We are also preparing our staff for the new investment fund, says the HR Director of CE Industries

You joined CE Industries just under a year ago. How have you settled in?

My adaptation has been fairly quick and intense, but at the same time very enjoyable and interesting. I consider my decision to join such a diversified industrial holding company to be the right one, and not just because it has allowed me to gain an insight into a range of different sectors. CE Industries is growing dynamically and I want to support this development as much as possible. The owner of CE Industries, Mr Jaroslav Strnad, has a clear vision of how to develop Czech industry in an international environment, and that is crucial for me. I believe I can put my experience of building a company from a small start-up to a global scale to good use. And what’s more, in collaboration with a brilliant team.

How does HR in a diversified group differ from HR in a single company?

The key difference lies in striking a balance between shared principles and the independence of individual companies. HR at group level acts as a partner to management and a guarantor of the long-term sustainability of people management. At the holding company level, it is about partnership, responsibility in setting supportive strategies, key HR standards and leadership, whilst local HR departments in individual companies retain their own personnel policies, taking into account their sector, size, specific local regulations and stage of development.

Development and digitalisation across the group are also major topics at present. For example, we want to explain to employees that the ability to use artificial intelligence does not mean losing one’s job, but rather adapting to what the future will bring. Corporate culture and diversity are also crucial, as our aim is to preserve our own DNA – to be highly responsible whilst remaining able to respond quickly to change.

The group is launching a new investment fund. How will this development impact the HR agenda?

It is a significant and very interesting challenge. Together with external partners, we are preparing the organisational structure and finalising the fund’s staffing. It is not a traditional fund with a diversified investment strategy. It is a fund for qualified investors, CE Industries & Aerospace SICAV, backed by real, successful and established companies with a strong track record. It will focus on industrial enterprises and technology projects with long-term strategic significance. We will launch the fund in June and are preparing the companies within it for continuous dynamic growth. This naturally also involves potential acquisitions of new companies. We must have teams in place that are capable of responding quickly and professionally to any changes and rapid development. From an HR perspective, this involves not only recruitment and organisational set-up, but also long-term engagement with the management of the companies involved in the fund. That is precisely why we are already looking at how to set up an incentive framework that will support long-term thinking, management stability and accountability for the value of the companies over time.

We also want to take an unconventional approach and give young people a chance, as they can bring a completely different dynamic. This is particularly interesting in the case of Helicopter Alliance, a group also owned by Jaroslav Strnad. Helicopter Alliance encompasses six companies from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the US, which manage the entire lifecycle of UH-60 helicopters.

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