CARE IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT (II)

 



Original article published in catalan on 07/16/2023


Months ago, I began writing this reflection, which I titled "A Look at Respect for Workers." Today, months later, I believe that the idea I aimed to shape is also part of what we can understand as "caring for workers in organizations," specifically in those based on participatory organizational models.

I started the reflection by asking myself: What should be the involvement of individuals in organizational models that promote participation, collective building, models that seek the empowerment and active participation of workers? Should workers always be actively involved? Eager to participate, eager to build? And what happens if that is not the case?

To answer this, I start from the premise that we must understand people from a place of respect. Usually, when we talk about respect, we associate it with understanding, comprehending how the other person is, accepting the diversity of people, interests, customs, tastes... We associate it with how we relate to others: what we say, how we say it, the non-verbal language we use... and it also involves a positive recognition of the other’s intersubjectivity.

Today, however, I propose understanding respect for people and teams from a slightly different perspective:

This perspective is respect for the moment that people are experiencing, and this moment can be both a life moment and a professional moment. As years go by and we accumulate experiences, we realize that each of us, and the people in our surroundings, are going through different moments, and therefore what we should expect from workers in organizations should also recognize and respect the different moments they are experiencing.

These moments can have very variable durations: they might be specific days, weeks, months, or even years. And this variability in the moment we are living can be due to many reasons, both internal and external to ourselves.

Being aware that we all go through different moments throughout life, recognizing them, supporting them, and respecting them should also be part of the perspective that organizations wishing to place care for workers at a relevant level should keep in mind.

Thus, in response to the question of whether workers should always be actively involved in participatory organizational models, I would say that we should recognize that participation, involvement, and active attitude can vary throughout a professional life. Organizations should integrate and be aware of this with consciousness, understanding, and respect; in summary, taking care of workers.

With this reflection, I aim to complement what I published a year ago right here, “Care in the Organizational Context.”


Comentarios

Publicar un comentario

Entradas populares de este blog

COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE: FROM REFLECTION TO ACTION

Imagen
  Original article published in Catalan on 03/20/2023. In the present text, I want to share some interrelated ideas and proposals between the construction of collective knowledge, democratic governance, organizational structures, and "real" transformation. By collective knowledge, we refer to the result of engaging in dialogue, subsequently organizing and systematizing, different types of people who possess various knowledge with the intention of seeking a response or solution to a challenge or problem. Theoretically, there are many definitions of what knowledge is and what types exist, but I like the definition given by Joaquín Gairín (2015), who says that knowledge is the "backpack" that each of us carries. As a result of our perceptions, educational experiences, and life experiences, we accumulate concepts, ideas, feelings, frustrations, points of view, etc., which often explain what we say or don't say, what we defend, or simply say or do. So, if we ...
Leer más

ORGANITZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION AND THIRD SOCIAL SECTOR

Imagen
Original article published in catalan on 02/11/2022   This is the speech I made last January 26, 2023, in the session of " Apunts 654C. Imperdibles de La Confederació ".  First, I want to contextualize from where I talk about the following ideas: I talk from the knowledge I have been acquiring in recent years, reading, studying, and writing. At this point I want to mention that a most part of the ideas that I explain here are reflections made and written jointly with Fernando Fantova and that we have been publishing in  Llei d’Engel     between 2020 and 2022.   Also, I talk from the experience I have been acquiring by having the opportunity to participate actively, together with other colleagues, in the process of organizational transformation that we are carrying out at Fundació el Maresme. At the same time, I contribute ideas from a critical perspective: asking myself what we can do differently to respond to the social complexity and challe...
Leer más

INTERRELATIONSHIPS AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Imagen
Original article published in Catalan, on 07/03/2022   In the construction of participatory and democratic organizational models, we are based, among other aspects, on the empowerment of the working individuals and teams to generate this change in the management approach. We work towards decentralizing power and decision-making, so that those decisions that directly affect teams are made by them in a self-managed, participatory, democratic, and decentralized way. Seeking teams to evolve towards self-organization of work. We focus on building more participatory management models, also advancing towards a democratic organizational culture . What do we understand by organizational culture? Without attempting a textbook definition, we could define organizational culture as the set of values, attitudes, ways of doing things that permeate the people working in an organization, and thus the organization itself. Therefore, it is that intangible substrate that binds the working indivi...
Leer más