“One of my main objectives is that the dircoms are not in a position of inferiority with respect to the person responsible for finances or human resources,” said Jordi Romañach, the new president of Dircom Catalunya who this afternoon took over from Mª Lluïsa Martínez Gistau , in charge of the position since 2016. The director of communication, sustainability and institutional relations of El Corte Inglés in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, has told La Vanguardia that he faces this position “with enthusiasm and the responsibility to continue working so that the communication director consolidate as a strategic profession, especially within large corporations.”
The new president of Dircom Catalunya has been part of the board of directors for the last four years and in that sense he feels he is heir to Martínez Gistau's stage "in which the association has been revitalized". Along with him are two other members: Marc Gómez (Fundació 'la Caixa') and Carme Miró (apple tree). They join Sandra Hors (Vueling), Igone Bartomeu (Coca-Cola), José Guerra (Agbar), Lluís López (Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona), Esther Roure (CaixaBank) and Paula Zapata (Naturgy).
“I have looked for a very collaborative work team that is as transversal, equal and intergenerational as possible,” he comments. “All the members of the new board have proven professional solvency and are at that point where they have the ability to show, teach and improve beyond a personal record.”
Romañach has two clear objectives. The first, the one already mentioned, is to ensure that the dircoms are not in a position of inferiority. “And from here another key element is derived, such as that this area of the company is also academically recognized,” he adds. And the second, the need for networking and ongoing training. “In my experience on the previous board, it is one of the factors that members value most.”
Martínez Gistau, for his part, wanted to show his “gratitude” to the team he had led “because everyone put effort and enthusiasm into listening to the partners and meeting their needs.” The director of communications and institutional relations at CaixaBank said she left with “the feeling of a job well done” and, above all, “of having put the association in a high position and a reference for the sector.”
Proud of having doubled the number of associates during her mandate (from 136 in 2016 to 270 today), she considers that part of the success has been “listening to the needs of the members and adapting the association's strategy to them.” . With this objective, they promoted a cocktail of various activities such as “networking, training cycles on key topics such as digital transformation, crisis management or sustainability, and meetings with opinion leaders both from communication and from outside. “Everything to reinforce this strategic profile of the dircoms.”
Martínez Gistau has no doubt that the incoming board “is going to do well and even better” and points out one of the objectives that must be addressed by the association and in which she as a member also wants to get involved is “working on the digital transformation model of the communication". Regarding the work of these eight years, she has highlighted the strong growth and consolidation of the profession and having managed to show "the importance of having a person dedicated to what I consider the most valuable for a company: its reputation."
