Hiring Guru: Mossack Fonseca - International HR

As I am so accustomed to interviewing entrepreneurs, I was interested in the path of a Human Resources professional for such an international corporation with over 500 employees. So, I'm happy to present an interview with Katia Solano the Director of Human Resources for Mossack Fonseca & Co (MF).

Established in 1977, Mossack Fonseca is a leading global company which provides comprehensive legal, trust and accounting services.

Katia's been at the company for more than 20 years. She's moved through many different positions, learning different skills along the way, from reception to filing and then as the personal assistant to one of the founders of the company.

"I worked with the founder when MF was a pretty small company; we were around 30 employees at that time. Later, I worked on accounts receivables and payables, and then I came to the human resources department."

Give me an overview of the work that is done in the human resources department.

"Human Resources is a company-wide department, so it has to do with the human resources policies for the entire MF group―the hiring process, candidate selection, training and development, performance evaluation, benefits and salaries, internal communications, leadership development, deployment, cascading goals, the company culture, and induction, amongst others. I work closely with the CEO and the management team. I deal with all the managers of the different offices around the world. I have a team of six employees."

To what degree do you keep your finger on the pulse of hiring?

"I meet at least once a week with the Recruitment and Selection Specialist―she reports directly to the Human Resources Coordinator―but I meet with her once a week because the recruitment process is a key process in any organization. However, I don't interview candidates unless we are going to hire someone for a key position, like for example a lawyer or a management team member―somebody of a high level―whether here in Panama or in any of the offices abroad. In Panama it is very difficult to hire good people because the labor market is so tight."