For me, a company is like a living being, with its own set of values, identity, culture, way of working, way of treating people, speed of action, priorities, etc. And all of this starts because the founder is like that; the founder of the company imbues it with their personality and seeks to make the company act as they would.
There are so many highly successful companies, moderately successful companies, and those that are bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy, with such different ways of being and acting, whether good or controversial, that I believe there is no magic formula other than hard work and persistence.
How do we convey this way of being and acting of our company to all our employees? One way is by informing them, simply and plainly, by telling them how it is.
A few months ago, I was with my Human Resources team reviewing systems to improve communication with our employees, since not all of us work in the same building and many are out of the office for long periods due to their work.
One of the ideas, practically a demand from my team, was to hold an annual meeting with all staff where we explain various aspects of the company. The agenda we created is as follows:
Introduction of Everyone (Name, Position, and Location)
InterHuman Presentation a. What is InterHuman? b. History of InterHuman c. Challenges d. Purpose e. Values f. What do we sell? g. Organizational Chart h. Achievements 2024 i. Goals 2025
Continuous Improvement
The last time we did something similar was about 10 years ago, but only for managers and above. Now we did it with everyone. As a service company, I found it prudent to explain clearly what we sold, among other things. I also sought to align our values and purpose with everyone.
I dared to present the achievements we had in 2024 and the goals for 2025, seeking the best way for everyone to understand well what we are aiming for and how, without confusing them with financial terms that, even for us as an SME, don't make sense.
In the end, I included a section called "Continuous Improvement," where anyone could freely express where they think we can improve or what obstacles they see from their position. This turned out to be very interesting because it allows you to see things from each person's perspective, and indeed, they are different worlds. With this information, we began acting on the proposed changes and managed to make the staff feel heard.
So far, I feel it was a great idea, and we are also opening more and better channels of communication among everyone, both for work-related matters and for socializing a bit.
Manuel Gonzalez
Comentarios