#GOOGLECLOUDJOURNEY: Six Fascinating Wishes for Choosing Employers
Part 7 – Community and empathy
NOTE: If you wandered into this blog series for the first time, I recommend first reading my first post that elaborates on the whole series here
The themes of community and empathy come up the most in my analysis material. This came as a slight surprise to me, but it’s not a miracle after all. We are social animals, and working life is not separate from “real” life itself, so why would working together at the workplace and bonding with other people not be important?
Corona time
The last couple of years we have been more or less isolated from friends, strangers, coworkers, and even family members. Thus, the longing to be together with others can rise to the top of the motivation list even for a slightly more introverted person.
Can we assume that the triumph of communalism in my analysis is due to this very unusual global situation of recent years? Perhaps. At the very least, it sounds likely that it played a role. However, I wouldn’t count on the fact that the importance of human-to-human communication would decrease without the impact of the pandemic.
Meaningfulness
Although work can be seen completely as a means of making money, in general, we still need some kind of connection with other people. The workplace, on the other hand, tends to be the environment where we spend a large part of our day, so it is understandable to want it to be pleasant.
Pleasantness probably consists of a safe atmosphere, a sense of belonging, shared interests, and similar things. Belonging and common goals also create meaning, which is very important to a person. The sense of meaning is also useful for the company in the longer term when more effort is likely to be put towards the common goal and this effort causes less mental load.
Empathy and business
Our recently held Nextgencloud Webinar covered the topic of competitive advantage of a business in this digital world. A culture of psychological safety emerged in the discussion as an important factor for achieving a competitive advantage, which leads to the fact that problems can be raised and thus also solved with the right tools.
If people are supposed to act coldly and rationally, you probably won’t get to this kind of culture. The right means for a culture that benefits the bottom line of such a company and the employee can be found, among other things, in the skills of listening and being present.
Summary
As I wrote above, the category of empathy and community, which emerged as the most important factor as a slight surprise, is actually not that surprising. In my own bubble, I have begun to perceive the world of thought of genuine humanization of working life to an ever-increasing degree, which warms my heart. Maybe there is hope in working life!
About the author:
Perttu Pakkanen is the Talent Acquisition Lead at Codento. Perttu is eager in making sure that people joining Codento will fit with the values of Codento and enjoy the ride with us. Perttu’s passion is to understand what drives people in their career decisions.
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