As the labor market becomes more skilled, and remote working opens the door to be employed from anywhere in the world, companies must find new ways to attract and retain talent. Sure, that includes offering competitive benefits and salaries. However, what some companies overlook is the importance of making your talent feel valued.
At Abarca, we approach Talent Strategy differently than most companies, and employee appreciation is at the root of everything we do. Here are the basics of how we make our Abarcans feel valued:
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- Make it Like Family. The majority of people spend more of their waking hours at work than they do anywhere else, so it is crucial to build an environment that makes them feel safe and welcome. This can take a physical shape, like a game room and family-style kitchen areas, or emotional, like open-door policies for every member of the team—even the CEO.
- It’s about the individual. Beginning during the interview process, we make sure that potential Abarcans know that we are interested in them both as a professional and as a person. To succeed in our company, candidates need to thrive in our culture, as well as their role. So, we always ask questions that go beyond their resume and start building relationships even before their first day.
- People skills training. As both a technology company and a full-service PBM, the responsibilities of each Abarcan can vary greatly—so we rely on individual departments to give their teams the technical training they need. However, from an organizational level, we supplement that education with “people skills” training. With topics like promise management, feedback and conversations, and tribal leadership, these sessions are aimed at teaching team members how to treat each other and set expectations for how they can expect to be treated.
- Starting from the top. The Abarca leadership team understands that we set the tone for our entire organization—and we try to embody our culture in everything we do, and that includes how we share responsibilities. We know that we have built an industry-leading team, so it is crucial to demonstrate that we are “All In” for our staff and trust them to carry out their duties.
- Feedback is everything. We believe that the thoughts and feedback of Abarcans are critical to the success of our organization. That’s why, along with our open-door policies, we issue satisfaction surveys on strategic touchpoints. For employees to know that their voices are heard, and to encourage their participation, these questionnaires need to be used to generate visible, company-wide initiatives. As an example, we are revamping our workplace wellness program based on employee responses. We are also in the process of rolling out a new crowd-sourcing-based feedback process.
By prioritizing making our team feel valued, our organization has seen benefits even beyond employee recruitment and retention. Abarcans are genuinely invested in the success of the company, so they work hard for our clients, partners, and members—and they are consistently landing and expanding business, drug contracts, and clinical opportunities.
As a result, our company is growing rapidly. So much so that we have doubled the number of Abarcans over the last 18 months. And as we continue to welcome new team members, we know that they will each become “Like Family.”
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This blog was written by Mercibel Gonzalez, VP, Talent Strategy at Abarca.