Jesús Valdepeñas, from Toledo & Asociados (Madrid): “We are benchmarks of technological change”

___Graduate in Law from the University of Alcalá de Henares and an intermediate degree in Occupational Risk Prevention, Jesús Valdepeñas began his professional activity at Ars Publicidad and since 1990 he has worked at Toledo & Asociados in Madrid, in which is responsible for advice on socio-labor matters. 

Toledo & Asociados was founded in 1950 and it has come a long way since then. What would be in your opinion the most important changes that have occurred and how has the consultancy adapted to these changes?

I think that in all sectors, in general and in particular in the services sector, the biggest change that has occurred in consulting is technological, in which Toledo & Asociados has been and is a reference not only in the implementation of new technologies applied in our company but also as consultants with general business service providers.

Experience, professionalism, flexibility and technology are your strong points at Toledo & Asociados. What do customers value most?

In the end, what clients value most is a personalized service, ease of contact and quick resolution of their demands, and we believe that we meet these demands because it is the essence of our group since the foundation.

___On your website you have a blog and a quarterly newsletter to publish current news and your own articles with content of interest, regulations, etc. What importance do you give to communication with your clients?

___We give total importance to this aspect, practicing transversal and constant communication with our clients and through all means: direct communication, circulars, social networks, FAQ...

___Entrepreneurship is one of the pending subjects in our country, but people find obstacles and above all fear when taking this step. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start their own business?

In general, plan your launch, finance yourself and train appropriately, let yourself be advised and, above all, persevere with the project.Entrepreneurship is not a short distance race. 

___Speaking of labor reform, what has this change in the types of employment contracts meant for your group? Do you think it is appropriate and necessary?

In our case and due to the principle of prudence, we have always been very restrictive when advising the creation of temporary contracts since with the rule in force before the reform in most cases The temporary contracts that were made in our country were in violation of the law and this in the long run generated problems for the client that could end up being blamed on us. ______ Regarding the suitability of the The new reform has its positive aspects although, in our opinion, it suffers from a certain lack of flexibility.

What is the relationship between labor advisors and the public administration? And with the mutuals? And with Fraternidad-Muprespa?

In general, the Administration after the pandemic “has taken to the mountains” by ceasing to provide face-to-face services to increase the well-being of officials in “non-teleworking” to the detriment of citizens, who desperately go to consultancies and agencies looking for help. With respect to Mutual Insurance, we have always thought that they are the ones that work best within the scope of Social Security, we only hope that excessive interventionism on the part of the Administration does not spoil what works.

Fraternidad-Muprespa, like us, has been able to adapt to new times and technologies, with a very good network of mutual member administrations, a great website and an excellent healthcare network, with the new hospital on Paseo de La Habana in Madrid being a reference in the implementation of new technologies in hospital management.

___The Advisor's Corner is a tool integrated into the Mutual Fund's Digital Office, can you tell us about the advantages that this tool brings to your advice? What do you think of the Discussion Forum as a tool to share a specific topic with other advisors?

___The advantages of the Advisor's Corner are obvious, Fraternidad-Muprespa has created a meeting point between advisors where we can share problems and doubts and resolve them. And regarding the Forum discussion, ___any Meeting point between advisors is a great idea since synergies are generated in the resolution of doubts and common problems.

To conclude, what would you ask the Mutual Fund so that you can improve the service you provide to your clients?

Basically ease of contact and training in terms of benefits and adaptation to constant social, medical, regulatory and technologies.