The importance of human capital in organizational culture

What was the learning that the pandemic left you? Many entrepreneurs have answered me that it is the importance of human capital in their company. The physical and mental well-being of people became a relevant asset beyond other types of results.

That brings us to the question: Wasn’t it important before? And many managers and leaders could clearly say yes. However, a health crisis like the one we are experiencing or are experiencing uncovered many areas of opportunity and accelerated trends towards where different organizations were moving.

This Thursday, October 21, within the framework of the IOS Network Summit 2021 Collision = Innovation , experts such as Noemi Zozaya, co-founder and CEO at Delivering Happiness México; Alma Lagunas, founding partner of Karan Consulting Group; Sergio Porragas, director of operations of OCCMundial; and Paola Lavin, clinical psychologist, met in the panel called: ” Well-being and Organizational Culture: The key to the success of companies ” and discussed the importance of human capital for organizations, as well as the challenges and opportunities that companies companies found, in terms of team management , in this “new normal” and how that affects the organizational culture of a company.

“Talking about organizational culture is the heart of any company, but let’s start with what it means first,” said Sergio Porragas. The speaker explained that this refers to how the organization is formed, the day-to-day of the company. Likewise, he emphasized that previously the structures were much more rigid, the values and the mission were defined by a few people and the human capital was not directly involved. Currently “the most important asset of any company is human capital.”

The executive commented that to meet the objectives within a company it is important to involve employees with the objective that they all share the same culture. “Reaching the number of sales is not what only makes a company or reaching the KPIs that they gave you in the production team, you are going to achieve it, [what makes a company] is what you live within it, how the CEO proclaims and how can any employee be living the same values, that is why it is so important ”.

“Organizational culture is what people do when their boss is away,” added Noemi Zozaya. One of the biggest challenges for companies today is putting this experience of values into practice, according to Alma Lagunas.

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Mental health as a priority issue to achieve an excellent culture

How many feel that their life changed with the home office? In Mexico, more than 40% of workers suffer from work stress, 63% of 10,800 people surveyed mention having felt this disease in the last 24 months, according to the survey Labor Stress in Mexico 2021, carried out by the Internet MX Association .

“Analyzing this universe, 23% of people could have a continuous stress that is affecting them at home or in their day to day … Which is very high,” says Porragas.

According to the speakers, to think about productivity and the good management of an organizational culture, factors that rose in the period known as lockdown or quarantine must be borne in mind, among which stress, anxiety, depression stand out. , the fact that working from home means sharing “the sacred temple of the family” with work and school situations.

The speakers recommend leaving the rules of the game very clear, commitment and trust with the collaborators. ” According to the WHO , companies report a trillion dollars a year lost in productivity through stress,” Lagunas recalled.

Other of the speakers’ suggestions for leaders are:

• Accompany the team, try to see them at least once per camera, if they are in the home office, ask them how they are, how they feel. “The collaborative space is key.”
• Respect working hours. Pay attention if an employee feels they are working longer than before and talk to them about this.
• Leave mental health stigmas behind. “Don’t be afraid to talk about this,” create a safe environment for employees to talk about these issues.
• Involve your team. Involve them in new projects and goals.
• Having in mind that rest is not bad.
• Be aware of the signs that tell you that your mental health or that of your team is not well.

“Eventually if you don’t rest, if you don’t eat well, if you don’t exercise, if you don’t take care of yourself, that giant tank of water will overflow … and you are with chronic stress that has physical repercussions, and a greater probability of mental disorders, such as They mentioned depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, so of course it has a direct impact on companies ”, explains Paola Lavin.

How can we go about creating a great corporate culture?

“The number of vacancies in which they are looking for someone who is a specialist in wellness has multiplied … since now I need an expert to come and do this,” says Lagunas.

Leaders must be aware of “how their people are,” who they can move, telecommute, hybrid, or outright who need to be in the office, leaders must be aware of the skills that their collaborators possess.

All this leads us to the famous “emotional salary” that is being talked about a lot lately, which has to do with the recognition and communication with employees, collaborators or associates (whatever you want to call them) much more than a salary increase or economic bonuses Although they help, they do little for employees to really commit to the values and experiences of an organization.

“In the latest 2021 online job search survey , the most important part of finding a job for a person is the emotional salary, it is not how much more is paid. What do you offer me as a company, flexible hours, collaborative areas where we can sit down and think about new strategies ”, adds Porragas.

But, what happens if I invest a lot in emotional salary and contract wellness platforms, I give vacations, organize events, I have suitable spaces for different activities, I pay well and my collaborators still leave me for another company that pays them a little more.

Certainly, “not everything is emotional salary”, within the challenges of leaders are to constantly set objectives and new goals for employees so that this does not happen. “That is where the challenges and loyalty that we can generate with our employees have to do with creating a solid organizational culture,” says Porragas.

Verify that they are culture fit (or that they fit with the culture), how are you going to achieve it? “Hire slow and fire fast … Now the trend in Human Resources is to hire more for values than for skills , because values cannot be learned while skills can,” Zozaya concludes.