Las Galias Construction

Faber Zapata has more than two decades of experience in strategic and comprehensive human resources leadership. He blends operational excellence, legal knowledge and visionary leadership to his roles, driving organizational transformation through culture and sustainability initiatives. Faber Zapata’s professional journey is rooted in the belief that companies grow when their people grow. At Las Galias, he focuses on facilitating powerful conversations that align purpose, culture, productivity and results.

At a Glance

● A Human-Centered Talent Ecosystem: Las Galias reimagines HR as an interconnected system that links performance, growth and well-being to create real impact for people and business.

● Culture-Driven Change and Leadership: Change happens through trust, dialogue, and authentic leadership, not top-down strategy, creating space for teams to co-create and thrive.

● Future-Ready, People-First HR: With AI, people analytics and strong leadership, HR is evolving to be more data- informed, while staying grounded in empathy and human connection.

Through this interview, Faber Zapata emphasizes modern HR leadership must move beyond traditional practices to build a purpose-driven, people-centered talent ecosystem and integrate culture, technology and empathy for sustainable transformation.

Aligning HR with Business Goals: A Shift Toward Employee-Centric Strategy

One of the most impactful changes we’ve made was moving away from the traditional HR model, where hiring, training, performance and compensation were treated as separate processes and embracing what we now call a talent ecosystem. It’s a shift in mindset, where we see all these elements as part of a bigger picture: the overall employee experience.

We’ve built this approach on best practices, backed it with people analytics and kept it grounded through large-scale, active listening. That’s helped us understand how a positive workplace climate fuels productivity, how strong leadership uplifts performance, how a sense of purpose reduces turnover and how structure builds trust.

“We’ve focused on creating real opportunities for growth, not just through promotions, but through paths that reflect each person’s skills and potential. Growth here isn’t tied to a title. It’s tied to who you are and what you’re capable of becoming”

These insights don’t stay buried in reports. We bring them into regular conversations with our corporate governance team to ensure our work stays aligned with the company’s strategy. It’s a continuous cycle—listen, learn, adapt, align—and it’s made a real difference across the organization.

Approach to Change Management: Where Shared Vision Turns into Collective Movement

For us, change management is not about convincing. It is about building trust and a shared vision. We take inspiration from John Kotter’s methodology, which outlines steps like creating a sense of urgency, building guiding coalitions and anchoring new behaviors in the company culture. But instead of applying these as rigid steps, we bring them into our daily reality in a way our teams relate to, through stories that inspire, symbols that signal meaning, cultural practices that guide behavior and co-creation spaces where we can shape change together.

At Las Galias, change doesn’t happen in organizational charts. It happens in conversations. We move through them with closeness, with clarity and with a lot of listening because we know that transforming a company is really about transforming how people feel, how they think and how they act.

Talent Development and Retention Strategies: Purpose, Growth and Leadership That Cares

What’s worked best for us starts with something simple: giving meaning to work. Employees don’t walk away from companies; they walk away from cultures that don’t inspire and leaders who don’t connect. When work feels disconnected from purpose, everything else starts to slip.

We’ve focused on creating real opportunities for growth, not just through promotions, but through paths that reflect each person’s skills and potential. Growth here isn’t tied to a title. It’s tied to who you are and what you’re capable of becoming.

We don’t believe in leadership by control. What we value is leadership by example, by service, by empathy. It’s the kind of leadership that earns trust, not just authority.

And then there’s mental health. Caring for people’s well-being has to be built into leadership and daily work life, not reserved for crisis moments. That shift in mindset has made a real difference.

Above all, we return to something very human: people stay where they feel seen. The best career plan we can offer is to ensure our people feel valued, heard and respected every day.

Preparing for a Digital HR Future: Teams to Lead with Tech Without Losing the Human Thread

AI is not here to replace HR professionals. It’s here to free them from repetitive tasks and operational burdens so they can focus on what they do best: humanize the organization.

At Las Galias, we already use people analytics to reduce risks in talent management, improve how we attract talent and create more personalized employee experiences. But we’re clear on one thing—we’re not driven by the tool; we’re driven by purpose.

That’s why we’re training our teams not only in new competencies, but in digital thinking and leadership. It’s not just about learning to use new technologies. It’s about knowing how to lead through them. We believe the future of HR will be powered by technology but guided by empathy, judgment and human connection.

Key Advice: Small Actions, Lasting Impact

I recall a conversation with a construction foreman who said, “Thank you for asking how I’m doing. No boss had ever asked me that.” That moment reshaped my view of leadership.

It made me realize that HR leadership doesn’t depend on big speeches or elaborate policies. It starts with small, meaningful actions. From that day on, I knew that no talent strategy would matter if it didn’t begin with something fundamental: respect and human dignity.