The search and retention of talent has become one of the main corporate focuses for businesses in recent years. Most, regardless of their area of activity, face a changing environment where the ability to adapt and, above all, to innovate are crucial for achieving or maintaining success. In this context, the role that the talent of their employees plays is key, with training being a decisive driver for their development.
In this sense, collaboration between educational institutions and businesses is essential. Evidence of this is that, although traditionally the educational sphere and business activity have always been seen as parallel worlds, the gap has begun to narrow in recent years, leading to increasingly fluid collaboration and interaction between them. The industrial sector is, in fact, one of the sectors where this paradigm shift is most profoundly crystallising, especially considering the need for more specialised training among its workers.
The results that this new scenario facilitates in terms of employment insertion, for example in the packaging sector, are encouraging. Currently, it creates over 180,000 direct jobs in Spain. A sector that accounts for 4.5% of the country’s GDP, 2% of the employment generated on Spanish soil, and accounts for 18.5% of industrial employment. These are rising figures that make efficient collaboration between companies and educational institutions even more necessary in the near future.
A commitment to the future
At Hinojosa Packaging, initiatives and collaborations with educational institutions are already part of its very nature as a group. The two clearest examples are found in the Dual Vocational Training in Graphic Printing, a pioneering initiative in Spain with more than 2,000 teaching hours over two years of the training model, and the newly signed Hinojosa Chair with the Polytechnic University of Valencia, which aims to convey the realities of the packaging sector, the truths and myths about paper manufacturing, and the development opportunities for young talent in various areas of the company.
Both collaborations focus on a unique aspect for talent acquisition, which is none other than students being given training in advance of entering the jobs market. In the case of Dual Vocational Training, this is reflected in the theoretical and practical training that the students receive, which helps to equip them with the skills they need for the packaging industry. The specialisation in this vocational training allows for a natural, logical, and efficient integration into the company.
In the case of the Hinojosa Chair, in addition to raising awareness and sharing knowledge about the packaging sector for the students of UPV through activities at the plants and a presence of its employees as lecturers, Hinojosa Packaging Group is committed to research and university talent. International scholarships stand out among its actions, some of which are awarded in France due to the international nature of the group, as well as awards for final degree projects and Master’s theses related to the packaging sector. Similarly, meetings with university research groups have also been announced to seek synergies and foster collaboration on R&D projects.
Training to never stop learning
Although greater efforts are being made to attract talent, training is not just a stage in the working life of our team, but a way to understand their professionalism. The packaging sector is going through exciting times, where the challenges it faces, especially in terms of sustainability, require ongoing learning, in which innovation and creativity are key factors. At Hinojosa Packaging Group, we believe in the ability to reduce our impact and improve the planet’s regeneration, promoting the sort of harmony with the environment expected from our activities of a circular nature, of which we are so proud. We are yet another player in the ecological transition we are experiencing.
It is therefore essential to place people, talent, at the centre. We strive to be the place where they want to develop it, and are able to do so. As part of our commitment to sustainability, caring for them and helping them grow is one of our main objectives as a company. Once talent is onboarded, individuals require a space to develop, which is why at Hinojosa, training initiatives, numbering over 700 annually, and nearly 40,000 hours of training each year are par for the course.
Other collaborations with educational institutions also contribute to their development, with bespoke programs such as HiTalent, developed ad hoc by ESIC Business & Marketing School, focused on broadening general knowledge about the company and experiencing its values through outdoor days and teamworking sessions. We also run the Metatop Campus, a program that aims to convey an overview of the business to those with prospects within the company and promotes a culture of internal promotion.
Our ethos compels us to ultimately foster a spirit of continuous improvement, the outcomes of which promote our primary goal: common well-being, both for the people at Hinojosa and for our surroundings and the planet we inhabit
