble a project of success. I found it really useful to understand ANN’s future expectations of Hamble as I don’t feel that these have been communicated properly previously.
ANNnews: What do you think about the dynamics of this meeting? Would you modify something?
José Sánchez Soto: The dynamics seemed appropriate to me, the main issues were discussed, and those that may most concern us, especially the current vision of the company and objectives, as well as the new projects that are being worked at a Group level.
Maria Isabel Marín Correa: I found the dynamics relaxed and entertaining, being able to express ourselves freely and to listen and debate the opinions and thoughts of all the attendees.
Although I know it is difficult, I wish it would have lasted a little bit more and recurring so that other colleagues have the same opportunity as me.
Samuel García Valdivieso: From my point of view, I think that some things were left out, people who spoke at the beginning could have the opportunity to extend for a long time and others could not participate as much as they would have liked.
What I would modify is the capacity or the time for each person to participate so that everyone is satisfied, since like the meetings with the manager, I think they are very useful to bring workers closer to the company.
Samuel Fernández Arranz: It was a good decision to hold the session having a coffee. I understand that it was a way to relax the atmosphere and allow people to perceive the moment as something less formal and more relaxed ending up in a conversation between professionals from different areas, rather than a chat or a one-way communication. I also think it would be a good idea to repeat this dynamic from time to time so that other colleagues could have first-hand that feeling of closeness and concern for the day to day that Ricardo transmitted to us.
Hamble (Jessica Whittington, Gill Williams, Jim Helyer-Kinch):The group was large and involved a number of people from different areas of the business. Everyone had a chance to talk/discuss any issues they felt relevant. Due to the size of the room, it was quite difficult to here Ricardo sometimes, maybe a smaller group/room or a microphone would have helped… It would have been useful to understand in advance how these meetings where going to develop so that we could have prepared some questions in advance.
ANNnews: How did the visit go?
José Sánchez Soto: The meeting was held in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with clear and direct language. It was clear that the objective of the meeting was to listen to the employees, and answer their concerns and suggestions. In addition, the CEO took note of the different suggestions.
Maria Isabel Marín Correa: From the first moment, the visit took place in a very closely manner, encouraging participation.
Samuel García Valdivieso: The truth is that he showed himself to be a very empathetic person, willing to face new challenges in difficult times and to listen to all attendees, making us feel comfortable at all times and valuing our ideas.
Samuel Fernández Arranz: Precisely because of the way the visit was carried out, and also becaouse of Ricardo´s nature, who facilitated the conversation at all times being close and interested in the details of the day to day, those of us who were able to share the moment felt more open to consult Ricardo about the planned roadmap, in addition to explaining to us what is the overall situation of the sector after the pandemic. For our part we were able to share specific details of the situation of our site and our work activity. It lasted more than two hours and the conversation could have continued, which I see as a good indicator that both Ricardo and those of us who attended felt comfortable to express our candid in our concerns and ideas.
Hamble (Jessica Whittington, Gill Williams, Jim Helyer-Kinch): Several attendees made questions and others participated in the debate with Ricardo. As I mentioned before, Ricardo knows HAL well, so he was perfectly at ease with the topics that were discussed. The meeting was very relaxed and well attended. The HAL employees who attended the meeting represented us well, showed interest to be aware of what Aernnova’s intention is to make of HAL a successful project. Ricardo showed great interest in the employees.
