For this blog post we had the chance to speak with Patricia Iglesias. Patricia is Head of People and Talent at Tappx in Barcelona, Spain. Patricia and her team had a very successful but intense year at Tappx in 2020. They did not only manage an impressive increase in their workforce, they also went through in agile transformation with their HR team. We are very happy, that Patricia agreed to appear on our blog to tell us her story about agile HR in times of growth.
So with no further ado, we would like to say one more time: „Thank you Patricia!“ and wish everyone a happy reading!
Patricia, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are and your career so far.
Great!
First of all, thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to express myself and for your interest in getting to know Tappx a little better.
My name is Patricia (Pat to my friends and colleagues), and, in addition to being the mother of a wonderful 7-year-old girl, I’m fortunate to be the Head of People and Talent for Tappx, an AdTech company.
According to your LinkedIn profile you joined Tappx in April 2020 as Head of People & Talent. Tell us more about Tappx and your role there.
Of course!
Tappx delivers state-of-the-art digital advertising solutions for multiple platforms including mobile, OTT / CTV and desktop.
The truth is that I’m still learning a lot about the digital and tech environment in which we operate, as well as the profiles that collaborate with us. It’s exciting!
Regarding my position, the initial goal was to join the company as human resources director, with the main focus on recruitment. The truth is that my role
(thanks to or because of the pandemic) has been redefined based on the needs that we have been facing as a company.
The key is to find the right balance between the goals of the organization and the ones of the workers, as well as to achieve motivation for the entire team, which at present time, is very difficult.
To sum it up, the role of HR has become a transversal key piece enabling an employee centric approach.
We came across your name in an article on ExchangeWire.com, in which they stated a staggering 60% increase in Tappx´s workforce between March and December 2020. What is driving your current growth and even more important: How did you guys achieve that?
Above all, we have to thank our sector. The AdTech environment is booming and the forecast we made was really already good, but the fact is that we have exceeded expectations.
In addition, it’s key to highlight the commitment of the Founders (CEO and CTO) for growing steadily and betting on talent, both at tech and business teams.
Therefore, it has been a challenging and demanding online recruitment effort that, thanks to the attractiveness of our project, has been able to be materialized.
We have been focused on new talents designing job descriptions which matched with eager and ambitious profiles, who showed skills with short term contribution and, at the same time, long term opportunities to be developed within the company.
We have managed to grow using long run contracts -, 60% – that in pandemic times is close to craziness.
We are deeply proud of it.
The article also mentioned that you established an agile HR organization at Tappx. You described it as: “…the most challenging HR project which I’ve undertaken in 20 years.” It would be super valuable for us and our readers if you could share the process with us and how the agile HR organization at Tappx looks like today.
You see, when I joined Tappx, the initial need was to find optimal profiles to fill the vacancies.
But the reality was that there was no HR department, and in terms of HR too, there were no procedures, and no needs assessments.
For 8 months, working very closely with the CEO and the CTO and even with external partners such as coaches, we have been (and keep on ) implementing processes, creating structures, defining positions, detecting gaps and strengths, etc…
And now there is a person who can „afford“ the time to listen to employees, whatever they need, to be able to help both parties.
There is also someone who has a global vision to be able to report useful information and help the company growth.
And although many team building actions had already taken place, now we can also dedicate more time to research and make them more specific, as well as the training sessions.
On the other hand, we have digitized human resources management and implemented an employee site that makes our work much easier.
We have created all the Job Description Master and in the coming months we will start the performance evaluations of the entire team, always with the aim of improving everything.
And we continue working on all of this and much more!
Our organization is a living Animal so that’s how we try to tame it…
What were the key moments or milestones during the transformation phase of your HR organization?
For me they have always been when any collaborator smiles and really appreciates the actions taken.
I honestly cannot recall any special moment, because these 8 months since I have been at Tappx are full of challenging episodes and unforgettable learnings.
I’m extremely satisfied and proud of all the work the whole executive team has done, being absolutely involved in every process and during the onboardings to make the most of them.
Please name one benefit and one challenge of working in an agile HR organization now.
Confidence in the organization is a key benefit and the main challenge is to deliver a proper follow up after the onboarding.
What would you describe as the most important criteria when HR departments decide to start their agile journey?
For me, the most important is the trust on part of the management in the project itself, and that it’s created in the change that is going to take place.
If the values of the company and its managers are not in line with the changes to be made, there may be conflicts. And, sure, it won’t work.
Is there anything you’d like to additionally share with the readers?
I’m open to participate in any conversation on the subject of whoever requires or wants it.
I believe that together we can help each other and create much more agile and effective organizations.
Last but not least, what are your “famous last words”?
Breathe is the best way to solve any problem.
Thanks again to Patricia for sharing these insides and making moves on the journey into an agile future of HR!
For all questions, ideas and comments, please reach out to us.