Interview with Joan Ferrer, Director of Adecco Outsourcing

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Joan Ferrer holds a degree in Communication and Public Relations from the University of Barcelona and a postgraduate degree in Business Management from Pompeu Fabra University. He has also received training in the area of ​​Management in different business schools such as IESE, EADA, IE, Harvard Business School and IMD. He has been with Adecco Group since 1994, so he has a long career within the company, from Regional Director and Operations Director in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands to the position he currently holds as Director of Adecco Outsourcing.

In the interview, the outsourcing of services, the advantages and disadvantages that this implies, salaries, labor reform, agreements, talent and perspective for this year.

Q. Companies and human resources departments in particular increasingly use services outsourcing services. What is your perspective for this 2019? Will companies continue to bet on these services even with an increase in costs?

A. Yes, the forecast is for the sector to continue growing. When outsourcing is well done and you know what you want to achieve, it is a model of collaboration that insurance companies will continue to use and that becomes a clear factor that provides added value and competitiveness. The cost increases that come from regulatory changes are being generalized, whether it is outsourced or not and therefore, it does not affect the decision to collaborate with a third party. Yes, it is, however, the specialization, the efficiency it may generate, the respect for the working conditions of the workers and the legal security and quality that the supplier is willing to offer the company with respect to the service offered. .

Q. When outsourcing services, what is the most rewarding? Flexibility in the service, improvement of productivity, access to expert talent, ...

A. Undoubtedly, these three factors are important each one of them, but they matter more if possible when they are lent at the same time, since they are closely linked. Having the best professionals is a guarantee of a better service; the excellence in the service brings as a consequence improvements in productivity and when the vision and the objective that is intended with outsourcing, flexibility and reaction capacity are shared, the result is decisive for the company that outsources. To all this we must add the value of specialization and a clear and mutual understanding of what we want to achieve with outsourcing and its reflection in specific objectives and continuous monitoring of them to ensure the success of the operation, which in the end entails , either an improvement in productivity, or a higher quality in the service provided, or the provision of a new service.

Q. And what is the biggest obstacle to outsourcing services? Is it still a problem of culture within certain companies?

A. Most companies already outsource some kind of service, for different reasons, reasons and needs and they do it independently, regardless of their size, large, medium and small companies. The culture of outsourcing is increasingly frequent due to the speed at which markets move and the need to respond immediately to these changes, requiring suppliers with a high degree of specialization and knowledge to help companies in that transit. When some kind of reluctance arises it is usually due to the lack of guarantees and security that the supplier is willing to offer to the company and the insecurity that this entails, besides that in some occasions there is a certain fear of losing control of the activity subcontracted Therefore, it is essential that outsourcing be carried out through solvent companies that can and do well to prove the added value they generate.

Q. Having overcome a time of crisis, is it time to raise wages?

A. Wages have been rising as the economic recovery has been strengthened and has been done both by companies, and by the Government through the increase of the Minimum Interprofessional Wage. It is true that each sector and each company has different circumstances and that in the area of ​​collective bargaining they have to accommodate and adjust salary increases to what their economic context may allow, but it is also true that in a recovery environment economic and growth, it is desirable that wages are also passed on these increases, especially if they are linked to an improvement in productivity.

Q. Is the issue of modifying or not modifying the labor reform still current? Is it the moment?

A. Analyzing the evolution of employment figures in recent years, the latest labor reform may have contributed positively to move from almost 26% unemployment to 14.5%, also as a result of the recovery and economic improvement of the country, and that in this situation of crisis, has served to sustain and encourage the creation of employment, but it is also true that now the social and economic context is different and that there are aspects of the reform that should be reconsidered and recomposed.

Q. Do we have to give priority to sectoral agreements compared to company agreements?

A. In today's world, flexibility is very important and in the field of labor relations, working conditions and collective bargaining, the closer the company is to the better, because it will be better to manage and adapt the needs of the company. workers and the company at the economic moment, but this circumstance should never become an excuse for dumping at the expense of workers' wages and for this there are sectoral agreements, which define the remuneration of workers for the corresponding business sectors .

The flexibility is convenient to be managed in the scope of the company, the salaries should be in the sectoral scope of activity, otherwise, there is unfair competition and wage degradation.

Q. Definition of talent. Today, is there a struggle of organizations to get the best profile?

A. Talent, in the business world, is that ability that some people have to learn and carry out their professional activity with some skills above the ordinary.

The shortage of talent in the market is a reality and as the unemployment figures fall, the battle to recruit, develop and preserve the talent of employees in companies is emphasized.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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