Dr. Ioannis Mertzanis (CEO of Space Hellas) talks about his company’s latest investments, its corporate culture and structure, but also about how the pandemic acted as an accelerator for digital applications in both the public and private sectors.
We see that the competition for talent in IT and technology is constantly increasing. How is Space Hellas positioned in this field? What does it offer to potential employees?
Space Hellas is a pioneering group in the field of technology that enables young engineers and new talents to be in a modern environment with great potential, professional and personal development. These prospects are strengthened especially after the recent investments in SingularLogic and SenseOne and the expansion of the group’s activities. The company’s culture and structure are human-centered. Space Hellas is constantly investing in its human resources, which is the highest capital of the company. Since 1985, it has been a timeless training ground for many well-known market executives.
How do you expect the future to be shaped in terms of digital applications and what will change in the needs of businesses?
The pandemic has acted as an accelerator for digital applications in both the public and private sectors. On the business side, a very important transformation effort is being made with digital applications and tools that are interconnected and change the way they operate and the way they serve customers.
In the future, we will see digital tools that integrate artificial intelligence technologies to automate processes and make quick decisions. New technological developments in the field of robotics and industrial automation, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), with infrastructure of high speed fiber optics, 5G and satellite communications and the interoperability of applications in a global multi-cloud environment, have already started to create new data in many areas.
How can an ICT company cross the borders of Greece and what should it do to face international competition?
With new technologies, software, cloud and IT and telecommunications services, it is easy for an ICT company to cross the borders of Greece, especially today. To face the international competition you need specialized talents and Greece has proved that it has people with very high training and vision. However, effort, targeting and especially the appropriate investments with a long-term horizon in innovative solutions, applications and services are required.
What emotions does the CEO position itself cause and how do you manage it?
The position of CEO creates a very important sense of responsibility for the balance in achieving the goals towards the company and its position in the market, to the shareholders and to the employees. It requires passion, composure, optimism and very strong reflexes especially in difficult times. It also requires perseverance, insight, courage and determination for the next day for the company. You need to be able to anticipate either positive or negative developments in a timely manner and prepare your organization for it. It is therefore obvious that the emotions that change daily due to the position of CEO in a company are many and particularly intense in matters related to human resources, the relationship of trust with partners, successes and failures.
Also, a great stress of the CEO is to be able to listen to the pulse and the needs of the customers, the employees and the associates of the company. As an organism grows this becomes more difficult and if it is done from a distance with the new conditions, it is even more difficult.
Emotion management improves with time and experience and is always combined with self-knowledge, collaboration and creating the right teams, where you can exchange views and correct mistakes and omissions.
Which work model do you think will be most effective for the operation of an organization from now on, given the possibility of “returning to the office” after a long period of teleworking?
I believe the model that will prevail is the hybrid way of working with telework and physical presence, where digital tools must evolve to such an extent as to increase efficiency, work experience, but also employee commitment.
What is the role of the CEO in retaining and developing his / her executives and who in attracting new executives from the market?
The CEO should be an example to be imitated in a company and especially in the development of its executives, it is important because it has to do with the relationship of trust that develops from cooperation, the ability to understand and empathy. The CEO has an important role in a company in creating a climate of meritocracy, in encouraging executives to take initiative and responsibility, but also in rewarding teamwork and how to manage disagreements and cooperation between them. In order to attract new executives from the market, the role of the CEO is crucial, especially for very high-ranking executives, but the most important factor is the corporate culture and development prospects, which is not reflected in one person, but in the whole company. Many of the new executives choose a company mainly for the work environment and its corporate culture.
A new executive who has the ambition to become CEO, what would you advise?
In my opinion, the role of CEO should not be an end in itself. It is important to cultivate all those skills that will help you show your talent. To have a vision and passion for what he does, to be able to constantly improve, to recognize his mistakes, to take responsibility, to be cooperative and open to diversity and to give value to cooperation and team building. An executive who aspires to the position of CEO, must be a good listener, to see globally what others do not see or hear, to give solutions to problems and to focus on what will help him, not to cover the his ambition, but to create a whole and with deep knowledge personality and to help the success of the business by putting his own added value. The evolution in the position of CEO of an executive, comes, since one has learned to work and think like a CEO, so it is very positive for both him and the company, regardless of when and if it happens.
Is a CEO’s personal involvement with issues that concern society part of his / her role?
Man, society and the environment are part of the corporate responsibility of every modern company, therefore the issues that concern society are part of the role of a CEO and his personal involvement. A company operates in the wider society, so problems affect everyone and no one should be cut off and disengaged even when he believes that they will not affect him. A CEO must be concerned with society and be actively involved in solving the problems that concern the whole.
Source: Capital
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