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Ana Heras Piedrabuena -- How does internal communication and teamwork influence motivation?

Workers basically want to feel that they are important to the company and that their work is evaluated and valued, i.e. they want to feel listened to. Because all animals, bacteria, most plants, we are designed as group entities. Our brains were formed in the family group, trained to live and coexist in a group. We are talking about one of the most primal and powerful instincts of the human being that, if frustrated, produces a situation of stress. Stress means alteration of the metabolic structure; it raises cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure, general metabolism, including thyroid and fat metabolism. A situation that can be generated within organisations, I am talking about companies in which there is no internal communication and competitiveness in the teams is encouraged. For this reason, lack of teamwork and poor internal communication should be seen as serious obstacles to mental and physical performance.for general health.

Many companies hire consultancies to assess customer relations or process improvement. By asking employees directly, with the method we apply, we empower them to make a self-diagnosis and contribute to implementing improvements. This empowerment is tremendously motivating and opens a fluid communication channel with the company's management. We use continuous improvement dynamics and contribute to job satisfaction, reduce absenteeism and improve the working environment and productivity.

We put the team in a constant observation of what needs to be improved in the company. This generates a totally differentiating factor with respect to any other company in the market, let alone the competition, where workers go to work 8 hours to get on with their lives, with no emotional involvement or sense of belonging.

It is clear to us that a company is made by all its components. That is why, when it comes to recruitment, having the best profiles on the market is essential, but even more important is to have the best people with excellent attitudes and qualities. To this end, we invite employees to participate in the selection processes as part of the training of managers and executives, and then for about an hour we teach and explain something about how groups and people work. On the one hand, this helps cohesion and deeply motivates the members of the company, who feel that their opinion is taken into account in something as fundamental as the selection of a future colleague. In addition to solidifying the culture of continuous training in the company.

With regard to staff appraisal, very few companies have it systematically implemented. When they do, it tends to be unmotivating, even demotivating in many cases, and is treated as a mere formality. It is better to teach them to listen to the employee in greater depth, and it is also used to determine their specific training needs and to draw up the annual training plan, both in terms of skills and technical training. The document we use is not closed, nor is it numerical, so it forces both the employee and his or her boss to really talk and listen to each other, as human beings. This is very motivating for everyone, even though we work together every day, we don't really sit down to talk, listen and reflect together on what things we do well, what things we can improve and what we need to grow as a team and as a company.

We do all this by fostering a relaxed atmosphere. Using humour, asking workers for their opinions, encouraging self-criticism and creativity.

 

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