After 11 editions of the Bavel Travel Summit, at Voxel we firmly believe that our events are much more than spaces to talk about industry and trends.

We create spaces, moments, activities, and conversations with the goal of generating real connections between people—what we call creating meaningful connections. That’s why, on the second day of this year’s Bavel Travel Summit, we once again chose to feature three transformative talks that invited attendees to look inward, question their beliefs, and explore new ways of understanding the world.

Xavier Ginesta: purpose as a change driver

Voxel’s founder, Xavier Ginesta, opened the day with a talk that went far beyond the business realm. He shared his decision to sell the company and create the Humanitas Foundation, with the aim of promoting a profound shift in mindset. His message was clear: we need to rethink how we understand work, business, and life in society. Real transformation doesn’t come from behavior, but from a change in our beliefs and worldview.

David del Rosario: the science behind human connection

Neuroscientist David del Rosario, director of the Advanced Neuroscience Institute of Barcelona (INAB), introduced us to the fascinating phenomenon of brain synchrony. He explained how two brains can synchronize in frequency, phase, and amplitude without people being consciously aware of it. This synchronization enhances cooperation, empathy, and effective communication—in other words, it enables the creation of meaningful moments, creating meaningful connections. In his words: “our brain seeks coherence, not truth.”

Íngrid Terricabres: breaking the limits of perception

Instructor of the extraocular vision method (VEO), Íngrid Terricabres, closed the sessions with a workshop that left attendees amazed. Through extraocular vision—the ability to see without using physical eyes—she demonstrated that we can all do things we don’t yet know we’re capable of. This practice breaks through self-imposed limitations and rediscovers the human brain’s potential to receive information from places still unexplored by science.

These talks not only inspired, but also showed that there are methods—some backed by science, others by experience—that help us connect more authentically and truly build long-term relationships and friendships (creating meaningful connections). At Voxel, we continue to champion content that transforms, that invites us to grow from within, and that connects us with what truly matters.

La entrada Creating meaningful connections. When an event changes you from within: reflections on day two of the Bavel Travel Summit se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.

The purpose of Voxel is to promote professional and personal development within the company and to have a positive impact on society. In this spirit, listening to and learning from inspiring individuals like Ousman Umar significantly contributes to this goal.

The Beginning of It All

Ousman Umar was born in a small village in Ghana, deep in the heart of the jungle. He was a child with a simple and happy life. But when he saw planes flying over his head, he wondered what they were and how they could fly.

When someone explained to him that those vehicles came from “the land of the white people,” he decided he wanted to go there. At the age of 13, this curiosity drove him to leave his village. And so, he set off on a journey—alone.

An Endless Journey

He crossed the Sahara Desert with a group of people. During those days, he endured harsh experiences: he faced transportation issues, was deceived by people who took advantage of him, and survived extreme conditions. “Besides coming across the lifeless bodies of others who were chasing the same dream, most of the group did not survive,” Ousman added.

Eventually, he arrived in Libya, where he worked for several years to save money. After passing through the hands of human traffickers and crossing several countries, he reached Mauritania. He paid to travel by boat to Spain, but what they didn’t tell him was that the agreement meant they had to build the boat themselves.

After witnessing the horror of seeing his best friend’s boat sink and surviving two days at sea without food or water (and without knowing how to swim), he finally arrived in Fuerteventura, where he spent two months in prison.

The Land of the White People

Because he was a minor, he was allowed to enter and stay in Spain. When asked where he wanted to go, he chose “Barça” (Barcelona) since it was the only place he had heard of. “I had never felt so alone as when I lived on the streets of the Catalan capital,” Ousman confessed.

One day, he met a woman who took him in, and the Ghanaian became part of her family. Despite not knowing how to read or write, nor speaking Catalan or Spanish, he managed to earn a university degree and complete two master’s programs. “Talent has no color; it’s a matter of opportunity,” he told us.

Ousman’s Purpose

Ousman realized that his purpose in life was to prevent others from enduring the same cruel experience he had. He founded the NGO NASCO Feeding Minds, whose mission is to promote access to education and information for the people of Ghana (Africa).

The organization tackles immigration issues at the source by creating development opportunities so that no one has to endure the horrors of forced migration. “If you only feed their stomachs, you will find their bodies on your shores. But if you feed their minds, they will lead change in their communities,” he explained to us.

Today, the organization has established 17 ICT labs in Ghana, benefited 58 schools, and provided over 65,000 training programs—all without any government support.

Ousman’s work has received international recognition. In 2017, the United Nations highlighted him for using technology to save lives in Ghana. In 2018, he was invited by the Pope to the Vatican, and in 2021, he received an award from the King of Spain for his contribution to using the internet to address one of Europe’s greatest challenges: migration.

For all these reasons (and many more), we are delighted to have financially supported NASCO Feeding Minds at the Bavel Travel Summit 2024, along with Pliant and TerraPay (see image below).

La entrada Ousman Umar: “We Must Feed Minds, Not Stomachs” se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.

At Voxel, we aim to be a place where people can grow both in their work life as well as in their personal life. We call it “Great Places to Grow”. In this way, promoting self-awareness and consciousness are factors that can have an impact and are related, specifically, to people’s development.

12 July was a special day on which more light was shed on this topic. During the Quarterly (internal event), we shared the teams’ results and new challenges. It was here that we listened to a talk by Buddhist monk Shoukei Matsumoto. We finished the day by participating in the Festival of Consciousness.

Who is Shoukei Matsumoto?

Shoukei Matsumoto was born in Japan and, unlike many monks, did not come from a Buddhist family. In fact, he studied philosophy at the University of Tokyo and, due to his interest in Buddhism and temples, following his graduation he joined the Komyo-ji Temple. Later he completed his MBA at the Indian School of Business and established a temple management school for Buddhist monks and priests.

He became a member of the Young Global Leaders from the World Economic Forum in 2013. He has also authored various books, such as “A Monk’s Guide to A Clean House & Mind”, translated into 18 languages. Currently he is co-founder and chairman of Interbeing, a company promoting the alignment of people and businesses through consciousness to get the best out of them.

What topics came up during his session?

During the talk, questions from Voxelians for Shoukei included how he helps companies, what the secret to happiness is and what personal qualities he believes are essential.

“For me, companies are monasteries of self-cultivation and consciousness”, the Buddhist monk said. He added, the fact that he had studied how they are structured and how they work (both companies and monasteries), had led him to understand that they are not as different as they might seem. Both are places in which one can grow and learn from oneself and the community.

Shoukei expressed that “Happiness consists of enjoying life, and not achieving objectives. Having objectives is synonymous with not achieving them right now”. He also said that happiness is different for each person and is based around understanding who you are and looking within yourself (and consciousness is related to this).

As for personal attributes, he stressed generosity. “If you are altruistic with someone, you don’t have to think about it. You should be altruistic without being aware that you are”, he concluded.

After a morning of reflections and information, we went to the Festival of Consciousness.

What is the Festival of Consciousness?

Voxel is one the companies promoting and organizing the Festival of Consciousness (FoC). This is a not-for-profit international event, based in Barcelona, run collaboratively by over 60 organizations.

The FoC brings together opinion leaders to explore consciousness from different perspectives, such as scientific, spiritual, business, educational and cultural, through workshops, activities and experiences.

The festival took place over the weekend and some Voxelians participated as volunteers, participants or as both. “The event is a surprisingly enriching experience that creates a spectacular feeling of community”, said some colleagues.

La entrada Shoukei Matsumoto: Companies are monasteries of self-cultivation and consciousness se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.

The 10th edition of the Bavel Travel Summit, the top travel industry payment conference, saw 250 leaders and professionals from the global industry come together in what was a first-rate event for the company hosting the conference, Voxel, since becoming part of Amadeus IT Group. The event included 23 sessions and 40 speakers at the Hotel Melià Sitges.

On the first day of the event there was an explanatory session for clients and partners outlining the ambition behind the strategic merger of Voxel and Amadeus: to become the leading payment partner for the industry. Àngel Garrido, CEO of Voxel, explained that Amadeus has a people-centered culture, “a core aspect and one of the reasons why we decided to take this step.” David Doctor, CEO of Outpayce from Amadeus, stressed that the combination of talent, resources and views at Voxel and Amadeus gives a unique opportunity to redefine industry standards, boost innovation and create stand-out, integral value for clients.

In line with this people-centered culture, he placed emphasis on the values and desire to break boundaries and encourage inclusion and diversity among the leaders of the travel industry. Maria Sellar, General Manager Travel Solutions at TerraPay, explained that the average representation of women in large tech companies is only 26.2% and gave some pointers to overcoming these barriers: “It’s essential to promote a working environment where every individual, regardless of gender, has the chance to shine and make a contribution. Breaking barriers is not only a goal, but a shared responsibility.”

Innovation in payments in the travel sector

One of the most relevant topics at the event was innovation in payments. Instant payment has emerged as a key solution within the travel industry, allowing for transactions to be made and confirmed in real time. This cuts down on waiting times and improves operational efficiency, which helps provide access to travelers’ bookings. 

In this way, although Virtual Credit Cards (VCCs) are the predominant payment method, new ways to pay are coming to the fore to satisfy the needs of different businesses in the industry. “The world uses different payment methods, which means we need to be clued up on them all. Our goal is to adapt to the changing needs of the market and offer payment solutions that are flexible, safe, and efficient”, stated Vivian Dixon, Global Products at Visa.

Ana Arjones, Market Development & Partnerships in Travel at Mastercard, participated in the round table on innovation in payments to hoteliers. She highlighted that “we are observing that, in an interconnected and more complicated ecosystem, automation has increased. The expectation is that the flow will be digital, offering as digital a user experience as possible.”

Investing in digitalization and new technologies

Additionally, the different technological challenges for daily operations for travel businesses were mentioned, with an emphasis on the role of digitalization. Recent data shows that the current level of digitalization among SMEs in the travel sector in Spain is only 31.2%. 

Similarly, Mar Muñoz, CEO of IT Travel Services, said that “the big challenge today is the automation of processes. Clients are not as sensitive to price changes, which represents a major motivation to digitalize internal process.”

Daniel Ascolies, CIO at Grupo Julià, believes that “the industry has an opportunity to improve this area, thanks to the potential of Artificial Intelligence to customize the traveler experience.”

The implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the hotel industry. Tools such as ChatGPT have shown their ability to optimize some tasks between 40-50%, which represents a great opportunity for hotels to optimize processes.

Commitment to sustainable tourism

For the first time at the Bavel Travel Summit, sustainability in the travel industry was front and center. Tourism represents between 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but the industry is also extremely vulnerable to climate change. 

Mireia Guix, PhD in Tourism and Hospitality and lecturer at the University of Queensland (Australia), explained that an estimated 25% of emissions related to tourism could increase by 2030 if appropriate action is not taken. 

However, Guix said that 75% of travelers globally wish to travel in a more sustainable way in the next 12 months. “Two thirds of the emission reductions will have to come from behavioral change. To this end, we have to make sustainable options more readily available to motivate consumers.”

Second day of connection and inspiration

The second day of the Bavel Travel Summit took place in the Modernist building ‘Clos La Plana’, just outside Sitges. The day’s events included different experiences to encourage connection and collaboration between companies and inspirational talks about ethical leadership, neuroscience, meditation, happiness 2.0, and more.

The 10th edition of the Bavel Travel Summit was sponsored by TerraPay, VISA, Mastercard, Pliant, Sunrate, Modulr, XanderPay, Worldpay, Bedsopia, AirPlus and NIUM.

La entrada Voxel hosts the 10th edition of the Bavel Travel Summit with more than 20 sessions on payments and travel innovation se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.

At Voxel we periodically organize the “Circle of Personal Development” or meetings where Voxelians discuss issues related with the world of consciousness. This initiative is framed as part of Voxel’s effort to become a place for personnel growth and development (Great Places to Grow).

At one of these sessions we had the pleasure of meeting with Aliciah Casas, who has lived a revealing experience that placed her on the path to Silent Healing.

What was the starting point?

For many years, Aliciah experienced very painful moments and suffered from serious diseases that made her have a very difficult and unstable life. The suffering she felt, in one way or another, became her natural state. She had lost hope and even believed that the only way to rid herself of this suffering was to cease to exist.

Meanwhile, and even though she continued taking her medication, her illness was not improving. To the contrary, it was getting worse. Until one day she experienced what she would later understand to be an illumination or a “spontaneous awakening”.

Physically, this manifested as a flash of light in her eyes, accompanies by a deafening noise. From this moment on, her brain stopped thinking and she even asked herself “Have I died?”. That night she decided to stop taking her medication because she felt that her body no longer needed it.

How did her life change?

Aliciah related to us that the following months were very intense. The first few months she felt immense love all day and after this, she went through a more negative and complex phase. At first, she only related this experience to her close friends “it was extremely difficult to explain, and I also didn’t think it was really necessary”. Luckily, a Buddhist practitioner friend accompanied her in this transition.

From this point forward, she began to focus her mind on the present and in a more conscious way, not so full of thoughts related with her own ego or the character of Aliciah. Another element worth mentioning is that she perceived the magnetic field that surrounds everything around her: people, nature, objects, etc. She also experienced telepathy with some people.

When she saw the medical team that was treating her diseases and monitoring her progress, they could not believe it. They proposed she stop the treatment because she no longer needed it, to which she said that she had already done so. Her case was closed as “cured without explanation”. This began to take shape as what she would refer to as “Silent Healing”.

What conclusions did she draw?

Aliciah never stops researching consciousness and has gained a lot of knowledge and experience since her awakening. Along this path of life called Silent Healing, she helps other people open up to the present moment.

In fact, a coworker asked Aliciah how was it possible that she could spend so much time without having any thoughts. Automatically, she responded: “Do you want me to explain it or do you want to experience it yourself? And then, they both engaged in an exercise to free the mind for several seconds.

Finally, among all the ideas she shared, a few phrases are worth mentioning:

• “There is a very fine line between what is real and how we interpret things”.
• “Thought is more limited than we think”.
• “Life is not understandable, only livable”.
• “It is important to take responsibility for our feelings and let them flow”.

Thank you Aliciah for your generosity and time, and thanks to all Voxelians (from the office or remotely) for your relentless desire to learn and debate. We look forward to the next meeting about conscience!

La entrada Aliciah Casas: “Life is not understandable, only livable” se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.

Time and again, we have heard that the future of the world and the origin of significant change lie in investing in the education of people¹ and in expanding their consciousness. This consciousness (understood as the ability to both understand the world from different perspectives and increase the mental models according to which decisions are made) is formed during our lives through experiences that lead to new learning.

As we discussed in the preceding article, the development and a higher level of consciousness of people not only contribute to individual growth, they also play an essential role in promoting a positive impact in society as a whole.

Below we’ll explain how we arrived at these concepts at Voxel.

The development of people and their consciousness as the fundamental basis

Voxel’s history is formed by successive events of discovery and learning (very similar to what happens to a person, considering that an organization is nothing more than a group of connected individuals). Voxel’s founders and the members of its Management Committee have had diverse and highly intense experiences (those that make you reflect upon your principles and values), a fact that has led them to attain an increasingly higher level of consciousness. This is a path, and therefore the “organization” is continuously evolving.

Being a profitable company is not only compatible with being a place where people are also happy, it is much better. In fact, the professional part cannot be separated from the human part: they are indivisible.

One of these experiences came about during the pandemic (a time of crisis that turns into an investment opportunity for someone who has the financial ability to take advantage of it), when Voxel received several investment proposals, one of which – because it was such a high amount – would have allowed its founders to comfortably retire. Yet they reached the conclusion that they didn’t want to take on financial liabilities with third parties (due to the risk of changing how decisions were made by the organization). This consequently led to a moment of in-depth reflection in which they realized that they were happy with the essence of the organization, where they had grown and developed.

That feeling was also shared by their employees: Voxel had been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” for two consecutive years, thereby bolstering the concept that being a profitable organization and at the same time having people feel comfortable in it, is not only compatible but much better, as shown by several studies². In fact, the professional part cannot be separated from the human part: they are indivisible. It makes no sense to tell someone that their problems “end at the company’s door” because, in the end, there will be both short- and long-term consequences (not only for that person, but also for the company!).

Part of that reflection was that they weren’t going to “work”. The concept of work was too transactional (a person receives a wage in exchange for their time and effort), which wasn’t very much in line with the intrinsic motivators of the people (autonomy, learning and purpose)³ or with the most extrinsic ones (recognition and social connection). So we had to go beyond this: the previous purpose of wanting to inspire other companies to “create a healthy business fabric” and to be the “Best Place to Work” had to change towards creating organizations where their employees could find alignment with a personal purpose.

Everyone has the right to be happy, and personal development is one of the key factors.

Key ideas began to take solid shape, such as everyone has the right to be happy, and one of the factors to reaching that happiness consisted in continuing to promote the development of individuals beyond the professional sphere, especially at the personal and internal level. This second level, which begins with self-knowledge (discovery of one’s own strengths, weaknesses, emotions, needs, motivations, etc.), allows evolving and making better externally-related decisions, as well as developing more empathy towards others in order to improve relationships.

The founders of Voxel and its Management Committee therefore decided that they wanted to go beyond merely ensuring that their employees were happier, and they established the higher purpose of inspiring other companies to also be places where people could develop (“Great Places to Grow”) and be happier.

The following diagram shows how expanding the consciousness and caring for the happiness of individuals at companies can likewise promote a more conscious and happier society.

The following diagram brings together all the concepts and the two virtuous circles (the most “instrumental” and that of a higher purpose).

At Voxel, we haven’t discovered anything really new, but we are dedicating the effort to being more consistent and putting it into practice (even under conditions of major economic stress, such as during the pandemic⁴ ). We strive to act honestly, knowing that we still have a long road ahead and knowing that we have to keep learning and exploring in many areas (like we’ve done up to now) and with the genuine purpose of continuing to develop our organization and inspire others, because achieving that purpose will ultimately have an impact on a healthier business fabric and a better society.

¹Nelson Mandela – “La educación es el arma más poderosa que puedes usar para cambiar el mundo”.
²Warwick University – Happiness and Productivity
³Daniel Pink – Drive
⁴Josep Mº Coll, Jordi del Bas (EADA) – Del liderazgo por valores al impacto holístico – Cómo pueden hacer las empresas un mundo más feliz.

La entrada Transforming business into a place for personal growth. A new paradigm? (Part 3) se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.

In the previous article we discussed certain key aspects for organizations: the cultural alignment of collaborators, that they have the necessary capabilities to carry out their work and are motivated. This way we create a virtuous circle of value generation that is “instrumental”.

However, all this can also occur in companies that may have a negative impact on society and the environment.

This has prompted us to draft the second article where we discuss the definition of higher purpose.

The virtuous circle of higher purpose

Before going into the virtuous circle of higher purpose, we need to explain our understanding of the definition of “conscious” individuals, companies or societies.

We define being “conscious” as the ability to understand the world with an increasingly broader view, from different perspectives, increasing the mental models we use to make decisions and act

When companies become increasingly more conscious about their impact and take responsibility, they are able to define a higher purpose beyond simply making a profit (where the financial results of a company are also a necessary aspect in order for it to survive, to reinvest in itself and for its shareholders). In this sense, higher purpose refers to the intention of having a positive impact on one of its other stakeholders (in addition to its shareholders) and not have a negative impact on the rest: collaborators, suppliers, society and, consequently, the environment.^{1 2}

Organizations, as structures of mass collaboration, have a greater impact on society than that of its isolated individuals, as they combine and align their efforts with a shared purpose

The most direct way of having a positive impact on society is through the organizations that comprise it, which, in turn, are made up of individuals. Investing in the development of these people (especially at an interior level) promotes and increases their consciousness. This, in turn, impacts the development and greater consciousness of organizations and society. What we have talked about is represented in the diagram below.

This generates a new virtuous circle based on the higher purpose: the attraction of talent towards companies with a greater purpose, which in turn will help generate more economic resources to achieve it. This higher purpose will also foster a sense of belonging in the members of the organization. 

As a whole, the virtuous circle based on the higher purpose is linked to the most instrumental virtuous circle of the organization as follows: the economic engine of the company provides it with the “oxygen” that is needed to survive and is what allows them to drive their higher purpose. This way, the company’s business model is at the service of its higher purpose.

The development and increased level of consciousness of people is a positive impact driver in society. The correlation with the business sector is the establishment of a higher purpose (which additionally generates a virtuous circle of talent attraction and retention). How can companies put this into practice? In the following article we will see an example of how these concepts have been articulated at Voxel.

¹John Mackey and Raj Sisodia – Conscious Capitalism
²John Elkington – Triple Bottom Line

La entrada Transforming business into a place for personal growth. A new paradigm? (Part 2) se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.

For World Transplant Day, at Voxel we were lucky to have our coworkers David and Rubén share their organ transplant experiences.

The initiative was organized by Organa, a group of people from Voxel that work to promote inclusion and equality. The guest speakers were David López Sánchez (Customer Onboarding Engineer) and Rubén Martínez Cazorla (Customer Onboarding Specialist), and the event was facilitated by Lluís Giménez (Rollout Manager). More than 40 people participated in the session, and its objective was for people to learn about this reality as well as educate our coworkers about the importance of becoming a donor.

How did it all begin?

Both David and Rubén were surprised to see themselves needing an organ transplant: a kidney and bone marrow, respectively. David knew he had kidney disease, but in the case of Rubén he was not aware he had a disease (he became worried when he had flu symptoms that would not subside).

Also, these health problems were present at the time when they first began working at Voxel. “During the interviewing process, I mentioned having kidney disease and the company did not have a problem with it”, said David. On the other hand, Rubén had to take medical leave a few days after starting his job at the company.

They both needed compatible organ donors and were placed on a waiting list of patients needing an organ transplant. In the case of David, it was about a 5-year wait. During this time, a compatibility study was conducted on members of his family. Fortunately for David, his own mother was a suitable donor. In turn, Rubén had to wait a few months to find a compatible donor.

How did they live this entire process?

Before the transplant, David had to subject himself to dialysis with everything this entails: have a disinfected room available, space to store supplies and spend the night undergoing treatment (filter his blood as a result of his kidneys not working properly), among other things.

In turn, Rubén had to undergo a few chemotherapy sessions and his immune defenses were low. This meant he had to be extremely careful to not get even a minor infection.

However, managing emotions was the most difficult part of the process. For both, the probability of survival after the transplant was about 80%. Beyond the risks of the surgery itself, the possibility that their other organs could reject the new one was also a risk factor.

Lucky for them, they both were able to get surgery and, although David experienced some complications, the results were positive. 

Why is it important to be an organ donor?

There are many people that in order to live or improve their quality of life need an organ transplant. There are two categories of donors: live donors and deceased donors.

Regarding live donors, any person of legal age and in good health can become an organ donor. The interventions are very safe and do not entail immediate or future health risks for the donor. On some occasions, due to compatibility issues, family members can be the donors.

Regarding deceased donors, in Spain, in accordance with the Law on Transplants, we are all considered organ donors unless we have stated otherwise. However, family members must be asked about the wishes of the deceased in this regard.

In fact, Spain is the world leader in organ donations. In 2022, 5,383 organ transplants were carried out, an increase of 13% with respect to the previous year. In spite of the good figures, we need more people to support this cause.

What are your take aways from this experience?

One of the most difficult things to manage for David has been the feeling of not wanting to see his family members suffer through this process. David and Rubén affirm that “not having to worry about your job situation during the process was of great help”.

Both coworkers coincide in the fact that their families, by living this experience so closely, have become very supportive of organ donation. In this sense, a coworker told us that she became a donor after her father needed a transplant.

Lastly, they said that although it may seem a cliché, it is important to enjoy the small things and the joys of everyday life. They are both very active people and Rubén already has a list of countries to visit. He says: “I deserve it, don’t you think?”.

La entrada Discussion with coworkers: Undergoing an organ transplant se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.

What is the purpose of simply working in exchange for money? Is this sufficiently motivating? Humans are beings of meaning and we like to understand why we do things and moreover, if the purpose of what we do aligns with our own personal purposes in life and with our values.

What would we do if we became aware of the negative impact (on other people, on society or on the planet) of our work at a company? If we had the opportunity, would we move to another company where a conscious effort is made to have a positive impact?

We have written three articles describing how a company can also be a place for personal development, why this is so and its benefits. Let’s start with the virtuous (and incomplete) circle of value generation!

A virtuous (and incomplete) circle of value generation

An organization where people are not very motivated and poorly trained is most likely not going to provide a good service and therefore it is not probable that their customers will be satisfied in the best way possible. This can occur when the value contribution is highly focused, paradoxically, on the customer and the company’s shareholders, but where employees are placed in a very low priority.

It is key for collaborators to be aligned in terms of values, that they possess the necessary skills and are motivated

Some companies are aware of the importance of having their collaborators culturally aligned and sufficiently motivated (their productivity will increase between 20% and 50% or more¹).

The fact that there is an alignment of values in addition to collaborators having the necessary skills provides predictability and trust. This allows us to develop what we call “A-Player”, “the right person in the right seat”²).

Given that these aspects are key factors of ensuring customers receive a better service, investing in these will result in greater economic profits, part of which can be reinvested in the workers and thus improve their wellbeing. This way, we can create a virtuous circle of value generation (chart below).

Going into a little more detail, how can we create this motivating environment?³

Providing sufficient independence for carrying out tasks.

Investing in professional development to create a high-performance organization.

Bringing collaborators together around a corporate purpose (for example, becoming “the best” in our market).

Fostering a good working environment with a great social connection.

Providing recognition to teams as well as individuals.

And of course, by paying good salaries.

If the goal is simply to make more money, then ethically questionable things may happen and instead of creating more value for society, you destroy it

The problem behind all of this occurs when a company seeks a goal that is merely instrumental to achieve greater economic profits. If the goal is simply to make more money, then ethically questionable things may happen, since, paradoxically, the destruction of social and environmental value, on occasions, is highly profitable.

Let’s think, for example, about the social and environmental costs generated by fast fashion. This business model, with a highly contaminating production, creates clothing that expires mentally much sooner than the materials used to make them. Moreover, their production is commonly located in countries that are far away from where the clothes is sold, with the aim of reducing costs and become more profitable at the expense of working conditions that are often precarious.

The concept of profitability has been perverted by the fact that the price of the products we consume does not incorporate the collateral impact of what business schools refer to as externalities (aspects over which the company does not consciously want to feel responsible for). Under a global perspective, instead of creating more value for society, it is destroyed, as the side effects of the business model on people outside the company, on society or the environment are not taken into account. In this dynamic, we consider that this virtuous circle of value generation is incomplete.

Hence, we can reach a paradox where a company has people who are highly motivated, but develops a product that has many negative implications. For example, it might favor a situation where people go through rough times (e.g., working or health conditions), push to create a more unequal society or pollute the planet, worsen climate change, exploit natural resources in a manner that destroys ecosystems, biodiversity and even local communities… All of this, against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development goals (SDG)⁴.

To avoid this situation, company leadership can ask itself: What kind of impact do I want to have in my life? What is the purpose for which this organization exists? We will discuss this in the next article.

¹ Warwick University – Happiness and Productivity
²Jim Collins – Good To Great
³Daniel Pink – Drive
⁴United Nations – Sustainable Development Goals

La entrada Transforming business into a place for personal growth. A new paradigm? (Part 1) se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.

At Voxel we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to listen to Javi Martín, a known television host, who explained how bipolar disorder pushed him to the limit and nearly killed him.

On 24 November we were visited by Javi Martín, actor, journalist and TV host of the popular television program “Caiga quien caiga”, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This event is part of Adecco Foundation’s “Encounters for Diversity”.

With this we wanted to go a step further in raising awareness about the reality faced by people with mental illnesses, with the aim of promoting the inclusion of this collective in the job market. For over one hour, Martín relayed his experience with this disease and the talk left many Voxelians mesmerized.

Javi’s experience

Javi led a very normal life, his work as an actor and TV host occupied his time and it made him feel fulfilled. He was a happy and cheerful person until he began having different thoughts and feelings. He began asking himself some very existentialist questions (What are we?) or seeing things in a very negative way. Explicitly, Martín said “when I was acting, I was able to disconnect from the suffering to interpret a role”.

He reconciled his job as an actor with this new reality: bipolar disorder, characterized by extreme mood swings, ranging from extreme highs “mania” to extreme lows “depression”. During the toughest periods, he felt like he was in an emotional hole and completely hopeless. It was hard for him to find a reason to live. On one occasion, he even attempted suicide.

With a lot of therapy and two hospital admissions, Javi became aware of what was happening to him and slowly began to get better. “One month I counted the number of good days I had had and discovered that there were more good days than bad.”

Lessons learned

After years of living with bipolar disorder, Javi is happy and faces life with humor. Also, he reiterated the two lessons he had learned. In the first place, the actor got to know himself very well. The second, that “life is a gift and we must live the present”.

The actor thinks that it is essential for society to lose the fear of talking about mental health. He also expressed the important role of companies in terms of being much more inclusive and hiring people with mental illnesses. “We are able to contribute significant value”, added Martín.

For this reason, currently, Javi is often invited as a speaker at schools and companies to raise awareness about mental health.

Space for debate

The session was highly applauded in Voxel. During the round of questions, many comments were of appreciation for having explained bipolar disorder so easily and in such a fun way.

One of the ideas that were raised was to question the appropriateness of the term “disability”, which is widely used today. By the contrary, we need to begin using the term “functional diversity”. This term references characteristics present in society that can affect all its members equally. Because we all have diverse skills.

Thank you, Javi Martín, for your courage and for being a role model. And also, thanks to Fundación Adecco for proposing such rewarding activities.

La entrada Javi Martín: Living with bipolar disorder se publicó primero en Voxel - Blog.