You are the first company in Spain to offer paid leave to employees who adopt or buy a pet. Do you feel pioneers in this aspect? Do you think more companies will follow your example?

We’re proud to be pioneers and we hope to inspire others to follow because we can only see the advantages of bringing our dogs to work with us. In fact, our dogs were our true inspiration for this policy. We wanted to break the status quo of having a pet and not having the time to nurture them. In many ways, this policy was an extension of who we, individually, are and the things we wanted for ourselves: a great life together with our dogs.

Do you allow your workers to go to the office with their pet? Would you recommend that this practice be extended to other companies?

Yes and yes! Everyone can bring their dog to work and we encourage our team to do so from day one. Dogs can play a big part in someone’s onboarding and team integration. We definitely have a positive experience and we recommend it to any company that gathers the right conditions to make it happen.

What does it take to activate this type of dynamic in a company?

This was a very natural decision for us as a team, but we’ve learned along the way that there are 5 golden rules to make the most of this experience:

1.  Everyone needs to be comfortable with the presence of a dog.
2. There needs to be access to water, toys and space for the dog to explore safely.
3. The dog needs to be trained to obey simple commands.
4. The dog owner must always be available to intervene as necessary.
5. Come to work with your heart open to goofiness and tenderness.

What benefits do pets bring to the work environment of an office?

Above all, social connectedness. Pets trigger conversations, they break the ice and make us laugh together. They have the power to join people who otherwise would not feel comfortable to hang out together, like when team members go take a walk outside to stroll the dog in the afternoon break.

In what other areas is the introduction of pets beneficial?

Pets can have a beneficial effect in reducing work-related stress by introducing moments of fun and cuddles in the middle of the workday. When we engage in these pro-social activities our bodies segregate hormones like oxytocin and serotonin, known to have an impact on the levels of stress and anxiety.  At the end of the day, pets act as inducers of calm and you end up having employees who report more happiness, fulfilment and a greater perception of work-life balance.

What are your challenges in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility in what affects people?

The place that work occupies in a person’s life has been changing dramatically over the years. People long for a job that gives them a sense of purpose, a mission, and tools for them to evolve as professionals and human beings. They want to leave the office knowing that they learned something new and that their work impacted the world in a positive way. People also want to feel supported in this journey and that’s where we can really make a difference, with initiatives that promote work-life balance and mental health. Our Pet Office policy responds to these challenges in a creative and light way.

To be part of your team, is it essential to have a pet? Are there attitudinal differences between people who have them or not?

At Barkyn, we all share a deep love for animal welfare and we’re all very aligned with our mission to deliver health and happiness to pet families around the world. However, due to different life circumstances, not all people have the right conditions to own a pet and we respect that. So, it’s not a requirement to have a pet to belong to Barkyn – we rather look for genuinely kind and empathic people who can understand the emotional experience of having a dog in their life.

A question that you have never been asked but that you would love to be asked, around people.

How can (self)compassion skills be key for business success.

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada Joana Recharte (Barkyn): “We can only see the advantages of bringing our dogs to work with us” aparece primero en People first.

If you had to highlight just one of the advantages of working at Unilever, what would it be?

That it is a purpose-driven company, which promotes a sustainable lifestyle in the daily lives of everyone (employees, customers and society), and through its values: respect, responsibility, integrity and pioneering spirit.

What is it that most attracts new candidates?

The company’s commitment to working each day to create a better future, and its clear sustainability agenda, with goals and commitments in health & well-being, the environment and quality of life. All of this is integrated into the business agenda; to do well by doing good.

Almost 2 months have passed since you started implementing the 4-day working week in New Zealand. What results are you getting?

That’s right, it’s a small pilot project in a country with only 80 people working in the headquarters in which it is being carried out. The results won’t be known until December 2021 and decisions will be made based on them, which may or may not be replicable in other countries around the world.

Would such a measure be effective in our country?

We advocate a culture that we call “agile working”, which is based on self-organisation and personal management so that each employee can achieve their goals by working in the place that best facilitates their well-being, whether in the office or at home working remotely. At the moment, bearing in mind our country’s culture, I think that we are a long way off considering such a measure in Spain.

What are your main challenges in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility?

Our challenges are common to the goals of the whole planet, as we defined the CSR agenda, specifically to be able to respond to the great challenges facing the world and which we believe are very well-defined in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In order to contribute to each of these goals, we carry out initiatives linked to each of our mission-driven brands to help us achieve them. Personally, I like SDG17, the one on strategic partnerships, because I believe that combining our efforts under the same goal is the most effective thing, we can do to be able to achieve the goal in question. In any case, at the company level, we consider that the 2 major challenges are climate change and global inequality, which have been accentuated with the current pandemic.

One of your goals is to become the most sustainable company in the world. How can you face this challenge on an individual basis? Is it achievable or is it utopian?

We believe it is achievable when sustainability is fully integrated into the business agenda; there is no other way to do it in our opinion.

For personal care products, we were considered a leader in the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Index, scoring 90/100 in 27 of the environmental, social and governance criteria. This index is a key tool for investors who recognise that responsible business practices are critical when it comes to generating long-term value for their shareholders.

People are key for us to become the world’s most sustainable company, especially for a large consumer goods company such as Unilever, present in 2 billion households every day worldwide. Our goal is to create an awareness of sustainability among our employees, consumers, customers and society to achieve this sustainable movement that will help create a better future for everyone.

How can a company contribute to a better world?

By understanding the world’s major challenges and taking action; not just talking about what we want to do, but doing it. We are currently starting to take action; we’ve been saying what we are going to do for some time now. Each action should have a clear objective and a measurement indicator to show how it is progressing. Through our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan that we created in 2010, we are committed to achieving 3 major goals: to help improve the lives of 1 billion people through health and well-being, to halve the environmental impact of our products and to ensure that 100% of our raw materials are from sustainable agriculture. It has been in place for 10 years now and we have already achieved 80% of the goals we set ourselves.

Is it possible to connect social sustainability and business growth?

According to our business model it is, absolutely. Purpose-driven brands grow almost twice as fast as those without it, and already contribute almost 70% to business growth. It also enables us to make significant cost savings and to be rated as the number one employer brand in the vast majority of countries in which Unilever operates.

You have been with Unilever for almost 20 years. Have the expectations you had on your first day been met?

I’d say they have been met, and then some. I have a degree in chemical sciences. I started working in the research and development department and I have had a career path which I am very proud of because I still keep learning every day. After 12 years had passed since joining Unilever, in 2006, I went on to lead the corporate communication and sustainability department, where I am fortunate to be able to carry out and experience my life’s purpose every day: the passion to build a better future each day; and most importantly, always surrounded by a great team of people and excellent professionals.

If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give yourself for that first day?

To maintain the same humility, humour and honesty which I started with on that day. Honestly, I wouldn’t change anything, I’d just want me to be myself and continue to offer the best version of myself every day as if it were my first day in the company, something which I still do after almost 27 years working in this great company. I love to feel that I still have blue blood on a daily basis, and not because I am a princess, but because I feel Unilever’s blue colour.

Tell us a question you have never been asked, but would love to be asked, with regard to people.

I have had the good fortune to be surrounded by wonderful people who have never ceased to surprise me professionally and personally, and after half a century of life, I feel very contented; although I am always ready to be surprised.

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada Ana Palencia (Unilever): “Our goal is to create an awareness of sustainability among our employees, consumers, customers and society to create a better future for everyone.” aparece primero en People first.

Emotional well-being, the pandemic and companies

Before 2020, workers’ concerns were largely shaped by situations arising within their working and personal environments, but now a new and viral external factor, SARS-CoV-2, has arrived on the scene. With the new virus bursting upon us, we have to add its consequences to the emotional burden we bear. Remote working, the difficult economic situation, social distancing and our uncertainty about the future have joined the long list of potential causes of stress and other emotional disorders. What effects does stress usually have? Headaches, breathing difficulties, chest pains, fatigue, stomach upsets and, in more severe cases, immune disorders and heart attacks. Companies have realised that stress is one of the main causes of psychological and physical discomfort among their employees and they’re looking for techniques and solutions to alleviate its effects and ensure that their teams don’t suffer from its consequences.

Let’s start at the beginning; what is stress? Basically it’s our body’s response when we have to mobilise ourselves in a situation that demands an answer, but we don’t think we’re capable of generating it. These are cognitive and physiological reactions that cease to have any effect once we’ve achieved the desired goal. Although stress may seem like a marginal ailment, according to data provided by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 28% of Europeans suffer from it (no more and no less than 28% of the population). The same institution also calculates that the economic impact on companies totals 20 billion euros.

How can we improve our workers’ emotional well-being during the pandemic? An excellent question that has no single answer. Let’s take a look at what we can do to improve it.

• A 2nd-century Roman writer of comedies unwittingly hit upon one of the keys: Mens sana in corpore sano. A balance between our body and mind resolves many of the pains and worries that we express somatically. Many companies have applied the Roman adage and implemented health programmes for their workforces. These facilitate proper nutrition, promote physical exercise and, ultimately, foster a healthy lifestyle. Firstly, playing sport regularly increases our work performance and self-esteem, prevents certain cognitive diseases, increases brain performance, reduces anxiety and triggers the discharge of endorphins, known to be one of the four hormones of happiness. If we combine these benefits with those produced by a balanced diet, we have a highly powerful and effective cocktail to combat emotional discomfort at work and in life in general.

• Another key factor that companies take into account is our ability to separate our work and personal lives. In this regard, the situation caused by the current pandemic hasn’t helped to distance one area from the other, quite the contrary. With the advent of remote working, this boundary has become even more blurred, and companies require actions to help their employees to build borders between the two spheres. Some guidelines being followed that are getting results are based on a single concept: “divide and conquer”. Separating the times of one world and the other is vital in this respect; actions such as switching off your company smartphone or email during your free time, setting a time limit for each activity, promoting holiday schedules and extra days off are some of the ways companies have to ensure that their employees enjoy separate personal and professional lives.

• Finally, and perhaps most importantly, employees should be aware of the activities and services that the company provides to improve their emotional well-being. Clear communication is essential. However, workers must also know why these initiatives and programmes are beneficial to them. The benefits of all the measures we’ve discussed throughout the article: knowledge is power. The power of knowing how to improve our emotional well-being during the pandemic that we’re witnessing.

If you know of any other activities that could help us to improve our emotional well-being at work during the pandemic, don’t hesitate to post your proposals in the comments section.

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada How to promote emotional well-being during the pandemic aparece primero en People first.

Working in the cloud

Are you one of the people who work with shared files via the cloud? Working in cloud environments greatly facilitates the mobility of the HR team and allows access to files and tools regardless of their location. To put it simply, the cloud is a set of remote servers that host the information and data that we find on the internet. With it, we can gain remote access to all the features managed by human resources. This technology, which is already being implemented in most companies in the sector, means the concept of working on site or face to face can be put to one side. A concept that will gradually become obsolete.

Remote leadership

Going back to the concept of on-site and face-to-face, remote leadership will also increasingly take over from physical leadership. But how can a person be a good leader remotely? This kind of leadership will have to adapt to the “new normal” and advocate different characteristics. Advanced knowledge of virtual tools, trust in the team, full transparency, streamlined replies and clear expectations and orders are some of the chief features that a remote leader must promote to ensure the involvement of his or her team and employees.

Consolidation of employee branding

A happy and motivated worker is a productive worker who’s involved and committed to the company. Employee branding is an excellent resource that enables companies to communicate their culture and values through their employees, who become brand ambassadors in a natural and voluntary manner, thus facilitating the attraction of the talent best suited to each organisation. The distancing that we’re seeing during the pandemic is leading to increased use of social media, which is where your workers can play a vital role. They’ll share the company’s messages and campaigns and, above all, speak positively about their working environment, thus leading to extra credibility and trust on the user’s part. Speaking well about yourself isn’t the same as someone else doing so. Does your company include employee branding in its communication and talent attraction strategy?

Digital onboarding

Companies’ induction processes are highly important moments for their workers. An effective adaptation process to ensure that their employees don’t feel out of place and understand the processes and obligations of their positions can make the difference between success or failure. In the current reality, these processes have migrated to the digital sphere and the on-site processes that were in place until now have been abandoned. Techniques such as gamification with specialised tools and apps, checklists and the online availability of documents and the necessary materials are some of the measures to ensure successful digital onboarding. The key is to create a rewarding and enriching experience for the workers and make them feel comfortable and safe.

Big Data

Big Data is here to stay. In fact, it’s nothing new. The management and analysis of large amounts of data enables companies to better understand their environment and understand themselves better. Thus, Big Data allows us to improve our people management by understanding the state of the team, optimising talent selection and evaluating our employees’ performance and productivity. Big Data is still a developing technology, but it promises to offer a wide range of solutions and information in the very near future.

Workers’ emotional well-being

The last year has been a period of great stress and exhaustion throughout all the tiers of the company and the emotional pressure caused by the pandemic has forced us to bring out the very best in ourselves and overcome it. While it’s true that taking care of the emotional well-being of our employees was already a growing trend, it has become much stronger and more important with the current situation. Practices such as mindfulness, emotion control workshops and talks on stress management will become much more common and necessary.

Collaborative social networks

Collaborative networks are environments made up of people who share an online space in which they strive to achieve a common goal. They do so by exchanging ideas and information. The mandatory distancing has led to an increase in these types of synergies. Collaborative work stimulates aspects such as creativity, transparency during work and honesty. It’s a way of replacing physical group work that’s suited to the new times. It’s highly likely that these ways of working will expand and evolve to offer more and more features and options to optimise the collaborative social networks, which are only just beginning to take off.

Encouraging in-house career development

Another trend that we’ll see in 2021 is upskilling, or the professional upgrading of employees. Companies will increasingly implement processes to stimulate training within the team. Ensuring that committed and motivated workers learn new knowledge that they can use in their tasks is a very positive factor, not only in terms of having a workforce with more services and capabilities, but also for the workers’ morale and spirit. Feeling that one is an important part of the group and seeing how one grows professionally.

These are some of the trends in HR that we’re already witnessing and their implementation is sure to increase considerably as the months go by. You’re sure to have a new trend in mind, so don’t hesitate to tell us about it in the comments section.

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada 8 trends in people management in 2021 aparece primero en People first.

Transformation of the selection process

• Digital recruitment. What have been the most significant changes in your day-to-day life? Has your way of selecting candidates changed? Video interviews and teleworking are here to stay, and with them, the borders are widening.

With teleworking, the search for candidates has become global and, from now on, some companies will value attracting talent regardless of their residence.

Having people from different countries will bring greater diversity and new perspectives.

What are the advantages of this digitalization? Better results, reduced recruitment costs and greater attraction of talent.

However, this new situation raises questions such as the implementation of new strategies related to the welfare of the remote employee. How can we make people feel well taken care of, despite the distance? Having a telework policy is essential to implement digitalization in the best possible way. We will have to establish some principles and identify those crucial moments to take care of the employees in all the stages.

We should not forget either the incorporation of the person to the team, since this is a crucial moment and it is part of the employee’s experience.

• Maintain the interest of the candidates. If this situation has led to a break in the recruitment of a candidate you considered interesting, don’t let it get away. But how do you keep him waiting? Spend a few minutes every few minutes, keep careful communication and show your interest in becoming part of your team.

But if you want it to really work, it will be essential to have a brand strategy that publicizes your company and helps you spread the benefits that your employees have. Candidates will evaluate several options and stay with the one they find most interesting, so publicizing the advantages of being part of the team is key to attracting them.

• Adapt to the current situation to attract talent. What benefits did you offer your team 3 months ago? Advantages such as paying the gym fee or organizing special lunches and meetings with the whole team are not possible at this time, so you will have to renew and adapt to the new situation. The ease of implementing teleworking is usually what people value most because it makes it easier to reconcile professional and personal life. But we should go a little further and think about new benefits adapted to the present moment. What proposals do you have in mind to attract talent?
• Increased webinars and seminars. In March only, the number of digital events available on the ON24 platform increased by 330%. Has your company already joined this new trend? If not, keep this in mind, as they are a good alternative to face-to-face events in the industry. Not only will they help you to make yourself known, but you will also be able to position yourself as an expert in those issues that are current and of greatest concern at the moment. This is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss.

How do you deal with changes in people management to adapt to the new reality? These are 4 trends in personnel selection based on the current situation, but we must not forget that the new reality is very changeable, so stay tuned and adapt to the moment. Are you ready for it?

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada 4 Recruitment trends that come with the new situation aparece primero en People first.

Your position at Kiabi carries the ability to identify talents for greater performance. What is your mission in the company?

For us, all people have talent, and my priority is to identify which ones are the best fit in our company, and more particularly, with our “Happy Cultura” and with fashion, which is our trade and our passion.

How would you define your “happy cultura” and what values ​​are you looking for in the new candidates?

The Culture of Happiness is our backbone, where all the actions we carry out in Kiabi are born, and what makes us a real community of happy people. What best defines our culture are the 5 qualities that all Kiaber lives and transmit in their day to day: passionate about people and fashion, with an enterprising spirit, close (but at the same time demanding!), and generous. We accompany these values ​​in a context of recognition (we always celebrate successes), demand, and exemplariness, because being “happy” is not the same as being “hippie”!

Last year you got fourth place on the list of the Best Companies to Work For. In fact, over 80% of your employees say they are proud to belong to Kiabi. How are these results achieved?

For us, the main thing is to generate the best experience for our community of Kiabers, either the futures one or those that are already today. And we achieve this by asking them directly, working personalized actions that respond to their needs, and anticipating their expectations. In retail, and more specifically in the fashion sector, everything changes at breakneck speed, and we have to be vigilant to always stay one step ahead.

At Kiabi you defend that respect and coexistence are the basis of a pleasant professional environment. How do you enhance these two values ​​in the day to day of your stores?

In addition to being implicit in the qualities of the Kiaber, for us the most powerful tool to achieve this is continuous 360º feedback. It allows us to develop empathy constantly, which in the end, and from my point of view, is the key quality for respect and coexistence.

You perform an atypical selection process, in which candidates must register on the website www.thekiabijobexperience.com and make the process dynamic and motivating. What benefits does this type of process have? Does it allow you to make a tighter selection than with the traditional method?

The gamification in the selection process has allowed us to meet the candidates from a different perspective, putting their skills and competences into practice, instead of selecting with the classic curriculum. We care about the person, not the experience: how they are, how they develop in different situations, etc. The fact of being able to objectively measure the achievement of each of the games that they perform, gives us a global vision of their profile, and their compatibility with the Kiaber profile that we seek.

You ensure that Kiabi’s success is based above all on the talent of their teams. What kind of actions do you carry out to develop the talent of the employees?

The autonomy of our teams plays a fundamental role. Within our Happy Culture we have the right to be wrong, but above all to get it right, and we can only do that if each Kiaber has an optimal context to dare. 100% of people in Kiabi have a personalized development plan to develop their qualities and skills, and people who want to go a step further and take on other responsibilities (in Spain or internationally) also have an individualized career plan.

Innovation is another of your pillars and you have carried out actions such as the “Innovation Play” to accommodate for the ideas of workers, collaborators and customers. What other actions are you taking to enhance innovation among your team?

We work on all projects promoting co-construction among our Kiabers. From the workshops we carry out in Spain to develop the different projects in the country, in which people from different groups participate, even the most international ones such as International Store Sinergy and Shopping into the future, both with the aim of creating common synergies in the Group and anticipate the challenges that await us.

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada Diana Cubero (Kiabi): “We care about people, not the professional experience” aparece primero en People first.

Beyond the basic requirements

A good plan of reception, a specialized formation to develop the talent and schedule flexibilty are some of the advantages that until now some enterprises offered to their teams. But, what do really suppose the Employee experience and how can it be adapted to the current situation? The experience of the employee goes beyond of setting strategies focused on the welfare and profesional development of the people. It’s main goal is to bring added value in order to keep and attract talent. These are some keys to develop it:

• Before starting with an Employee experience plan we have to have clear the target. In this moments the security is one of the most important worries of the employees. Your facilities are adapted to keep the 2 meters security distance between fellows? Follow the sanitary instructions marked by the central administration is essential so the persons feel themselves safe in their job environment. But once adapted to the new reality , we have to go one step beyond and set new goals that help to improve the experience of the employee. What is that you want to achieve through the Employee experience? Keep the talent we have in the company? Attract new professionals who add value to our business? Get the commitment of the team? The essential is that the target goes according with the view and the mission of the company. Only with that we can make sure it will be 100% effective.

• The second step consists on knowing with detail our team. What worries to each person and how can we help to handle the change? Communication is the key for the team feels well attended and can face the new situation. But we must not stay there. Once adapted to the new reality , we have to ask ourselves: what motivates them? What employees are we interested to attract? This information will be helpful in order to determine the plan of profits and actions.

• What are the crucial moments for the employee? The exceptional situation we have lived has been, with no doubt, one of them. Should the enterprise has shown interest for the welfare of the team, it will have been strenghtened from the crisis and with a higher commitment by the persons who belongs to the team. But beyond the situation we have lived, what is the first crucial moment that an employee lives? The incorporation to the enterprise. The first days will mark the experience of the worker in the company. The integration in the team and fellows that receive him or her like one of them will be essential in order their experience will be excellent. And how to keep this good feeling with the pass of the time? Monitoring the day by day and create alliances with the fellows from the same or other departments with that the person has relations will be essential for its welfare.

• Develop a culture of feedback: How to transmit to someone who should improve in some aspects? Be able to give feedback in a constructive way will help to improve his or her integration in the enterprise, to change some of his or her routines and to facilitate the day by day.

• What are those moments specially critical? The first days of the state of alarm are an example, but in the day by day are also given situations that for the worker are importants. For instance, a person can’t go to work because his or her son is sick. How is the behaviour of the enterprise in this case? Its behaviour will be a prove of confidence for the worker. If the company allows the teleworking or can recover the hours another day, the laboral relationship will be reinforced, but if not, the person will live it as a “moment of pain”, which are those experiences in which the enterprise doesn’t facilitate the management of certain situations and that the employee lives as a disappointment. These moments are specially delicated because can be a lack of confidence from a professional to the enterprise or can be even turn into a reason to change the job.

• And what will be the last stage of the Employee experience? A plan of outplacement, whereby an incorporation to a new job position is facilitated. Get that the person who ends his or her professional stage with the enterprise carries a good effect and becomes one of our ambassador adds credibility to our company.

With the technology transformation, the Employee experience, it’s increasingly important for enterprises and, in fact, there are portals such as Glassdoor and Indeed in which the workers punctuate them by their experience. The key? Be constant and work little details that facilitate they day by day of the team  and that help to experience a good company experience.

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada How to work the Employee experience in the current situation? aparece primero en People first.

How can we ensure that our state of mind does not depend on external circumstances? Can we change what we think to influence our emotions and alleviate difficult moments? It’s possible! We should only learn to choose those thoughts that make us feel good. These are 7 advice that will help you put it into practice.

Choose your thoughts and become a positive person

• Do not focus your attention on the problem, orient yourself to look for solutions. How many times have you blocked yourself in a complicated situation? When something worries us, it is very common to continually think about it, but the fundamental thing is to go one step further and look for solutions. Not only will it help us get ahead, but we will grow on a personal level and learn from it.

• Focus on what you can do and it’s under your control. In any difficult situation there is always something we can do to overcome it, so do not waste your time with superfluous details and think what is in your hands to face it.

• Reflex from the freedom to choose your answer, considering your principles, wishes and values. Don’t you know what decision to make in an uncertain scenario? Take your time and try to value all options objectively. Your values ​​and principles will always help you make the right decision.

• Discriminate those thoughts that prevent you from moving forward in the new context. Here is the most complicated point: learn to discard those thoughts that create discomfort. Keep in mind a great certainty: what we think defines our mood, regardless of what happens around us. But, how do we control our thoughts? Avoid going around something that worries you and act as soon as possible to solve it, do not victimize yourself, go ahead and above all try to bring out the positive side of all experiences. If you think negative, frustration and dissatisfaction will increase, so there is no point in focusing on it. Turning the page and facing the situation with a positive attitude is the key to everything.

• Take the initiative, act. You decide what your mood is, so don’t waste time and invest it in feeling good. To do this you will have to take action and find solutions to what concerns you most, so what are you waiting for?

• Focus on the present and moderately on the future. Don’t let situations that you haven’t yet experienced or problems that you don’t know if they will happen, upset you. Although you must bear in mind that all our decisions have consequences for our future, live the present with a positive attitude and tomorrow will come.

• Challenge your own thoughts and become aware of what you can learn. In a difficult situation, thinks that not everything is negative. A complicated moment is always an opportunity to learn and grow as a professional and person. Do not get carried away by fear of change and identify the opportunity that each situation offers you, this way you will face it with more confidence and optimism. Besides, you always have to see everything with perspective and surely you identify good things. Being grateful right now is one of the best practices. Still don’t know the benefits of giving thanks? They are multiple and not only for our environment but also for ourselves.

Optimism is always the best strategy to move forward, so do not waste time and put into practice these advices that will help you to grow as a person and as a professional. Practice positive thinking and enjoy the benefits!.

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada 7 ways to keep positive thinking aparece primero en People first.

The worker’s experience with the company begins from the moment he signs up for the job offer. What makes your selection process special?

One of our principles is that, just as our clients’ shopping experience is excellent, that of working at Rituals must also be so and this begins with the first contact in the selection process. It is not that we do magical or very different things, but we try that for the candidate this authenticity and this personalized treatment are seen from the beginning. Whenever a person comes to interview, we give them a small gift: two mini bath foams, one for him and one to give as a gift, because we believe very much in giving to the people you love. Many people tell us: “you will take me or not, but I love this company and this brand.” It is a strategy designed so that the candidate can be a client and the person to whom the gift is given, too. In addition, it is a way to publicize the brand. Beside this, we have on the web the “Ritual Match Identifier”, a tool that aims to make the candidate know us in depth.Here are videos about the brand, its origins, how we work, images of the offices in the Netherlands, some test tests, and it has a work experience, such as a simulator in store. Candidates register on the web, go through this RMI and, if selected, come for an interview. That is to say, when they come to the interview they already know enough, they have been explained what the company is like and how it works and they have seen a quite real experience of working in a store, which consists of a role play in store with complex questions, 3 or 4 options, which show how far the person goes and how close their way of working is with that of Rituals.

In addition, at the RMI, there are many questions to meet the candidates and see if they fits into the Rituals values: what they values, what gives they energy, how they disconnects, what they concerns are, what makes they happy… And a personality test.

We also work to improve the interview process by taking it out of context, because the conventional interview is a much prefabricated process, where everyone knows their role.

For example, take the interviewee to a store or ask them if they have experience in selling, selling the product, activating it by attracting customers from the street, participating in a mystery shopping, that is, going to one of our stores and telling us what you see, or visit the stores with the area manager area and comment on how you see the teams, what is your experience…

The essential thing for us is that in the selection process there is a personalized and humane treatment, at the height of what the candidates deserve. In all the selection processes, the direct Manager and usually the immediately superior Manager are involved apart from HR.

How it is performed such a personalized selection process in a company with your dimensions?

Focusing on everyone in our company being “recruiters” and as such we transmit the Rituals values ​​from the first moment. The General Management and Human Resources, Area Managers, Store Managers and teams in each country also share the company’s values. We share tools for the selection processes, although each country has autonomy. And a two-day on-boarding process for welcoming employees, the Rootcamp, which is an inspirational program. In it, both trainers and managers transmit these values ​​and the company’s philosophy: what Rituals is, what we want to achieve, how we want to treat the client and how we want to work here.

When starting with us, every worker knows the general manager of H.R, Marketing … Each of them explains what Rituals is from their department and their personal experience in the company.

They are also told about the promotion standards that they have, the head of retail explains how life in stores is, what indicators we want to achieve, how the indicators work, what is the most difficult and easiest, how we want to treat the client… Each one explains his vision and makes himself known and the CEO gives a more global vision.

The Rootcamp is very dynamic and has many group dynamics. For example, a safari shopping in which you go to a competitor or sector store as a team, for purchase and evaluate the experience. Then in the classroom, work on it. It is a very experiential program, very inspirational and with a point of fun.

We organize ourselves with central training classrooms, to which all new employees go between their second and fourth month of incorporation, in groups of about 20 people.
In Spain, for example, it depends on the geographical area they come from, they go to Madrid or Barcelona and those from Portugal go to Lisbon.

Two days for all this equipment is a great investment, you have to display people in flight, there are dinners, a hotel and all expenses paid to new hires for two days. But it is a worthwhile investment to preserve this DNA as part of our human team that they are from the first day and to give them a personalized and special treatment. It also serves to humanize the company and invite them to feel that they are not entering anywhere but in Rituals, where we serve them as if they were a guest.

We also do a lot of pedagogy about the values ​​of Rituals, they are integrated into everything we do and this helps us preserve culture against the danger of dilution due to growth.

How do you transmit your values ​​day after day after on boarding and how do you get them to be credible beyond the power point?

Values ​​must emanate from the property or management of the company so that everything that is done is aligned with them. This way it looks very fast when there is a dissociation. They are very present in the conversations, in everything we do.

To converge, for example, with our value of “interior and exterior beauty” we have image standards to be uniformly faced with the public. But we also want workers to feel balanced, to be able to treat customers authentically and to be themselves. It is the best way to offer a relaxing experience, a sales ceremony in which the customer is not pressured.

This coherence is also helped by the fact that we are a flat company and any worker can speak normally with the director, a manager area, HR, marketing …We also ask workers to have clear communication and to directly expose any problems in order to resolve them.

We practice by example, we are consistent and we do what we say. Our values ​​are very basic, very understandable, and we try to put them into practice every day. There is no other secret than this.

What are your values, the main ones that everyone has to share, your DNA?

1. Meaningful, which means that all things have a meaning, what we do, what we sell, that each person’s work has a meaning for itself.
2. Accessibility, that is, open, transparent communication, speaking directly with people and not from people.
3. Inner and outer beauty. The personal image as a brand that we are of facing the public is very important. But almost as much or more important is the inner image you give, your coherence, your balance, being well, being authentic with the sales ceremony …
4. Authenticity, in the sense of being yourself, being honest and sincere with yourself and with others.
5. And the last two, more related to business, are innovation, being product innovators, with our jobs… We invite workers to be creative in their work, to try different ways of doing it, without fear of being wrong.
6. And the best in class, something like excellence. We want to be the best from the first moment, do it better than anyone and be a referent in the market. But also internally, to do everything the best that can be done, to improve.

When I go to the rootcamp and explain the values ​​to the new employees, I use a shower foam, which they have every day in the store, to make a mnemonic game that helps them keep the values ​​in mind every day. Values ​​can serve as a guide to act in situations in which we do not know.

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada Joan Carles Cifre (Rituals): “The experience of working at Rituals must be like that of our clients, excellent” aparece primero en People first.

After many years hiding emotions at work under a supposed layer of professionalism, it is finally universally accepted that we are emotional beings both at home and at work. After all, you are still yourself everywhere, and it is important four your self-esteem and development to feel recognized and respected by the people you relate to every day.. So why not teach people to be aware of their own emotions? In this way, you Will improve the empathetic and creative capacity of your workers and help them in their efficient at work

Create an emotional management programme

Is the emotional burden of your employees a problem? Launch an emotional and social management program and expand the team’s skills to improve the work environment and enhance their commitment. The program should teach you to recognize our own emotions, develop empathy, and help build and maintain relationships. These are basic forms of action that no one has taught us and that make us feel more satisfied with our work.

Review the management style.

There is no training plan to be used against authoritarian styles of management or toxic bosses. The leader should be the first to inspire with the way he or she is guided and related to his team, he must be opened to listening and attentive to individualities.

Manage complaints and criticism.

A discontented collaborator is a powerful destabilizer, so it’s a good idea for the company to create a space where complaints and criticism emerge without guilt or accusation. Many of these situations show a toxic situation or a malfunction of the equipment that, in most cases, can be improved.

Sets internal communication channels.

How to promote formal and informal communication between workers, departments, managers and employees of a company? For a good functioning it is essential to create team awareness and listen to the emotional state of the staff.

Get ready for continuous transformation.

Jobs are constantly changing, the need to digitize arises and new professionals arrive at the company with unknown performances, so the company must make its workers comfortable with the changes, solve their doubts and support them.

Acting on corporate values: Promoting individual and collective responsibility, autonomy at work and clarity in processes help workers give more of themselves, especially if the company expects a lot from them and relies on their great personal skills.

And what do you think about creating emotion management processes in your company? Would you dare implement them?

People first | A project by Eurofirms

People First es un espacio de inspiración donde compartimos contenidos con un eje común: las personas. Desde distintas ópticas y sectores, abordamos varios temas, tendencias y noticias de interés humano.

La entrada 6 ways to manage emotions at work aparece primero en People first.