From ’employee’ to ‘collaborator’: disruptive companies value their collaborators

The time of the workers, workers, employees or public servants was left behind. In the current context, the term human capital and the concept of “collaborator” are used. Institutions are looking for a more dynamic and productive interaction within companies.

For Pablo Ardaya, national director of Human Capital at the Franz Tamayo University, Unifranz, conceiving the worker as a collaborator entails a greater commitment because they strive to understand the purpose of the organization, put effort, passion, intellect and commitment.

“All these elements that people take with them when they join the company make them, precisely, considered collaborators of the objective, that is, of the organizational purpose”, he assures.

This change in philosophy in the management of human capital is closely related to a changing social and technological paradigms which current societies are going through and from which Bolivia is not outside.

People are the ones who give life and spirit to the processes, which, no matter how well designed and technological they are, inevitably require the soul of the collaborators to make this process incredible, since only people are capable of understanding and exploiting technology to achieve better results.

The employment relationship has changed

Ardaya recalls that, until the last century, what companies and businessmen needed was manpower, that is, brute force so that, through that commodified force at work, they become dependent on a company and sell in yes, his strength and his time.

“For some time now, companies have realized that beyond brute or physical force, lpeople have something more powerful which is properly your knowledge, your attitude, your skills and their values. All these elements that, in addition, allow them to achieve results, mean that good companies no longer see these people who work for them as simple brute force, but as partners that allow them to achieve results, hence the term collaborator”, he adds.

Obviously, people have become the soul and the brain behind the processes within organizations. Today, many companies are aware that people are valuable and that, if they want to be successful, they need to think about the added value of the passion and commitment of those people.

Encourage soft skills

Soft skills are those that allow people to relate to each other, reinvent themselves, understand and comprehend the elements and, above all, project themselves towards better levels. Meanwhile, hard skills not only refer to strength, but also to applied knowledge.

“It would be of no use to me if a person, who attends to customers or users and knows how to handle the system excellently (…), did not have a soft skill incorporated, such as customer service, the desire to help, the commitment to provide solutions to a person,” says Ardaya.

From human resource to human capital

The change of nomenclature in labor administration is a reflection that there is a natural evolution in companies in the management of human capital.

Moving from the name ‘human resources’ to ‘human talent’ and, currently, to ‘human capital’ is a recognition of human qualities of the collaborators.

Ardaya explains that other companies are already talking about ‘people management’, understanding the person as an integral element, which encompasses talent, knowledge, desire, passion and other additional aspects that make it unique.

“When we realize that the person is much more complex, that they come to our organization with skills, abilities and feelings, it is where knowing how to manage this intangible part that people bring becomes important. A good worker is not only a good worker, but also a person of integrity”, she points out.