HRD Summit – Interview with Natália Alves

The HRD Summitstarts tomorrow and we´re very excited to be part of this event in so many ways. To honor this special 2018 edition, we created a small series of interviews with our own senior HR leaders. We´re very proud to share with you, dear reader, the fourth and last piece of this intriguing puzzle, filled with strong opinions about the future of HR and its challenges.

For our last interview, our (editorial) team had an interesting conversation with Natália Alves, Senior Manager of People Services and Transformation at Gympass Europe. Half Brazilian, half Portuguese and a strong minded business woman, she’s very proud to be a defender of diversity and more so of women empowerment.

We sincerely hope you like this interview as much as we did. Enjoy!

What does Gympass represent today? For you and for the industry?

Having a mission that I respect and believe motivates me and makes me feel proud to be part of this company. To have a job aligned with my values is the kind of thing that gives meaning to my work and makes me happy. Gympass challenges me to be a better person and professional every day. Our mission is simple yet ambitious: defeat inactivity. The way we do that is helping people find an activity they love.

What challenges is the HR department facing today?

Our main challenge is to accelerate the use of digital technology and the goal is to enhance the way our people work. Technology is changing our department in many areas (Talent Attraction, Performance Management, HR Analytics, etc). Also, I believe we need to be prepared to work collaboratively, with diverse teams in terms of culture, generation and geography, while overcoming the “war for talent” that continues to grow. This is one such moment for HR and the keyword is transformation.  

What are the HR strategies implemented to solve them?

We are rethinking rewards strategy, improving employee experience and how we engage our people, designing new processes for talent attraction, investing in development programs and creating new areas of excellence to support the business in achieving maximum performance of every employee while creating a culture of development.

What are the major programs that you have or will launch in this context?

We are Implementing new HR tools that will help us with people analytics. A new ATS, L&D tools, a new Human Resources Information System and we are redesigning our Comp&Ben structure. In addition, we are working on our employer branding to better retain our people and to attract new top talents.

Do you have a recruitment policy limited to young talents?

No, we don’t. We believe that increasing our workforce diversity in all aspects (Gender, Generation, Cultures, Backgrounds, etc) is not only about delivering better results but is part of our company culture and values. We are implementing a lot of D&I initiatives and making a meaningful progress on this, putting this as a business priority and engaging our workforce on this path.

How do you envision the future of the HR function?

I see the future HR function a lot more than recruitment processes, hiring and dismissal, this function implies understanding the people and work processes, taking a systemic view of the organization, occupying a strategic function. HR will not only assume the role of an adapter but will also act as a decision maker in the strategic planning of the organization.

What advice would you give to a newcomer to the HR function?

I believe the effective use of your mental capital and your ability to network can be extremely helpful to stand out in this career. A combination and balance of emotional intelligence, people management, and data analysis skills can be a good formula for success.

Quality of Life: Fashion or reality?

Reality

Stress: Engine or Brake?

Brake

Home Office: Solution or Problem?

Solution

Flexible hours: for or against?

For

We hope you’ve enjoyed this series of interviews. Do you agree with our leaders’ opinion? Do you disagree? Please, share your point of view with us. Leave a comment here at the blog or in our social media. If you missed one of the interviews, just use these links:

• Duarte Ramos – Vice President of People and Performance
• Victoria Grzesiak – Senior Manager of Learning & Development
• Natalie Brock – Director of Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding

More about Gympass