Isabel Viegas holds a degree in Psychology and a Master’s in Human Resources Policies and Management. A lecturer at Universidade Católica, she is also co-founder of the non-profit association d’NOVO, which values and promotes qualified senior professional activity in Portugal.

After more than three years as Chief People Officer at Semapa, and at 67 years old, Isabel Viegas is now closing a chapter, while remaining connected to the Group as a consultant. In this interview, she tells us how it all began, the transformation process in the holding company’s culture and its subsidiaries, the daily dedication to people, and the value of a purpose that became the Group’s motto. *Making it better*: doing better today than yesterday. Isabel Viegas set the best example.

My connection with Semapa started a few years ago, around 2019, when I began supporting, as a consultant, the development of the Talent area. At the time, it wasn’t as structured or sophisticated as the team’s needs already required. That was the beginning of my collaboration, helping to build this edifice that is People and Talent Management.

In 2022, when Ricardo Pires was invited to take on the role of CEO, he spoke with me and said he wanted to begin a significant transformation process at Semapa, with two pillars of action. Investment, which is essentially the company’s DNA, and simultaneously, Talent development. Because there’s no point in investing without having the right people, nor having the right people without projects to give them.

I was delighted to hear a CEO say he was placing Investment and People and Talent on the same level. And I accepted the invitation to become Semapa’s Chief People Officer, even though taking on an executive role at this stage of my career and life wasn’t on my radar. That’s how we began this journey.

We thought a lot about what we wanted Semapa to become, and we had this discussion with the entire team. We talked, above all, around the questions “Why do I get up every morning? Why do we at Semapa get up every morning?”

We then began searching for what would be our focus and purpose for this new era of Semapa. Beyond transformation, there was a very important goal in the area I coordinated. We wanted to get closer to the needs of the Group’s subsidiaries and see how we could be useful to them. We discussed with the entire team what we wanted to be, and we defined that we wanted to be a holding company that adds value to its subsidiaries. And it became clear. “I get up every morning to add value every day to the Semapa team and the Group’s subsidiaries.”

We did indeed define a common purpose, which is still very active and dynamic today: Making it Better. We want to do better each day than we did yesterday, in this path of continuously adding value in the People and Talent pillar, both at Semapa and at the subsidiary companies.

It was also at that time that we realized we didn’t want to standardize cultures. Our companies are diverse, they have their own paths, cultures, and very specific legacies, so we will respect them. And the more diverse the Group is, the richer it becomes. So, we haven’t walked these three years with the goal of standardizing cultures, but rather, with humility, finding some common language while letting each company make its own way. That was the focus, adding value to what the subsidiaries were already doing.

We realized early on that, with about six thousand employees, seven thousand currently, we couldn’t reach everyone with the same practices. We decided that the preferential group we wanted to impact as a holding company and add value to would be first-line managers. We wanted to try to inspire them and promote opportunities for sharing experiences and ideas. That’s how the *Future Proof Leadership Program* was born, a leadership program we developed in partnership with Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE).

It was very emblematic because it allowed first-line directors from various companies to meet and create synergies. We have several projects that were born from the Future Proof Leadership Programme across its five editions. That was the first piece of this building we were constructing, and which helped the subsidiary companies understand that Semapa’s goal was to add value to them.

Other needs emerged, such as the question of mobility. Many employees said they would like to have an opportunity in another Group company but didn’t know how to proceed. So, we thought it would make sense to create an internal job market open to everyone. We are several companies, in very different sectors, all of them growing and needing people. Thus emerged another piece in this building we were constructing, the mobility platform Grow with Semapa. It’s still in progress, but the seed has been planted, and we’ve already had several employee movements – from Secil to Semapa, from Semapa to Secil, from Navigator to Triangle’s, from Semapa to ETSA, among others. The impact is beginning to emerge.

We didn’t have much data on how employees felt in our house, in our Group. We then felt the need to study the internal climate. In 2023, we conducted the 1st edition of the Organizational Climate Study across the entire Group. We now have a channel to listen to employees in a structured way, which allows us to have data that serves as a basis for adjusting and take some decisions. It’s very important because it allows us to listen to what people feel and make those adjustments. And because people know they are being heard.

We repeated the study this year and had an 84% response rate. Given the Group’s geographical dispersion, that’s very good. This shows that employees want to contribute and trust the model we’ve created. Listening to people allows us to keep doing better and pursue our Purpose, Making It Better.

At a certain point, the Group’s younger members expressed the need for a specific initiative for them as well. That’s how Talent Lab was born, now going into its third edition. It’s a different program, not conducted in a school. Young people can get to know the Group very well, for example, they spend two weeks working in one of Semapa’s factories, in an area different from their own, and during that time they have to create something. They also have an international visit — they’ve been to Berlin, London, and this year it will be another destination. We work hard on these visits so that participants can access realities and contexts they can’t see in Portugal, that are very different. And this also opens their horizons and makes them think “life isn’t limited to where I am. It’s much more.”

Over the years, we’ve reinforced the feeling of belonging, showing that regardless of which subsidiary company they’re in, each person belongs to a larger Group. Cross-functional committees were created across various areas, from Talent to Innovation and Sustainability. The Group’s annual events, for example, also became more open. The Management Meeting today is very different from what it was before this three-year journey. They’ve been going very well, but we’re always listening to the feedback people give us, and one of the messages was that they would like a Management Meeting where they could talk more with each other. And the 2025 Meeting format responded to that request. This year was very surprising and interesting.

There’s also the annual Making It Better Week event, which is extraordinary because it’s five days of the year when all companies are aligned and committed to living the same purpose. It’s very important.

I think we’ve been achieving a good balance between people with more experience, even speaking about age, and very young people. I can have on my team an older person, a younger person, and I’ll draw from both what they must give and complement each other. The theme of diversity, not just of age, but also of experience and even background, is very important to us. Last year we committed, as a Group, to working on diversity. Essentially, we launched a challenge to the subsidiary companies: if we have more diverse teams, we’ll be better; we’ll produce more. We’ll have better results. We’ll attract better people. So it’s a theme we’re managing.

My role at Semapa involved a lot of execution (it was necessary to contribute to the Group’s transformation) and, simultaneously, a large component of support for teams, leaders, and people, which is a function I’ve performed throughout my life. And my training also comes from there. It was necessary to support some people at certain times all of this is natural. I do it very organically. Essentially, I activate the skills I’ve developed throughout my life. I really enjoy that aspect. And outside of Semapa, I’ve been doing this pro bono for many years and I’m supporting some people, even now, in that capacity. I feel that each of us can make a difference in someone’s life.

It has been a privilege. I often say that Semapa was a late-career gift I was given. I’m very grateful. The roots, the seeds we’ve planted over these three years, remain here. I’m very calm because what was built is meant to continue, to develop, to improve, to grow. There’s a phrase I say and will say all my life: CEOs make a big difference in companies. And at Semapa we have a CEO who helps create the environment and space for everything to move forward.

It was always clear that I would serve one term, during which we would seek to ensure my succession as an executive. And we started this process with time. We weren’t looking for someone who would be a copy of me, but rather someone who would add new skills, especially in the areas of Data Analytics, Innovation, and Sustainability. It was a difficult process that lasted months. But finding Joana Machado was natural. We immediately realized she fit the Group’s values and would bring the skills needed for a new cycle.

After this transition, I remain connected to Semapa as a consultant, with full availability to advise, support, share experience, and participate in some projects (for example, in the Pedro Queiroz Pereira Foundation). It’s a position that allows me to continue contributing while maintaining space for team renewal and autonomy. I’ll always be in the background to help with whatever is needed. And I’m very happy!

If I were speaking to the Group’s 7,000 employees, I would tell them to embrace the power they have. Power to make a difference.

Use that power to give ideas, to influence, to say you disagree or that you have an idea. Don’t be passive. Be actors in this film we’re making together. And invest in your development, invest in the company. It’s worth investing in this Group. It’s worth being here and contributing.