Ten years following the Tecmilenio Institute of Integral Wellbeing Sciences launched the “Wellbeing 360” event with the aim of increasing people’s wellbeing and exploring, together with world experts, the ways to connect with their conscience, build their purposes and be prepared to live fully, in the face of the emotional deterioration of people, according to the words of the rector of this institution, Bruno Zepeda, is that the great event Wellbeing 360 was inaugurated this Monday, in the axis of Positive Organizations, with the holding of conferences and panels in which national and foreign experts participated on how to develop a state of well-being and the encounter with happiness.
“Wellbeing 360” was described by Dr. Rosalinda Ballesteros, director of the Institute of Integral Welfare Sciences, as the most important global event on the implementation of programs to promote well-being and happiness among public bodies, people, institutions and companies , highlighting that in ten years 200 speakers from various countries have participated.
“Wellbeing 360” takes place from this Monday, October 17 to 20, over four days in a hybrid way, the first day in person in Mexico City and the last 3 days from Monterrey and on digital platforms.
Raj Raghunathan opened the program in his capacity as professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, noting that, within the contradictory relationship between success and happiness, “most people think that having success implies that we are going to be happy automatically. But there is no evidence of this and even success can be detrimental to happiness.
He explained that it is more recurrent that happy people can be more successful. He added that studies show that happy people work 16 years longer than unhappy people. He cited three very common “sins” that cause unhappiness: being controlling; the superiority complex, as well as despotism.
Faced with global figures on the unhappiness of up to 80% of workers in the world, Raj Raghunathan stated that “people want to work with happy people. We are attracted to these people. Happy people leave more profits for companies, they are more profitable”. It has been studied, he added, that the people who earn the most money detract from friendship, from being shared.
In the panel “What the collaborators want to connect with their work” Rosalinda Ballesteros commented that at the institute they carried out a study of leadership, concluding that the work environment improves positive emotions, that teamwork is fundamental and giving value to the importance of what the collaborators do”. She explained that there is an international trend in which people quit if they don’t find a meaning in life in their work.
Mauricio Reynoso, general director of the Mexican Association of Human Resources Management, said that awareness of well-being has grown among companies. “The world is more digitized, generations have changed, young people are increasingly interested in well-being at work, and if they can’t find it in a company, they choose the path of entrepreneurship. As for the leaders, it must be seen that they have to keep the company alive, that they are people, but that they must be made to see that they have an obligation to recognize individual talents. Being a leader is keeping a business alive”.
Iván Guerrero, an academic from the Institute of Integral Welfare Sciences, who heads Factor Wellbeing 360, cited the Business Insider study in which it is reported that company employees pay more and more attention to the personality and skills of their leader. He explained that leaders increasingly have to trust employees who work remotely. The global trend is that the collaborator needs to integrate personal and professional life, either in person or virtually.
Andrea Deydén, renowned journalist and professor, commented that “the media rebuild leadership by socializing problems. Getting ahead in the pandemic was not easy. The media helped to socialize what was happening. The media exposed alternatives, solutions, we brought successful experiences to others. At Wellbeing 360 we knew how to promote that there are more opportunities to reconnect and find the voices that are making the change today”.
Emma Sifuentes, with 22 years of experience as a journalist, expressed that “following the pandemic we saw the digitization of work, hybrid or one hundred percent remote. There are companies that are still trying. We see the demand of the collaborators in favor of diversity in the teams of age, race or gender. We already find executives more focused on the well-being of workers. Now there is talk of existential, economic and emotional wages.” The table was moderated by Ivonne Vargas, journalist and professor.
Ana Paula Nacif, business counselor, reported that according to international reports for 2019, 14% of employees showed symptoms of anxiety, but that as a result of the pandemic the indicator rose to 25%. She highlighted the importance of positive psychology “in the face of a reality that yields figures such as 9 out of ten employees stating that they have anxiety but only 14% have had medical support. We need to address the problem because the collaborators have to flourish.”
For his part, Mauricio Magaña, professor at the TEC de Monterrey and business advisor, said that productivity in companies is the challenge, but that it has to happen in a positive work environment. “How to translate the uncertainty in the world to generate well-being in companies and the people who work in them, is the challenge. We must meet our collaborators individually, learn regarding their skills and values in favor of the organization”.
Lilia Cortés, teacher in pedagogy and positive leadership, pointed out that it is essential to be “aware of the need to change, to create happy environments. If you are happy you can improve the lives of your collaborators”.
In the panel “How to flourish in the outplacement process”, Juan Freire, vice-rector for Innovation and Transformation at Tecmilenio, said that education is going to be more relevant today. We have to maintain a plan to create solutions to these emerging needs. The challenge is to co-create with organizations and people a professional and emotional environment seen as an opportunity for flexible and personalized development”.
Paulina Martínez, news editor for LinkedIn Mexico observed that “the pandemic arrived and changed the world and the rules of the game at work. It brought us more automation and new players among millennials and Gen Z. It also brought silent resignation among millions.
Today the collaborators ask for flexibility, better organize their day, choose schedules, hiring for skills and competencies not for academic titles; they want internal mobility programs, to grow within the organization; More diversity in the work culture. He explained that among the most demanded positions are those of technology.
Martha Gómez, Director of Human Resources for Telefónica México, focused on the exit plans of former employees, not only accompanying them with compensation, but also paying attention to reformulating themselves as workers, so that they know that they are not alone, that they still have a productive life. I salute that this is a current trend.
Adriana Palacio, professor and specialist in labor reinsertion, explained that those who become unemployed experience it as a duel, that on many occasions they are victims of depression, and that they even become marginalized from their own family. She added that, in her experience with former company collaborators, the goal is for them to self-recognize their skills, bring what they have learned to the fore and reinsert themselves into the labor market, either as employees or entrepreneurs.
Robert E. Quinn, professor emeritus and international business consultant, spoke regarding leadership. He reported that in research conducted over 20 years, it was observed that leaders attract. But in the same way, he put on the table relevant information on why employees do not grow in the workplace.
It is essential, he said, to clarify what your purpose is as a leader by asking yourself what result I want to create, what direction I should follow and asking the collaborators for their opinion.
Marisa Salanova, writer, professor and consultant gave a conference on how to “Care for mental health in organizations”. She explained that “the pandemic gave mental health a priority place in companies. Talking regarding mental health was a stigma that prevented positive intervention programs to serve workers.
We can say that the pandemic has motivated greater awareness in work environments. The WHO published that global depression increased by 27% and anxiety by 25%, and that the causes were fear of contagion and death, loss of family members and lack of employment.
Finally, he said that the European Union since 1989 has undertaken projects to address health at work and that it has implemented a mental health program from 2021 to 2027.