Knowledge increasingly shares relevance with personal qualities and motivation in a job interview. In fact, in recent years the CV includes an explanation of the candidate’s attitudes and aptitudes, which helps to better know the person who will be part of the team. But is it just a fad or is it good for something?

The truth is that it is something really useful. In a sector such as Human Resources, where it is software that makes a first selection of candidates through keywords, defining attitudes and aptitudes in the CV is key.

Stop and think for a moment: how important is it for your company that the people on the team fit into the corporate culture? The answer makes us see the fundamental role that attitude plays. It is essential that candidates to have the aptitudes and attitudes to adapt to changing situations. Abilities such as being proactive, creative, digitally skilled, that value effort, that know how to organize and work as a team…

And what are the attitudes and aptitudes most in demand? These vary over the years. So you need to keep up with what the market requires. That is why it is so important for candidates to be honest in finding out what each of them can offer in this regard, or to be prepared for it. It doesn’t make sense to “cheat” on the CV: in case of being hired, it will be the day-to-day that is in charge of proving that the professional-company relationship does not work. The best thing is always to choose to work in companies related to how one is or what one’s purpose is in life

Attitude or aptitude?

Attitude is how we deal with work and its problems daily. It has to do with how we are, but also with what we have learned in life. But can we learn to be positive or proactive? Yes, without a doubt. Although not so much other qualities as being supportive or generous. In an enterprise, every worker is expected to have a good attitude, whatever his or her personality. Although the current tendency is to show ourselves at work as we are, without adopting “a professional side”. Being authentic makes things easier, but… What then happens to those who are difficult to deal with or cannot show themselves as such?

Aptitude, on the other hand, encompasses our professional skills, what we are good at. Many jobs require specific aptitudes. It is important, therefore, to be clear about which ones fit well.  When, therefore, of doing the CV, you should list what you know how to do well. But also how. If the CV is not detailed, the interview will help us to make the candidate reflect on aptitudes as if he/she is quick working or thorough; if he/she has the facility to look for solutions and ideas, to think outside the box; if he/she thinks; if he/she prefers to work alone or as a team… Evaluate everything that may be relevant in the workplace. And of course, the ability to learn new subjects or methods.

But are innate aptitudes? We are all born with certain abilities. To learn languages, visualize abstractions, manual skills… We can show different attitudes towards them: develop them, underestimate them, adapt them to change… All aptitudes need effort and practice to be good. The good news is that whatever one is gifted with or without can be improved. In the same way, you can work the attitude and learn to deal with everyday problems in a different way. So which one do you think is more important at work: attitude or aptitude?

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 Attitude or aptitude at work? aparece primero en People first.

There are already initiatives such as the “Beyond GDP” movement, which calls for more real measures of a population’s well-being. Some countries have taken initiatives to create indicators of quality of life, such as air.

This interest in discovering what gives well-being to citizens beyond money and their day-to-day work explores aspects such as physical and mental health, continuous learning, environmental quality, connectivity… Values that no company should lose sight of if it wants to attract talent. Because, just as there is a great mobility of workers between countries because of their opportunities and their good standard of living, employees also value feeling at ease and this is due to multiple factors.

Asking workers for their hapinesss

Did you know that the happiest countries in the world are Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Switzerland, according to the annual UN “World Happiness Report”? It is interesting to note that in these countries, both native citizens and immigrants are happy. Why? Quality of life, which is fundamental to well-being. So why not invest in studying how to achieve it and measure it in business? According to the study Excellence and Values, elaborated by Eurofirms and IESE Business School, 7 out of every 10 employees are not happy in their work. A fact that shows there is still a long way to go. This same study highlights the keys to social and business sustainability, which will certainly help to improve the well-being of people in the company. And what are the most outstanding ones? A fair salary, motivating, and giving opportunities to learn, generating healthy and stress-free work environments, strengthening identification with the company’s mission, and contributing to society are the keys to reaching excellence.

And it really shouldn’t be complicated. For sure, if you ask in your work environment how to be happier, you would get common answers like autonomy, partnership, comfort, flexibility, holidays… Although there’s also talk of the sense of belonging, vision of the future, and support as values for achieving happy workers.

But how do you know what makes your company’s workers happy? It is not enough to imagine or implement universal values. It is necessary to ask questions and carry out surveys to obtain relevant data and adopt effective measures.

As an example, Cyberclick, a company specialized in the optimization of online marketing campaigns and digital advertising, measures the happiness of employees daily, sending an e-mail at the end of the day with the following three questions and a final space for contributions:

• In what mood have you arrived today?
• In what mood are you leaving today?
• From 1 to 10, how much do you like what you have done today?

Besides, with the monthly happiness test, more long-term issues such as salary, conditions, and working environment are measured.

In the market exist tools and applications to measure happiness in the company such as Celpax, Happydonia, Happyforce, etc… All agree that connecting with workers, know them better, listen to their ideas and suggestions, and redounds to an increase in their motivation and productivity. And especially, it avoids losing talented workers due their dissatisfaction has not been detected in time. Real contact with the people on the team will also help us take the pulse in a more humane and closer way.

Happy workers are, therefore, beneficial to the company and themselves. The price for achieving this will probably be to change the mentality of their managers towards a new type of leadership. Would you dare to measure happiness in your company and to applying new measures?

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 Can happiness be measured? aparece primero en People first.

The new generations value other types of labour compensation than the previous generations, in addition to the economic incentive. They have seen the excess work in their elders and do not believe that it is worth living to work. They are also very aware of the value they bring thanks to their digital experience and their high technical level. Therefore, they aspire to comfortably combine their work with their personal and family life. In addition to a future in the company and a good working environment.

New value scale

The networking spaces are well known for these needs and have been fully applied in attracting young entrepreneurs, freelancers and small business. They use open, attractive and comfortable spaces. An area for bicycles or scooters, a kitchen that is a meeting centre, internal or client meeting rooms and some more informal areas for relaxation. They organise breakfasts, sponsored events, talks and conferences given by a coworker or an outsider and even parties and weekend outings. They are clear that social contacts and fun are as important as silence and respect at work.

Companies must be equally attractive. They have a great capacity to build the future and they must show that this is what they want, counting on the talent of all their staff. They no longer aspire to do a job, but to participate in the evolution of the company and society in general.

Talent wants capacity for development, recognition, autonomy, space for experimentation and positive support from the company. Their contributions must be able to flow through the various departments and teams, receive management support and become a reality.

The company wants to get the most out of this talent, and to do this it has to keep it motivated over time. All those companies that have been able to rise to these new demands are today the preferred companies to work for the new generations and an example of what has to be done to join them.

What pays an emotional salary

Conveniently rewarding these new demands is what is known as the “emotional salary”. In the salary negotiation, the economic retribution is agreed, but also the type of schedule and time dedicated to the company, the possibility of working from a distance, holidays for objectives, development opportunities, emotional or professional support by a coach, etc.

The employee will also value a modern work space, an informal atmosphere, sports, leisure or rest options. And others such as day care, healthy cooking, health insurance, taking the dog to work, team activities, retirement plans, etc. More intangibles such as diversity among employees, a standardized female presence, a culture of gratitude and appreciation for work well done…. The most valued benefits in an emotional salary are autonomy at the time of working, flexible hours, continuous professional training, a healthy life in the company, a daily work space, employee discounts and a good valuation of the work done.

Encouraging teamwork and an attractive corporate image for society are also two major motivations: good workers need to believe in what they are doing. Also, propose initiatives and participate in decision-making. And, generally, to work productively at ease.

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 pay for talent with an emotional salary aparece primero en People first.

“The Japanese miracle” owes its success to the various philosophies of work that emerged in the 20th century, with the objective of creating rational and effective work “with humanism”, and which are now extending around the world. Below, we make a review of some of its most popular philosophies.

Kaizen Philosophy

Kaizen is the most popular philosophy. It was developed in the 1980s by management consultant Masaki Imai, as an evolution of the Toyota style. It seeks to achieve continuous advancement through small achievements along the way to the best. Small steps every day lead to continuous improvement.

According to the Japanese Kaizen or “continuous improvement” philosophy, each employee is committed to his work, his colleagues, his customers and his company. He is aware of the excellence of the process, ready to solve any failure in the most accurate and quickest way. His attitude contributes to the continuous improvement of the company and the welfare of others.

Despite the fact that the Kaizen Institute is present in more than 35 countries to offer consultancy and training on this method, in Europe several critical voices consider it a rigid system, oriented towards workers who identify strongly with the company and to the benefit of the group, which leaves no place for individual creativity. According to Borja Iglesias, its director of operations in Spain, in El País, although the model has to be adjusted to each country, it is universal because it seeks to listen to and value the workers and give them autonomy to work better.

Kaizen Institute promulgates six principles derived from the Kaizen philosophy around the world, which are as following:

1. Instead of trying to solve big problems at once, it is better to make a small first step towards a solution.
2. Create a simple first challenge, and so on. From challenge to challenge you keep a positive attitude, away from the stress and fear of not being able to.
3. Propose partial goals and work progressively.
4. Same for mistakes: instead of looking for guilt for a failure, it is better to break it down into small mistakes that can be solved.
5. For the working years to make sense, they must be accompanied by actions that make us happy.
6. And moments of relaxation, which open our minds to new solutions or allow us to confront our ideas with those of other colleagues.

The key to this philosophy is to empower employees by giving them full responsibility for the quality of their work. This has repercussions both on the quality of the finished products and on a more meaningful work for them.

Ikigai Philosophy

As with the Jidōka system, the Ikigai philosophy focuses on making work a valuable contribution to people’s lives. This is not easy in a country like Japan, where workers work an average of 80 hours of overtime per month.

“Well Being, Well Doing, Well Being and Well Having” emphasizes certain values as a way of achieving personal fulfillment and business success: acting with honesty and working correctly to achieve the Well Being, which is followed by the Well Having.

5S method

For 5S, on the contrary, the professional success lies, as it explains challenges-directives, in:

• Seiri: differentiating the important from the accessory.
• Seiton: order and organization.
• Seiso: cleanliness in the work space.
• Seiketsu: assuming that the previous points must be fulfilled.
• Shitsuke: establish quality standards.

These Japanese philosophies seek to grow as professionals and for each person to make a crucial contribution to teamwork. Welfare and the spirit of self-improvement are the principles on which they are based.

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 The values of Japanese-style work aparece primero en People first.