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Chronicles of a Brazilian Adventurer: Other Experiences vs Create

July 25, 2019

I have been living and working in Lisbon for a little over 6 months, being Brazilian, coming from Brasilia where professional scenarios usually require a lot because there is always some connection with the Federal Government, I make some comparisons between there and here.

In the 1980s we began to worry about improving work environments, but at that time it was much more about ergonomics and working comfort issues than the reflection of stress and professional frustrations in the personal life of employees.

From the year 2000 the discourse changes, and the quality of life was high, in the Top 10 of the professional subjects. However, much more theory is created than anything actually put into practice.

The speed of life, both professional and personal, demands more and more effort to stay competitive and grow (especially financially) our careers.

Then what? How to conciliate professional growth with personal fulfillment?

Companies need resources that boost productivity and do not always take into account the “human” condition of these resources. People are fallible, moody, have good and bad days. In this context, when a resource is hired, human conditions are discarded and professional qualifications are focused.

What happens then? People are hired for their intellectual / professional qualifications and are dismissed for their personality and "personal life."

I have sometimes assisted in hiring processes someone dismissed for having “too many children” or small children, because it is a factor of repeated absences from work. Or a person with a lot of experience discarded for being over 40, assuming that would not be subjected to overtime, like a younger person who wants to prove worth.

Despite the historic colonization of Brazil by Portugal, we are culturally different and this is also reflected in the professional aspect. Here is the comparison, specifically between Create IT and the IT companies I worked for or had direct contact in Brazil:

Business physical environment

At this point we are well aligned, the work environments are in most cases pleasant and comfortable.

Hierarchies

Brazil: Hierarchies are well defined and require a distance between Managers and Senior Executives from what is affectionately called the “factory floor” (employees with no level of management or leadership).

Create IT: Hierarchies exist, but do not divide or create distances. All are part of a team and have freedom to maintain a relationship of companionship and friendship.

Organizational Climate

Brazil: As collaborators, we try to maintain a good relationship. Lunches and Happy Hours sometimes happen, as the work pace is usually very intense and it is not always well appreciated by Managers to take time off to relax when we can get more work done at that time.

Create IT: A good relationship is encouraged from day one. People are receptive and engage in moments of relaxation to soften a busy pace of work. It is prioritized not to have such an intense pace of work, but sometimes it is inevitable. We have a “4Fun” to bring fun activities for everyone like meetings, tours, etc…

Pace of work

Brazil: The most common to hear is "this is for yesterday!". No matter who gave the deadline, who will do it has to find a way to deliver and this implies often poor quality deliveries and thousands of overtime (weekends, holidays and nights). The definition of deadlines usually does not rely on the team participation, but on the conditions that the client imposes.

Create IT: A healthy work rate is appreciated: 8 hours a day without work on weekends or holidays (and we still have days off). Whenever possible, deadlines are set with the participation of the team and discussed with the client (the client is not always right in this case).

Training and Qualifications

Brazil: Training and qualifications are paid by the employee. If the company is interested in an employee acquiring a certification, he or she can pay it, and if it succeeds in the exam it will be reimbursed (sometimes partially). In general there is no direct incentive for training.

Create IT: Training and qualifications are requested by the employee and are evaluated in the annual budget. When possible, they are included in the year budget and paid by the company. Or are postponed to the following year. When training / qualification has no costs it can be done and included in the annual hours available for this purpose (Wallace plan), which does not compromise the salary due to absences from work.

Hiring

Brazil: Managers evaluate and hire a new team member for their skills and the team must adapt to their presence.

Create IT: Following the Managers' evaluation process of the candidate, if he or she is deemed fit for the job, a personal presentation is scheduled to the team where he / she will discuss both the career path and the personal profile. After this presentation, the team gives feedback to the Manager whether or not this person is on the team. That is, we work with people with a familiar profile.

Personal life

Brazil: Sometimes we have to work things out at work and we have to miss part of the day or even a whole day. In this case, the hours are counted and must be compensated on other days. As we usually have thousands of overtime hours, the balance is made between the hours to be compensated and the overtime.

Create IT: The best expression I've ever seen: “Golden Slippers”. That is, the opportunity to work remotely when it is necessary to conciliate something from one's personal life (attending a meeting at the child's school, waiting for a delivery at home, etc…). Of course the reason for the absence has to be justified, but there is no charge for that. In this case, there is also the issue of the team's conscience and honesty in not making it a recurring practice, but it gives the flexibility to conciliate personal and professional life.

 

In general, what I believe should exist in the professional world is, besides looking for profit, to be pro-fit: promote the fit between personal and professional life, considering that we are humans and not machines.

Respect each other's time, personality, desires, dreams and plans and make it a driver to their best contribution to the growth of the company, bringing professional fulfillment from personal satisfaction.

For more companies like Create IT where we can create it.