In an Interview, Erica Reginato, Human Resource Manager of Helios Coatings Italia (HCI), talks about her career steps, difficulties of the labor market in the pre and post pandemic phase as well as about the trends and developments in the human resource sector.

Mrs. Reginato, can you please tell us how your journey at Helios Coatings Italia started and led to your current position?

I was very lucky to find Helios Coatings Italia, a company that has believed in me and that has entrusted me with the challenge of creating a human resource department with a modern vision of the management of human resources, like it is a standard at KANSAI HELIOS Group. When I entered the company, it was “Ecopolifix”. Back then, there was no Human Resources department per se. In recent years, the perception of the world of work has changed and so has the approach of employees. Today, human resources at HCI are one of the focal development areas of the company. This is exactly the environment where I can use my experience and where I have the opportunity to propose my ideas and initiatives.

What are the predominant aspects of your profession?

There are three ingredients, that make me adore this profession: relationships with people, ambition, and tenacity. Since the beginning of my career, I have been dealing with personnel and I believe that in my profession it is essential to have qualities of great humanity and empathy. Often you are facing difficult situations with a strong emotional involvement. Analyzing these situations with humanity allows you to maintain respect towards others and creates interpersonal relationships that show the “beyond” of each person.

What are the main difficulties for the human resource department between the pre and post pandemic?

To me it seems that somehow people have changed and so have the priorities of employees. Consequently, our way of approaching them has changed too. In human resource we consider employees of our company as our “customers”. Our mission is to get as close as possible to their new employment perspective: It is about improving the work environment and its flexibility, encouraging activities that increase interpersonal relationships and the well-being of employees while always having our corporate values of the KANSAI HELIOS group as a reference point.

Can you share any initiative, which is strongly perceived and appreciated by Helios Coatings Italia employees?

We have several initiatives that already became an annual tradition. Furthermore, to increase the level of internal communication. new activities follow every year. Our Easter Week Challenge, celebrating Valentine’s Day, our Ice Cream Event, Jubilee celebration, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are some examples of how we integrate personal values into our corporate environment. Furthermore, we organize many creative events. The main goal of these events is to build and maintain a solid team, to keep and generate positive dynamics that allow the achievement of business objectives, without losing sight of the well-being of all team members.

How is the education of employees organized within the company?

Helios Coatings Italia is strongly committed to continuous education. The personal and professional development of our employees is considered as an integral part of the culture of HCI and the KANSAI HELIOS Group. We are investing in our employees by creating training programs to ensure the acquisition of knowledge and specific trainings to help them to be successful in their respective careers. “Good to Great” is one example. This project is dedicated to the managers of each segment. It aims to increase their leadership skills, effective communication, employee management, teamwork, and employee involvement. For the development of this project, we have started a collaboration with Dr. Fabrizio Pontrelli, Psychologist Trainer and CEO of People srl.

To top it off… what are HCI’s future challenges, what are the core values and why do you think corporate values are so important?

With the growth and evolution of our company, processes and procedures have multiplied and are becoming increasingly complex. We want to raise the level of organization of Human Resources. The simplification and optimization of processes will help to build trust, involvement and will free up time to focus on more important activities. Our corporate values are customer focus, speed and efficiency, professionalism and responsibility. These values are the basis for everything and especially for  all professional interactions. The goal is that all employees are committed to these values as they are the ambassadors of the company.  Therefore, our aim is to increase the satisfaction of every employee, make them more and more involved and increase the sense of belonging and loyalty.