Apex America, a leading company in Latin America in Customer Experience, carried out an investigation together with specialists from the Siglo 21 University in 2019 in which it was concluded that, at higher levels of development in cultural competences, a better level of engagement or positive link with the tasks; and therefore, better performance in their work objectives. What’s more, it was understood that cultural competencies are related to well-being, pride and performance. This is related to the triangle of cultural DNA, performance and well-being that we are aiming at, which is the basis of the design of our employee selection processes, and their subsequent development within the company, and whose theoretical framework is the Positive Psychology.
The Positive Psychology -a concept addressed by Susana Llorens, Isabel Martínez and Marisa Salanova in the book Healthy Organizations. A look from the Positive Psychology (2019) – is a scientific perspective that studies human thoughts, feelings and behaviors, with a focus on strengths rather than weaknesses, building the good in life – rather than repairing the bad – and studying people with good level of well-being, rather than focusing only on those that are wrong. Transferred to a work environment, the focus is on factors that facilitate a person, group or organization to develop positively, for example, under conditions of uncertainty (resilience); and in the good practices that are put in place so that work teams are healthier, more resilient and, as a consequence, have better levels of performance and quality of service. These results, which make the model sustainable, are achieved through systematic, planned and proactive efforts whose objective is focused on improving the health of employees and the financial health of the organization.
For companies, being able to distinguish which cultural competences are beyond technical knowledge has a direct impact on the engagement of the collaborator with the organization, because these cultural competences They make the person able to link with the purpose and objectives of the company, in addition to understanding that their individual impact goes beyond the daily task. On the other hand, these competencies also generate wellness because people connect with the sense of doing, with the motivation to perform in their positions and with the search for professional growth in an environment that allows it.
Today, in Apex, interviews are digital and group, and have team activities where psychologists can observe the behaviors of people and their consequent relationship with the skills that the position they are aiming for requires. The objective is to guarantee that all the people who join the organization have these cultural competencies, and that those who access internal growth or leadership positions have those acquired competencies.. This concept is anchored in the HERO (Healthy & Resilient Organization) model, which refers to healthy and sustainable organization models in their results, in people and in practices, from positive psychology.
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The pandemic for us was an opportunity to rethink ourselves as an area and to start working on something that had to do with the cultural competencies that define what Apex is. The first thing we had to adapt in the selection process was the way to find in people those cultural competencies that the company needs – and that speak of our gene and who we are – in a 100% virtual way.
From face-to-face to virtual, an opportunity to rethink processes
This passage from the face-to-face to the virtual, even though the contexts are more hybrid between face-to-face and virtuality, is a global trend accompanied by many platforms and software aimed at facilitating this transformation. In a survey of more than 1,500 recruiting professionals in 28 countries, LinkedIn was able to identify 6 trends hiring and recruiting professionals should be aware of when drawing up their strategy for 2021, which ensure that the virtual recruitment modality is here to stay and that the recruiters you want will lead the transition to remote work.
It should be noted that these processes open up opportunities for companies to better and more deeply understand the profiles they seek, the hard and soft skills that each employee must have, the cultural competencies that the company requires and the individual situations of the people, with the objective of promoting a healthy and sustainable organization. What’s more, digital processes are strategic, efficient and dynamic and accelerate times exponentially by providing solutions that allow these recruitment and selection instances to be reduced by up to 50%.
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Kindness: OCC World
On the other hand, taking into account the context of regionalization of Apex America, in which the company seeks to double its current staff of collaborators in the next 3 years, they must continue to ensure a well-being environment that allows accompanying both the professional and personal development of those who are part of the company. We had been working on digitization and reality only accelerated that process; and this allowed us to generate a global proposal applicable to all countries.
Today the selection process is 100% digital and, although the countries adjust this model to their particularities, all evaluate the same cultural competencies necessary, so that it is a sustainable model wherever we are. We are working on a regional Apex platform.
Director of Culture for Apex America.
