We often see the stereotype among many people and institutions that the entrepreneur’s priority is the economic and productive dimension of his or her company. However, when addressing organizational problems, a systemic approach is necessary to avoid neglecting or ignoring the set of subsystems that comprise it and determine its dynamics, and on whose harmonious interrelationship will depend the understanding of its events, its growth and development.
A company is a type of organization, a system open to its environment, made up of a series of subsystems (Management and Human Resources, Economics and Finance, Operations, and Sales) that constantly interact with each other and their environment, in accordance with the organization’s structure. These subsystems are designed to meet objectives (which reflect the mission) in accordance with a strategic plan. The objectives and the strategic plan are always related to production, whether of a product or a service, and are intended to satisfy the needs of specific human groups (the market) through exchange processes or commercial transactions.
When referring to a company, we can also use the concept of a team to evoke the image of a high-performance sports team, where its members are carefully selected based on their past performance and the functions they are expected to fulfill. They are trained and coached technically and humanely, committing them to the team’s mission: to win. A task that, as long as it is a group task, creates the need for «the other» and the experience that «the others» are essential to achieve the goal. It is precisely this team culture that must be fostered in organizations, where employees, departments, sub-directorates, and the various companies within a company perceive «Others» as essential to achieving the organization’s objectives. These objectives, which respond to the company’s mission, are what give meaning to the most monotonous tasks and reveal the importance and value of each job position and, therefore, of each person in the organization.
Finally, we view the company as an economic-commercial and psychosocial entity. An economic and commercial entity insofar as the company is a unit that produces goods and services for a market, which must produce and generate wealth. A psychosocial entity insofar as it has the responsibility to generate employment and ensure the professional development, health, and well-being of the people who work there. For these reasons, we defend the thesis that the business organization is, above all, a human organization, hence its psychosocial character. Along with achieving the goals of efficiency and profitability, the organization must be transformed into a space of well-being and personal and professional fulfillment for the people who work there if we want to achieve engagement and belonging.
People place great expectations on work: economic expectations because the support of their family and the advancement of the society in which they live will depend on it; psychological expectations because the results of their work will reflect the full extent of their abilities and possibilities, a self-image. At work, they will find the space for satisfaction or frustration, the human needs for communication, participation, recognition, belonging, creation, and transcendence.
The business as a work organization must take into account the participation of all these variables in every analysis. The group task is launched. We must feel the need for the «Other» and, in turn, all recognize our disciplines and professions as essential to achieving business development. This challenge presupposes interdisciplinary professional training, which allows us to recognize the need for the participation of other like-minded professionals in the solution of each problem situation, working as a team and creating interdisciplinary concepts and tools to successfully address the complexity of our work object: the company, as a human, economic, and commercial entity.
To those professionals who identify with these ideas and find this proposal attractive, I invite you to take the initiative to reach out and begin transforming our companies into more humane organizations.
Cuban Journal of Psychology.
