Crucial link between companies and workers, the human resources and talent recruitment firm AdQualis, specialized in executives for senior management, is undergoing its own transformation to be more digital and grow abroad.
One of the veterans of the sector in Spain, “after 35 years we have 100,000 candidate profiles in our database”, comments Jordi Berenguer, general manager of AdQualis Executive Search Barcelona. He came to the position in July. His idea is to promote digitization – "the goal is to transform the company at a technological level" – and international business, which in the short term could account for 15%. She already works in Italy, France, the United Kingdom or Latin America, with firms that open subsidiaries there or companies that see a good fishing ground in Spain, in sectors in which the country stands out.
After constant growth, the business today has three legs. One is that of directors, the most important and the one with the most experience. “We were pioneers. We emerged in 1987 following the trail of headhunting services in the US. It was little present and developed in Spain”. Another is the intermediate, non-executive and more technical profiles. The last one, tailor-made projects to solve problems, such as uniting organizational cultures after a merger or dimensioning new areas. Thus, the service "is comprehensive", with recruitment, hiring and personalization. Always looking for the ideal candidate. The differential point that we want to give is that they are not cold processes, always with the person at the center. "We don't manage resumes, we manage talent and the processes are personalized, understanding the culture, the processes of the companies," he points out.
Far from ghosts of crisis, the labor market is moving. And well, says Berenguer. "There is movement in all sectors and many vacancies," he says. But "at the beginning of the year there may be changes in the environment that affect the market," he says. Will it freeze? No: “Prudence will prevail, not oversizing teams. There will be some slowdown, but not a dramatic drop in hiring, ”he says. The advice in fact is "do not make short decisions and take great care of the employee to retain him in the context of uncertainty". And precisely if things go wrong, it is time to recruit "managers who have been through a crisis and know how to get out of it."
With the dynamism that can be seen, AdQualis expects to approach the 6 million euros invoiced this year (almost 10% more than the 5.5 million in 2021). “Every time we have larger and more international clients,” he points out. This business growth will be reflected in the workforce, with 70 workers currently divided between the Barcelona and Madrid offices.
