Moving Talent: global collaboration that drives talent

 

The Moving Talent programme was created in 2024 and, even though the first edition has not yet finished, we already know that it will be an experience to repeat. This is a strategic initiative, led by HR management and aimed at the youngest employees of the Teknia team, to identify our future leaders and develop their talent and skills.

Ismael, what does the Moving Talent programme consist of and what is the motivation behind it? What are its objectives?

Moving Talent responds to different but interacting objectives: on the one hand, to detect our future leaders among our youngest people, as we are a company that is committed to internal promotion, to establishing solid and lasting relationships, not only with our clients but also with our people. On the other hand, we wanted to foster collaboration between all our plants worldwide: Teknia operates in 13 different countries and this variety of cultures, experiences and points of view is an asset that should be promoted and exploited. With the programme, we have sought to give participants a double visibility: to get to know them and the Company, as well as to promote the acquisition of new skills through participation in a leadership course, and the development of internal projects by groups, which could also have a real positive impact on the company, generating, for example, in a limited space of time, notable and measurable impacts that could be replicated in other plants of the Group.

Michaela, Moving Talent started with a face-to-face event in Spain, how did it go and what were your impressions?

The eleven participants, from seven different countries and plants, travelled to Madrid to meet at Teknia’s headquarters. This way, we were able to get to know each other and see our different backgrounds and responsibilities in the company right from the start. Before competing for our projects, which we had to defend with an elevator pitch to the management, we had the opportunity to participate in several training sessions on leadership and learn first-hand, with our CEO, Javier Quesada de Luis, about Teknia’s business strategy and vision. Javier also offered us his advice for our professional development.

Denis, which projects won and how have they developed since then? What help did you receive?

In the end, we formed two different teams to deploy the two winning projects: one is focused on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction and is being developed as a pilot at the Teknia Brazil plant; and the other aims to unify the company’s IT procurement. Both projects are still under development, but they are already bearing fruit: we are seeing that we can make energy savings simply by making staff aware of the more efficient use of machinery and, therefore, emit less GHGs and, from the other project, we have already detected possible collateral benefits from the joint purchase of IT equipment, not only economic savings, but also the standardisation of software that facilitates our work.

Michaela, Denis, would you encourage other partners to participate in a possible second edition?
Yes, indeed. There have been times when it felt like the project was uphill work, although we have never been alone, in each project we have a mentor, a Teknia colleague, who guides us. It has been a great learning experience: from facing internal resistance, to raising awareness and convincing other colleagues to join in, to coordinating between countries and different timetables, to redirecting objectives and actions as we go along. The mentors of the programme and the organisation have helped us a lot in all of this. It is not easy, but the whole experience is very worthwhile.