How do you choose the best person to occupy a middle management position?

Supervising, coordinating and leading the team are his main functions, so often promoting an internal person with leadership skills, who has a good relationship with the team and knows in detail the daily management is usually a good choice. Middle managers are usually 50% managers and 50% leaders, but what are the essential qualities to do a good job?

• Be an inspiring leader. How can we influence others so that the team follows the same strategy? The middle manager should have leadership skills, be proactive and adapt to any situation. A person who inspires workers, for their values and way of acting with others. And all this from the emotional intelligence and always putting himself in the place of the people who are part of his team. This is the only way to achieve the best results.
• Have a critical capacity. The performance of this professional is not only to transmit the strategic lines to follow, but he must have analytical capacity to understand the moment that the company is facing and how it can improve its operation. And what is necessary for it? To have initiative. Providing ideas to improve and increase the well-being of the team will help the organization grow.
• Always think about people’s well-being. Trust is a key element for human relations, but it is something that must be cultivated and that is achieved with the behavior demonstrated on a daily basis. Leadership focused on people and how we can increase their well-being is the key to developing the talent of each employee and enhancing what makes them unique.
• Have the ability to adapt to any situation. How do you deal with setbacks? What about change management? To be a good middle management you must know how to adapt to any situation and innovate with the solutions that best fit new challenges. The intermediate positions know in detail how the company operates and must know how to identify the best option to solve any incident.
• Be responsible and have the skills to organize work. How is the organization of tasks in a team? Strategic planning of the operation is essential to obtain good results. That is why the middle manager must be very aware of the company’s strategy, but always adapting it to the day-to-day management.

Leadership, proactivity, versatility… what do you consider essential in the perfect candidate for an intermediate position? These are just some of the qualities a middle manager should have to inspire their team.

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 5 essential qualities in a middle manager aparece primero en People first.

5 new challenges in human resources

Adapting to the new situation is a challenge for people management, so maintaining committed and empathetic leadership that seeks the well-being of the team will be critical to its success. How will labour relations evolve from now on? Let’s look at the 5 management challenges you are currently facing:

• To ensure the health and safety of all the people who are part of the team. Over the past few months, health has been at the center of practically all decisions. How can spaces be adapted so that people can work safely? What protective measures will be part of our routine from now on? And what about telework? How do you define which people should telework and how many days a week? In any case, beyond the actions that ensure the health of the employees, the Human Resources departments have to adapt to the new ways of working, looking for the well-being of the employees

• Develop an internal communication plan. If there is one thing that has become clear to us during these months, it is that keeping the entire team informed is essential to building trust. This is the opinion of 49% of the people since this has been the greatest learning of the situation lived, according to a study carried out by Eurofirms Group. Giving visibility to the collaboration and generosity between people in the team will be two axes around which the internal communication strategy should revolve.
• Anticipate changes. What strategy to establish in a situation of uncertainty? Not knowing what is to come can generate insecurity, but it is time to establish a plan of action and anticipate possible circumstances in order to be prepared. Targets will change as events unfold over the next few months.
• Involve the team in the performances. What better way to implement changes than by involving the team? Involving people will help us overcome any challenges, forge new bonds and be a positive reference in times of uncertainty.

• Defining the leadership style of organizations. That people feel that their team leader is willing to help them in any way is synonymous with team well-being. . But what is the best kind of leadership? There are no better leaders than others, but the most appropriate one for each project. In times of uncertainty, a committed leader builds credibility and trust.

Facing these challenges will allow for more cohesive and committed teams and, as a consequence, positive results will come. Are you ready to face the challenges in people management posed by the new reality?

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 5 challenges in managing people arriving with the new reality aparece primero en People first.

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.

A project or a group of well-led people have the easiest way to achieve their goals, and they can enjoy it too. Healthy leadership depends on the leader’s skills and on applying the right style to the work or team of people to be led. This choice is the key, why?

The organizational style of the company, the training of the workers and their relationship with the company and the products or services that are created will require one or another form of management, or even combining different forms in different teams.

How leaders do it will depend on how well they achieve their objectives and a good level of productivity for the company or high levels of stress, absenteeism and no capacity for innovation. Adaptive leadership is more important than ever in order to compete.

The company must be very clear that the same group, led in a different way, changes its work dynamics and its level of commitment. What is better: constantly changing employees or teaching managers to detect and adapt to the characteristics of their team?

Leadership styles

Delegative leadership

When the team is already very experienced, highly skilled or highly motivated with what they do, control and supervision tasks do not become so necessary. In these cases, a style of delegated leadership can be applied, in which the team trusts the work process and intervenes when needed or to provide resources.

When is it appropriate? It could be used with very autonomous people and external collaborators, who prefer to work on their own and with whom we only intervene when presenting results. You have to be careful, however, of not wanting to apply it to have a good working environment, at the price of lowering productivity or the quality of what you have done. Supervision is always necessary, but always showing confidence in the work of the team.

Autocratic leadership

When employees’ work style is more passive, they need instructions and help in solving problems, or they prefer to be directed, leadership can be more autocratic. This type of leader sets the guidelines that must be obeyed, watches the dedication to the work and is prepared to make quick decisions. With this style of leadership, effectiveness is achieved, but no affective commitment to the company.

Participatory leadership

It is precisely commitment that a participatory leader who relies on the team when making decisions does achieve. Under this format, issues are discussed and all points of view are heard. The leader must know how to lead these meetings with a left hand and good manners, and take the final decisions.

Transactional Leadership

It is most common in commercial teams to focus on the rewards to be given for meeting objectives. The main ability of this leadership is to give instructions and clear measurement values.

Transformational Leadership

When it is necessary to adapt to new challenges, however, it is necessary to apply another type of more transformational leadership, which encourages these workers to canalise their great experience towards new ideas. And how is this achieved? By creating meetings open to sharing cases, observations, encouraging observation, letting ideas flow… focusing on change.

Personalized leadership

A more personalised type of leadership can also take place, aimed at bringing each of the workers to their potential and grouping them together according to their complementarity.

Whatever applies, every leader should also be charismatic. This means that he should have a personal aura that attracts sympathy, generates enthusiasm and a desire to get involved in what is being done, facilitating commitment. And this can be achieved with good preparation. And you, what kind of leader are you?

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 types of leadership aparece primero en People first.

Jobs, consumption and wealth generation, innovation, taxes, product and service supply… A company contributes to society in various ways. Beyond all this, some seek to generate a positive impact on the environment, healthy products…

But how has digitization influenced this? The voice of consumers and their organisation in networks have forced companies to become aware of their social responsibility and their responsibility to the environment in order to connect with society.

What are the changes that lead companies to focus on the end consumer?

• New 100% digital competition has emerged for the traditional company, which better understands and dominates the connected market.
• Apple showed the need to design products and services with a previous knowledge of people’s needs.
• A company’s bottom line increasingly includes social or environmental variants, in what is known as the Triple Bottom Line.

Putting the Focus on People

Human-centred organisations focus their strategy on connecting and satisfying the consumer, their workers and collaborators and society. How do they do this?

• They investigate what is important for society, even moving forward, to future needs. This is where Big Data brings its full value: the market is talking on social networks and new software is learning to listen and turn conversations into ideas and niches to satisfy. More than ever, companies can bring about social improvements.
• What if the objective is to make the buying process a friendly experience? When brand loyalty dies, it’s time to generate an emotional relationship. We invite you to reflect here on what binds you to your favorite brands.
• How to create a sense of community in the company? All employees and collaborators have valuable experience that can contribute to corporate advancement. Their welfare, in addition, is crucial to generate a good brand image and capacity for innovation.
• It is also important to incorporate the long-term vision and concerns of society into production processes.

An economic, social and environmental performance account

From this corporate social need, the concept of the Triple bottom line has emerged. But what does it mean exactly? It is a strategy that generates a lot of impact by seeking a balance between economic, social and environmental objectives. A real challenge.

A Triple bottom line project is a great way to meet the standards of responsibility that society demands from an organization today. The challenge is to measure their level of economic results and compliance with social objectives, with methodologies such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), promoted by the United Nations sustainability program, or the Social Return on Investment (SROI).

How far or how close is your company to creating its own?

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 Why does the company have to be social? aparece primero en People first.

According to the Fundación Diversidad’s Global Diversity Management study, half of all Spanish companies include diversity management among their priorities. Why? Because it has been more than proven that homogeneous group functioning drives away creativity.

According to Unesco, cultural diversity is as necessary for the human race as biological diversity is for living organisms. In many countries it is considered part of the common heritage of humanity. However, this concept must be well understood…

Consider for a moment: is there diversity in your company? What real treatment is it getting? Betting on cultural diversity implies a radical change of perspective. And what does this mean?

•  Fight against individual prejudices that prevent people from truly approaching what is different.
• To design a social project for the organization to lay the foundations for cultural equality.
• Create channels to encourage communication and intercultural dialogue.
• Consider daily needs such as accessible toilets, diverse menus, flexible schedules, multipurpose spaces, etc.

Fear of diversity

 For Aline Masuda, professor and researcher at the EEADA Business School, a company’s biggest stumbling block in facing the future is group thinking. Homogeneous teams led by an insecure leader quickly learn to “please the boss” and adapt to the group to fit in. They create a closed circle in which they stifle any attempt at debate or innovation. Do you recognize yourself in this mode?What is the best way to manage diversity, then? Diversity implies emotional and belief changes that need to be worked on.

It requires developing cultural intelligence or individual capacity to adapt to diverse cultures and learn from differences in work teams. Companies face the same challenge as society: to become intercultural.

But what does it mean to be open to diversity in the company? It means opening up to information, new competencies and constructive debate. It means accepting that society and leadership are dynamic realities in continuous transformation.

It is opening the doors to differences in gender and age, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, intellectual capacity… both individually and corporately. We must be willing to arouse curiosity about their points of view and their experiences, to listen, to value and to integrate their contributions

From the company to the society

According to the Diversity Foundation’s Global Diversity Management study, “if your company is among the 25% of companies with the highest ratio of racial and ethnic diversity, it will be 35% more likely to achieve above-average financial results. Also, if your company is among the 25% of companies with the greatest gender diversity among its employees, it will be 15% more likely to improve the average economic results of its sector.

Diversity at work improves the efficiency of the company and allows it to reach wider segments of customers. It enriches coexistence and encourages the emergence of new ways of doing things. Especially with people who are used to fighting their difficulties, such as the disabled, who have a high capacity for problem-solving and for valuing their job, and who often create a very optimistic working environment.

In the end, it is about working with people who are ideal for a job because of their cultural background, experience and skills. And to have a small representation of society in the company. Do you dare to implement 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 Preparing for diversity aparece primero en People first.

At this stage of the century, no professional can be asked to be objective, as it has been demonstrated that we are more subjective than we think, that there is no a purely rational mind. This recognition questions in some way one of the pillars of Human Resources: the job interview.

In the methods traditionally used to select a candidate, the interviewer may be driven more than he  thinks by subjective impressions and personal preferences. Also, they are conducted in a forced manner, as if it were an exam to which, of course, the candidates are more than prepared.

The need to hire staff with new skills and specific preparation for the new digital times is leading companies to renovate this bastion, with more effective means of selecting candidates who are this interesting:

The automated selection

Business LinkedIn mentions the case of Unilever, a company that faced 250,000 job applications. It designed an automated process that started with a mobile form self-filled with the LinkedIn profile. The selected candidates were then submitted to an aptitude test that, through technological games, chose the best candidates, who were then submitted to the video interview. This was recorded and an algorithm made a final selection of candidates, who arrived at the last test: a real day’s work in the company, evaluated by the managers.

This impressive automatic process not only reduced the time spent on selection by 75%, but also considerably increased the diversity of candidates in terms of gender, ethnic origin and socio-economic status, which is so necessary to encourage innovation in the company.

Real tests

In some companies, therefore, it is opted to ask candidates to work (a few hours, a day) in the company to really get to know their skills. While others entertain themselves by designing auditions in which candidates have to compete and demonstrate their skills, as if they were in a television game or competing for a role in a play.

Informal interviews

There are more and more cases of interviews outside the company, in informal spaces, where the candidate can be better known.

Or absurd or stressful situations are created that test the candidate. Like asking hypothetical questions, simulating an accident in the company, causing an error in the restaurant where the interview is held… It is an excellent way to see how the candidate reacts to unexpected events and to get to know his personality better.

Virtual Reality

Some companies are already daring to create capacity tests using virtual reality, in which the way they work and solve problems are evaluated. This is an ideal format for young candidates, who are used to interacting with screens.

The selected ones are placed in virtual reality appliances and face situations in which they must react in the way that the company values the most.

Video interviews

Video interviews are indispensable in a global selection process and ideal for evaluating the ability to transmit and the empathy of candidates for customer service jobs.

A video interview does not have to be in real time. The candidate can be asked to introduce themselves and record answers to questions.

Each company must evaluate which method is most useful to them, or design a process with which they are comfortable. An automated preselection, for example, that ends in a one-on-one interview or a day’s work at the company. These innovative techniques allow you to get to know the candidate better and ensure that they fit the job.

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 Effective Recruitment Processes aparece primero en People first.

Internally, what strategies do you accomplish to detect talent and enhance the professional development of your employees?

There are many actions that we perform during the year, both to detect talent and to develop it, but we are especially proud of the “Learning Communities”. They are working groups that are organized around a specific theme and in which collaborators who are passionate about this topic participate voluntarily. The beauty of these communities is that while the employees themselves are training and developing something they are passionate about, they are making great contributions to the business and making our vision of Business&PeopleTogether a reality.

For us, values ​​and abilities are above the curriculum vitae.

We work year-round in development, but we reserve one week a year in all IKEA stores and offices around the world to work it out conscientiously: Talent Week. That week becomes the perfect setting to celebrate that we all have a talent. We take the opportunity to organize different activities, workshops and talks in which we intend to inspire each other to get the best out of each other.

From Human Resources, do you use Social Recruiting to attract new talent? To what extent do you take into account the digital presence of the candidates? To what extent do you take into account the digital presence of the candidates?

Yes, definitely. Social Recruiting has allowed us to discover a new world (2.0) of possibilities, especially for the selection of qualified technical profiles that, in our local market, are difficult to find, such as Interior Designers or Visual Merchandisers, for example. When the talent you are looking for does not apply to your vacancies, social recruiting is the key to reaching passive candidates who, without them saying it, may be willing to work with us. At the same time, we are very aware of the importance of the Candidate Experience, and we put a lot of effort into improving it, both in its online and offline versions. We are clear that Social Recruiting is only a means, the purpose is to approach the candidates and establish a conversation with them, either through telephone interviews, asynchronous interviews or in person.

As for the digital presence of the candidates, it is not something that worries us or that we take into account in our selection processes. For us, it is much more important that they have a passion for life at home or that, they are even brand ambassadors.

You have been carrying out the “IKEA Málaga Talent” Program for 4 years, in which you are committed to developing the talent of entrepreneurs and students. What results have you obtained from this initiative?

I have special affection for “IKEA Málaga Talent” because I was lucky to be one of the participants in the 1st Edition and, in fact, it was as a result of the program that I met the company in which, without knowing it, I had always wanted to work. As for the results, we cannot be happier. Around 300 students are interested in our program each year and 16 are selected to work with them on their individual development plan, among other things. After 3 editions, 87% of students have gotten a job. As for entrepreneurs, about 90% manage to keep their project active. After the success of the program, this year we have decided to add another innovation to the program: Dual Training.

What does this Dual Training consist of and what advantages does it offer to participants and company?

Dual vocational training is a modality of professional training in which there is a high degree of cooperation between the educational center and the company and where apprentice training is the responsibility of both parties. The student or apprentice combines his stay in the company with the stay in the educational center, being able to put into practice the theoretical knowledge and living in first person, such as a work environment. One of the main advantages for the company is the possibility of adapting the curricular content to its needs and for the participants, the main advantage is the possibility of acquiring knowledge through practice, since they will always be connected to the reality of the market.

In our case, this year, DUAL Vocational Training has become part of our Development Program for students and entrepreneurs IKEA Malaga Talent, which, as I mentioned, its objective is to contribute to the positive movement of employability in Málaga.

This year, we will have 29 apprentices from branches such as Commerce, Carpentry, Catering, Administration and Finance and Maintenance. We firmly believe in this training model, so much so that we have set a target of 5% of our workforce in 2020 coming from DUAL Vocational Training.

Without a doubt, this is a unique opportunity to contribute to employability in our community.

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 Enrique López (IKEA): “Values and abilities are above the curriculum vitae” aparece primero en People first.

The UN has declared Finland to be the happiest country in the world. The Finns have a well-functioning health system, flexible working hours, and excellent conditions for reconciling work and family life. They even make their immigrants feel happy.

According to Eva Hannikainen, press and culture attaché at the Finnish Embassy in Madrid, the key to Finnish happiness is trust. Finland is a young country, which has transparently built a society based on equality and free education from the beginning. It is a safe country, with good social support policies, where confidence in politics, justice, and among the inhabitants prevails, in exchange for a strong fiscal discipline that is normally accepted.

Hannikainen also points out from her country that it has hardly any gender gap in politics or business. Its inhabitants enjoy a good balance between personal and working life, with plenty of personal and family time. Paternity leave may be extended to six months.

The 2018 UN Annual Happiness Report takes into account variables such as GDP, social benefits, life expectancy, freedom, generosity, lack of corruption and the quality of life of immigrants. However, the scale used by the UN measures, rather than happiness, the vital satisfaction due to a good coverage of basic needs.

And here the Finns are good, they have the strength of the “sisu” or capacity to accept the life they have with a mixture of self-denial and fortitude, as The New Daily records. They are satisfied with their living conditions, whatever they may be.

Other international standards of happiness, such as the Gallup ranking, are based more on a mixture of positive emotions and objective conditions of well-being, considering that the latter are not a decisive factor of happiness. In these surveys, it is usually the Latin American countries that occupy the top positions.

Spain ranks 36th out of 156 happiest countries in the world, according to the World Happiness Report, and with the highest life expectancy. Their position is inferior in those rankings whose top positions depend on factors such as the quality of institutions, equality before wealth, mutual trust or lack of corruption

Working in Finland                                                                                        

According to Info Finland, integrity, punctuality and equality are valued in Finland. Discrimination is prohibited in any work, under the responsibility of the employer, who must also ensure gender equality.

The way of working is agreed in consultation with the workers, and all are committed to complying with the agreement. The work is not monitored continuously, but the judgement and integrity of each worker is trusted. Respecting agreements is sacred, as well as meeting deadlines.

It is customary to work flexibly, but if a schedule is agreed, it is met with exact punctuality out of respect for the rest of the workers. Besides, communication between them is very fluid.

The country is aware that in a few years there will be a shortage of labour, so it has organized an excellent reception of immigrant workers, with vocational training and legal qualifications, with good working conditions and job security. Although it is essential to learn the language.

Reconciling work and personal life and values such as equality and responsibility at work are some of the keys that make Finland the happiest country in the world.

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 Finlandia, the happiest country in the world aparece primero en People first.