Six characteristics of a kind company

It seems hard to believe that beauty, joy and well-being can be the founding foundations of companies. Instead, it will be precisely characteristics like these that will revolutionize the traditional work system after the Covid-19 pandemic. He explains it Walter RuffinoniChief Executive Officer of NTT DATA Italia, a branch of the Japanese multinational leader in the IT consultancy and services sector, in the book The Gentle Company. How beauty, joy and well-being will shape the businesses of the futurepublished by Mondadori Electa.

The widespread use of new technologies and the new contiguity between private and working life have undermined the classic space-time coordinates on which the professional context was based and have created the conditions for a new way of understanding work. Today, employees strongly ask for flexibility and the possibility of optimizing the work-life balance and the company, if it wants to remain competitive and attractive on the market, must be willing to evolve from all points of view: technological, operational, but above all cultural.

The central theme of the essay is corporate evolution in the new post-pandemic modernity: the importance of welfare measures, the new centrality of smart-working, the transformation of leadership with a view to positioning itself as a point of reference capable of guiding the company towards a common goal, and again the affirmation of a different business model, based on a renewed sense of social responsibility and attention to the well-being of its employees.

The Gentile Company is the one that is committed to developing talent, to being generous towards people and the community. «In a working context characterized by phenomena such as that of Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting», explains Ruffinoni, former author of The code of the future (Marsilio, 2017) and, with Mondadori Electa, of Italia 5.0. A new humanism to relaunch the country (2020), «companies must change their operating processes and culture not only with a view to attracting talent, but also to retain them. Today it is no longer companies that choose their employees, but workers who choose the realities they consider most in line with their life project. And the winning companies today are precisely those that allow people to balance the private sphere with the working one».

«Companies will be able to create the conditions for the virtuous circle – which leads from beauty to performance, from joy to gratitude, from optimism and hope to trust – to take place. This virtuous circle, this way of doing business, is what I call a “gentle company”: an organization in continuous evolution, capable of placing the values ​​and attitudes we have spoken about at the center of its cultural system. The kind company will be a company that creates talent, is generous towards people and the community. An open company that will pursue the common good. Using simple adjectives, let’s try to draw together an identikit of the kind company, an image that represents our guiding star to strive towards in the transformation journey towards the future».

Here then are the characteristics of the Gentile Company:

Inclusive and sustainable

Attentive to all diversity, it is a company that believes in the driving force of reciprocal influences and in the union of different contributions. Inside, people are committed to improving the environment, each according to their possibilities.

Dreamy and engaging

It puts people first, creates talent and pursues the happiness of its teams. It is a company capable of integrating itself constructively into the communities and territories where it is present, actively participating in the solution of local problems.

Grateful and demanding

She adopts a light style, embraces a smile and is grateful to her people for their daily commitment and contribution. You expect the best from everyone and pursue excellence in everything you do, with meritocracy, transparency and fairness in rewarding results.

Beautiful and simple

He builds his offices with aesthetics and design in mind, to create places where people feel inspired and at ease. Flexible towards the needs of the context, the kind company adopts streamlined processes and takes care of the working conditions of each individual.

Committed and forward-thinking

It pursues the common good, dreams big and generates a positive impact in every interaction with the surrounding world. Social problems are taken to heart such as, for example, the retraining of NEETs (Not in Education, Employement or Training).

Curious and generous

It stimulates new approaches and new ideas, without judging, but enabling processes and encouraging the creation of projects. Capitalizing on successes and mistakes, it is a company that shares results and promotes equity.