{"id":178311,"date":"2026-01-16T17:04:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factorialhr.com\/blog\/factorial-play\/videos\/what-was-your-last-big-professional-challenge\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T17:04:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:04:36","slug":"what-was-your-last-big-professional-challenge","status":"publish","type":"factorial_video","link":"https:\/\/factorialhr.com.br\/blog\/factorial-play\/videos\/what-was-your-last-big-professional-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"What was your last big professional challenge?"},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_video_type":"highlight","_related_series":167693,"_related_episode":178290,"_related_season":0,"_video_source":"vimeo","_youtube_video_id":"","_vimeo_video_id":"1114818131","_speaker_id":177293,"_video_description":"Caterina Salvi faced one of her biggest leadership challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, shortly after joining her airline in January 2020. With the onset of the pandemic just six weeks later, she had to navigate remote work, strained communication, and a workforce scattered across Italy while maintaining the company\u2019s values and ensuring employee support through financial measures. Over two years, Salvi worked tirelessly to rebuild trust and foster communication between management and staff, despite being the sole HR representative in Italy. This experience underscored the importance of effective team management, employee values, and career development plans in times of crisis. According to Caterina Salvi, overcoming these hurdles was crucial for the airline\u2019s recovery. Don\u2019t miss more tips and insights on leadership and team management in the full episode.","_video_transcription":"00:04 - Facing a major challenge at work\n00:17 - \"What's been your biggest professional challenge?\" It was incredible.\n00:24 - It was the challenge of COVID-19, which came at quite a unique moment in my career.\n00:32 - I started working at my airline in January 2020,and six weeks later, COVID hit.\n00:41 - After just a month and a half, I had to start working remotely for safety reasons.\n00:48 - I barely met the team.We were spread across Italy. I'd just started settling in with the small team in Milan. It meant working from home without knowing anyone else.\n01:00 - A month and a half later, every plane was grounded.\n01:04 - So we had to start thinking about a\u2026 We considered restructuring, using government measures like furlough schemes and other supports just to keep going.\n01:17 - There was even talk, though never carried out,of cuts and a full organizational review.\n01:26 - And for an airline that had always done well,it was a real shock, especially for the staff.\n01:35 - For me, it was a really tough time.I had support from management, but I was clearly on my own.\n01:43 - It meant having little contact with staff, and when I did,it was never with good news.\n01:53 - Relations with the unions were strained,they'd mobilized strongly to avoid any restructuring.\n02:04 - And above all, we didn't know what was happening, COVID-19 was completely unpredictable.\n02:10 - We'd open, then close, then open again.It was two very difficult years,working on several fronts at once.\n02:20 - We had to work with public authorities to make sure staff kept receiving financial support,so they could live as normally as possible.\n02:33 - I worked with the unions, not easy, as relations were tense and talks difficult, to reach deals that kept the company standing and help employees keep their jobs.\n02:49 - We also worked with head office to avoid drastic decisions and to keep things balanced in case recovery came, which it eventually did.\n03:02 - We had to rebuild and maintain trust with staff,something that had clearly been damaged.\n03:10 - My company has always valued its people, and still does.\n03:14 - Of course, having to say overnight,\"We may need to make cuts,\" was hard for people we've always valued.\n03:26 - We still do, but it was such a unique situation that the message could sound mixed or contradictory.\n03:35 - It went on for over two years, and honestly, it was hard for me personally.\n03:42 - But little by little, step by step, we rebuilt that trust, which I believe is vital.\n03:52 - HR isn't just about rules and procedures,it's about building trust between staff and management.\n04:01 - It was a time when proving that in practice was tough.\n04:06 - But we managed, with real determination.I gave it my all,always available, late nights, early mornings,weekends, but the situation called for it.\n04:22 - I think the relationship with staff recovered quite well, though\u2026...with the union reps, where dialogue is normal but based on trust and respect,it was something that it never fully recovered, even after years.\n04:43 - I'd say that was my hardest challenge,partly because I was fighting it alone, being the only HR person in Italy,while management and HR are based abroad.\n04:58 - There were difficulties, but I'd say we overcame them well.","_has_trailer":false,"_trailer_vimeo_id":""},"categories":[935],"factorial-categories":[],"class_list":["post-178311","factorial_video","type-factorial_video","status-publish","hentry","category-leadership-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.5 (Yoast SEO v21.9.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What was your last big professional challenge? 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