If we say that human centered organizations are characterized by putting individuals at the core, we will be giving you a circular definition of this type of company. Therefore, the information we will be providing you with, in this regard, will be equal to zero.
Let’s see if, with the help of psychology, we can understand what this center is and where it is.
In psychotherapy, for decades there has been a trend that is also considered “human centered”. According to this model, the focus of the therapeutic process is not on the therapist’s opinions or their interpretation of the patient’s needs, but precisely on what the patient perceives as important. Their rhythm, their goals, their way of understanding their own life are considered valid and are not questioned unless they are dangerous to them or others.
From this psychotherapeutic perspective, the improvement the patient needs to make in their life and requires the help of their psychologist is that which they feel they need to make at this time.
Human centered organizations
With human centered organizations, something similar to the type of therapy we have just mentioned occurs. Human centered organizations are companies whose company culture puts the person at the center of their activity, rather than allowing results (sales, productivity, money, etc.) to take up all the value. In Renaissance terms, we would say that in these organizations the person is the measure of all things.
One of the most famous clichés in the corporate and human capital management world is to hear bosses say that “the most important thing in this company are the people”. Although it sounds good, in reality when we hear it we all tend to think sarcastically: “Thank goodness, that’s very thoughtful of you” or something along the lines of “Perfect, but I can’t tell, maybe I’m just not a person”.
When we make reinforcing statements that remain superficial, especially if we are the ones in charge of putting them into practice, we must ask ourselves the following question: is this true in the case of my company? If so, what does it translate into? If not, what should we do to achieve it? And, of course, let’s not forget the obvious: who are these important people, and how does working in human centered organizations affect their lives?
At this point, the key concept to keep in mind if we want to be a human centered organization is transversality: the well-being of external and, of course, internal customers must be present in all decisions taken.
The methodology, processes, and actions that are implemented after having passed positively what we could call the “human centered test”: does this decision benefit employees, does it help them meet their needs, does it increase their well-being/prevent their uneasiness, and will it enhance their feeling of being taken into account? If the answer to these questions is yes, the action will be implemented and will contribute to the company being a human centered organization.
Why is it important for organizations to focus on people?
If we had to summarize in a single point why companies should focus on people, we could pick an easy one: human centered organizations succeed in improving the employee experience of those who work in them and, therefore, perform better than those that do not. In other words, what exactly improves the employee experience? The company’s focus is on the employee.
Great, but how do you do it? This is where you have to take into account what we have said about transversality: contemplate all those factors, dimensions, or areas that can influence for better or worse the well-being of an employee when it comes to putting it at the center of the strategies.
Thus, taking care of the employee experience requires strengthening some strategic lines in which the values, needs, objectives, personality, talent, and professional projects of the employees take on the importance they deserve.
Normally at this point reference is made to the area of transparency, social benefits, and training, among other advantages of belonging to a certain company, although we can also mention the following areas:
1. Fostering a favorable working environment
2. Increasing motivation with tasks
3. Facilitate the increase of performance
4. Enhance commitment to the company
5. Encourage talent retention
Don’t panic: if this task is too much and we don’t know where to turn, we can always turn to those who know the most about well-being: psychologists.
Ifeel has created an emotional well-being program for companies, designed by its team of expert psychologists and aimed at placing the well-being of the individual at the center of organizations, as a fundamental tool for sustainably boosting productivity.
Thanks to this collaboration, HR managers can receive personalized, data-driven advice on how to make the company’s core business revolve around the people who make it possible, taking care of the human capital they are responsible for.
In addition, ifeel‘s emotional well-being program for companies offers employees a mental health care service structured at different levels depending on their needs at any given time. Thus, they can access different mental health care tools with ifeel‘s app. On the second level, they can receive emotional support through a chat with one of our platform’s licensed psychologists. If additional help is needed, they can access the third level of the program: online psychological therapy with a psychologist specialized in cases like theirs.
We hope you found this post about human centered organizations interesting. If you would like more information about our emotional well-being program for companies, simply request it and we will contact your team as soon as possible.
