Esther Clemente: “The most important feature of companies is the talent within them”

05 de December de 2019

Change management in a large company like Endesa was the focus of a new session of the Innovation Meetings held at the Club Utopicus at the Príncipe de Vergara Campus.

Esther Clemente, the Director of Development, Compensation and Change Management at Endesa, led a new session of EAE’s Innovation Meetings that examined the organizational changes and measures being taken by Endesa to adapt to new needs in relation to innovation and the sustainability of the planet. In the conference, the speaker also gave an overview of Endesa’s initiatives to reduce global warming and promote renewable energies.

The Innovation Meeting began with the presentation by Esther Clemente, an industrial engineer who knew from an early age that she wanted to change the world in order to improve it. In this respect, she sees process optimization in day-to-day operations as a really important change because of everything that it entails in an organization like Endesa. “I have specialized in helping to change things”, she explained, before giving an insight into the merger with the Enel group and how they managed the integration.

Change management involves transforming the company’s culture at all levels, starting with the Human Resources department, where they begin to foster soft skills and share lessons learned. The department is now known as “People and Organization” at the company, because the focus is on individuals. “The most important feature of companies is the talent within them”, explained Esther.

As well as embracing this change in the personnel department, Endesa has also transformed its management team. Growing awareness of climate change and CSR has influenced the energy sector, leading to changes at an eternal level. The company also strives to become the key player in this change. “Things have got to change, and we are keeping one step ahead to become the trailblazer”. Endesa strives to be an extremely active advocate of a paradigm shift that goes far beyond infrastructures to take place at an individual level.

Endesa originally started in the mining and coal sector. It has now closed its mines and focuses on one of its key challenges: creating new facilities in which people reinvent themselves and get passionate about technology. To achieve this, the company needs to develop change initiatives based on respect and empathy, working closely with people, with lots of communication and conveying the company’s purpose to them: slowing down climate change.

A close working relationship with staff, soft skills training and more emotional accompaniment are also factors in changing the mindset of leaders, together with young talent and coaching. This all comprises the company culture. A company’s leadership style has a big influence on the culture and acknowledging change forms a key part of Endesa’s culture”, explained the director.

Endesa is in the throes of a process of building the future, which involves respecting its origins and embracing an organizational change by merging with the Italian multinational Enel, with which it has regular meetings to make progress in this respect. In short, the change focuses on the employee, the management of people by accompanying and coaching them; a process of training leaders to get the vest out of their teams. “A coach leader, rather than a boss, accompanies and motivates the people in their team”.

In Esther’s opinion, coaching is a matter of inviting people to find new ways to do things”, an exploration and accompaniment process that requires active listening. This procedure has many benefits because it is constructive and two-way, transforming the leadership style a great deal

The next topic analysed in the Innovation Meeting was talent in the 21st Century. On this topic, Esther Clemente discussed some of the findings of the World Economic Forum with respect to the competences in the highest demand over the coming decade, such as resilience, creative problem resolution, learning/unlearning capacity, reinvention and teamwork. “I focus on these concepts because they are what I observe most in my day-to-day work”.

To finish off, the expert described the ideal culture of a company, which she related to the purpose that the company strives to fulfil. As well as the purpose, the executive emphasized the importance of the satisfaction of the people and “having happy, motivated people who enjoy their work”. Lastly, she mentioned the financial benefits and social impact that the company generates. “I am lucky to have learned a great deal and I keep doing so day after day”, explained the Director of Development, Compensation and Change Management at Endesa proudly.

The Innovation Meetings are an ideal opportunity for Part-Time and Weekend students and EAE alumni to take part in a networking session with pizza and beers included.

Ainoha Cejudo: “We have an obligation to fight against climate change. If companies don’t act, citizens will struggle to do it”

Share on:

EAE Business School ranks among the Top 20 European business schools in the Bloomberg Businessweek ranking 2019-20