On Tuesday 22 March, the Chair of Family Business (CEFUV) promoted by the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs (AVE), the School of Entrepreneurs (EDEM), the Valencian Institute for the Study of Family Business (IVEFA), the Institute of Family Business (IEF) and the University of Valencia (UV), and sponsored by CaixaBank and Broseta, held a new June-tertúlia under the title "Good practices for attracting and developing talent in Family Businesses", which took place at the Hotel SH Palace at 9:00 am: 15h.

Alejandro Escribá, professor at the University of Valencia and director of the Chair of Family Businesses (CEFUV), introduced the debate by stressing that family businesses represent 66% of private employment in Spain, but despite this, one of the main challenges they face is to break the stereotype that associates this type of business with a limited capacity to offer opportunities, one of the main challenges they face is to break down the stereotype that associates this type of company with a limited capacity to offer professional development opportunities to people (non-family members) who join them. In order to address this issue and tackle the best practices that serve to attract talent and ensure their professional development, a colloquium was held with Carmen Berbegal (CSR Director and Assistant to the People Area of Actiu) and Paco Gavilán (General Manager of Nunsys) in which the two speakers shared their experiences and lessons learned in this area.

Actiu is a family company from Castalla (Alacant), with more than 50 years of experience and focused on improving people's wellbeing through the design and manufacture of furniture for workspaces, collective environments and contract areas. With a clear position of leadership and prestige in its sector, the company is committed to constant technological investment and sustainable growth linked to the territory, to the incorporation of design in all its processes and to the internationalisation of its activity. Carmen Berbegal, director of CSR, wanted to highlight that Actiu is a company that is committed to intrapreneurship and cares for its workers, giving them confidence in its proposals and interacting with them, "Actiu continually transmits values ​​through forums and tries to nurture internal talent," she highlighted.

On the other hand, Nunsys is one of the leading Spanish technology companies (and probably the only family business among them), founded in 2007 and which has experienced exponential growth with a business model that integrates organic and inorganic growth. As a company that operates in a highly knowledge-intensive sector, Nunsys is aware that its success depends on taking care of its human resources, and they have a great determination to attract and develop them by creating an environment that stands out for its flexibility, motivation, commitment and enthusiasm.

Paco Gavilán, general manager of Nunsys, highlighted the value of the initiatives developed by his company for people management. He stressed the importance of taking great care of employees who are already in the company, as they are the company's main ambassadors in the labour market. He also pointed out that, on many occasions, Nunsys attracts collective talent through acquisitions or the integration of teams and companies into the business project. 

During the colloquium, the speakers stressed the importance of taking care of the human team, emphasising that having talent with a desire for intrapreneurship brings a lot of value to the organisation and that it is important to empower it, accompany it and eliminate the "fear of error" factor in order to continue growing.

In the conclusions of the breakfast, the Director of the Chair, Alejandro Escribá, stressed that family businesses that are capable of building an attractive business project, accompanied by values related to transparency, proximity and closeness to employees, generosity and trust, have a long way to go to break the stereotypes that often accompany family businesses as potential employers. Among the good practices identified in the symposium, Professor Escribá highlighted the importance of offering a work environment with opportunities for training and professional development through clearly defined career plans. The size and growth of business projects are a great facilitator of these aspects, but the role of the owner families is especially relevant, as we have found in this breakfast, in which we have known the profile of accompanying professionals for their professional growth.

"A family business has to know how to transmit its project to society, to forget the stereotype that your company only accepts family projects" - Alejandro Escribá

If you couldn't come to the gathering, you have the live video on Youtube, click here.

If you want to know more, newspapers like Levante-emv and Valencia Plaza published an article summarizing our event.