Human capital strategies forum: what is the best play?

Venezuela's current situation has forced companies to operate under genuinely unstable political, economic and social conditions. That represents a challenge in many respects, above all in human resources.

With that in mind, PGA Group, specialists in human capital management with more than 20 years of experience, held its Venezuela 2019 forum, Human Capital Strategies: What Is the Best Play?, on Wednesday 24 April at the J.W. Marriott hotel, where a panel of experts shared different perspectives to help attendees develop the best strategies in this field.

The political scientist Ángel Oropeza opened the forum with a talk asking whether Venezuela had changed, analysing the three main actors in Venezuelan politics, the government, the opposition and the public, and suggesting that the key to everything lies in hope and in finding a viable, well constructed solution.

The economist Alicia Sepúlveda of CEDICE set out the economic difficulties companies face in Venezuela and how those have forced them to solve problems as they go. She stressed that emerging from the crisis requires restoring the institutional strength of the country's competent bodies and thinking of enterprise and entrepreneurship as forms of development.

Challenges of managing human capital in Venezuela

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On that point Alberto Afiuni, executive partner at EY Venezuela, explained the need for companies to reinvent their business models, making a cultural change leveraged on technology in a digital transformation. To do so, organisations must develop transforming leaders who exceed expectations and break moulds, since today the only way to be profitable is to be disruptive.

In her talk on the challenges of managing human capital in Venezuela, Amarú Liendo of SC Johnson & Son set out three aspects organisations must consider today: people and results, clear goals, and alignment. She explained that companies must focus on their staff in order to reach their objectives, that goals must be known to all employees so they can connect and work as a team, and finally that everyone must be in the same boat, supported by the psychological safety that helps them be more productive.

To close, Iván Acosta, director of PGA Group, warned that 2019 would be a year of political conflict reflected in an economic contraction of 25 per cent. Faced with that reality, organisations must find mechanisms to compensate, drawing on emotional resources. Acosta proposes building organisational triangles that take in economic resources, business resources and a vision of the future with a conviction for change. Companies should also foster a professional triangle in their workers made up of passion, ambition and purpose.

The Venezuela 2019 forum, Human Capital Strategies: What Is the Best Play?, was moderated by the journalist Anna Vaccarella, who ran the question rounds and the interactive polls with energy and warmth. It was a productive morning full of learning and reflection that invited attendees always to lead with a purpose.