Business Talks Edition III: big challenges, big companies

In a constantly developing world, knowledge is vital to successfully evolve, so Business Talks Edition III - the annual meeting of managers and executives where the latest trends and all the challenges of the labour market are discussed - has been a journey along the path of major brands to get to where they are today. The event was attended by executives from such important companies as Ikea, ING, Cabify, Instituto de Empresa and, in addition, thanks to Miguel Portillo (Executive Director of Page Executive), we enjoyed an inspiring talk by Amay Valdemore, one of Spain's top sportswomen.  

Jaime Asnai, Managing Director of PageGroup España, was responsible for welcoming everyone to the event, and stressed that the PageGroup team were proud to hold a new edition of Business Talks in Madrid. This is a meeting that has already become a benchmark, and a place to share the latest trends surrounding companies and their transformation with experts. We're living in a time when society is changing at a dizzying pace and because of this, companies must adapt to change as quickly as possible, and even predict it.

Improving people's daily lives inside and outside the company is the objective of Enrique Puig, HR Director of IKEA. For Ikea, people are central to everything and both the company's internal strategy and the products they design for their customers are planned to benefit the majority.  Considering this principal, he highlighted the importance of looking for positive values in employees and maximising them. He stressed that everyone has talent; hence the importance of knowing how to detect and develop it by measuring this capacity so it can contribute something to the company, rather than focussing on what it can't contribute.

Sport, and individual and team values were the focus of the presentation by Amaya Valdemoro, the best Spanish basketball player in history. Through her talk, led by Miguel Portillo, she wanted to emphasise the importance of individual and team values to achieve goals, which is something that can be linked to the work an employee performs on a day-to-day basis.

Amany explained how sport has been key in overcoming adversities and how it has provided her with the tools necessary to reinvent herself and move forward, valuing and learning more about defeat than victory.

The transformation of the business model was one of the major themes of this Business Talks Edition III.  Successfully transforming a traditional model into a digital and innovative one is not a simple task. This was explained by César González Bueno, CEO of ING in Spain and Portugal, who spoke about the importance of always focussing on the customer. In addition, he stressed that organisations shouldn't lose that perspective when it comes to innovating and evolving their structure. He explained that ING's transformation to a digital model has been key to its success.

The future of mobility, a current hot topic, was addressed by Mariano Silveyra, Cabify Europe President, who explained to the audience the imperative need to improve mobility in cities. This responds to a need to improve environmental quality together with a transformation of a society that is increasingly less likely to own a car. Therefore, in cities that continue to grow, it is essential to rethink how we want them to be in the future. 

Companies and hybrid space models were the focus of the talk by Salvador Aragón, professor of Information Systems and Technology at the Instituto de Empresa. During his talk, Aragón reflected on the DNA of companies and the spaces that they're composed of. Thus, he stressed that companies are work spaces where we somatise the behaviour and nature of the company and that, although the world is becoming more and more digital, there is going to come a time when people need technology-free spaces. For Salvador, the world isn't digital. The future is hybrid since trends are cyclical and therefore technology will coexist alongside a traditional consumption model.

One year later, Business Talks Edition III wanted to investigate and examine the success stories, evolution and adaption of the companies in order to remain benchmarks in their sector. These are just some of our conclusions on the changes we are experiencing. But, how will the market evolve in the coming years? How will businesses have to adapt to meet users' consumption needs? We'll see in Edition IV.