Alejandro Castro Ruiz was thrilled to land his first job at a U.S. Fortune 500 company immediately after college. His upward trajectory in corporate America seemed secure. The thought of one day returning to his alma mater never crossed his mind.
But about 15 years later, Tec聽de聽Monterrey unexpectedly offered him an unbeatable opportunity: help improve education in his native country of Mexico. Now, five years into this complete career turnabout, Ruiz has so fully embraced his new mission that he is even recruiting other candidates to join him as university faculty: 鈥淚 know I made the right decision, and I鈥檝e been inviting other people to come.鈥�
Ruiz鈥檚 decision to return to Tec de Monterrey validated the university鈥檚 strategy of attracting top talent and industry experts to teach students while keeping current employees happy.
What Is Tec de Monterrey’s Secret?
Underpinning this strategy was a decision to actively listen to employees and foster their trust. For the past several years, university leaders have been nurturing a culture of trust in order to encourage talented people like Ruiz to work and stay there.
Instead of words and slogans, Tec de Monterrey took action to show employees that they are trusted to focus on their goals and manage their own time. The university provides a lactation center, employee meditation area, and even nap rooms.
鈥淲e鈥檙e telling our employees 鈥榃e trust you, your supervisor is not the owner of your time,鈥欌�� says Hern谩n Garc铆a Gonz谩lez, vice president of Employee Experience at Tec de Monterrey. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to create an inspiring, respectful, and safe work environment where people feel they can grow personally and professionally.鈥�
Gonz谩lez鈥檚 theory is that happier employees are better rested, more energized in the classrooms, and provide a great educational experience for the university鈥檚 customers 鈥� 149,000 students. 鈥淲e want professors to feel positive and enthusiastic about working at Tec de Monterrey so that they can pass on their love for learning to students.鈥�
How Did Tec de Monterrey Get There?
Like many corporations, privately owned Tec de Monterrey monitors employee health with annual surveys, asking many of the expected questions about leadership effectiveness and job satisfaction. But the university鈥檚 survey also devotes entire sections to 鈥淗umanistic Outlook鈥� and 鈥淰alues Index.鈥� Among the questions asked:
- Do employees feel joyful at work?
- Do they feel their work helps solves the country’s problems and benefits less privileged communities?
- Does compensation adequately reward outstanding job performance?
When employees responded that they deserved better compensation, the university says it responded by providing more than 2.7 billion pesos, or more than US$140 million, in additional employee compensation.
This type of action has had a positive impact. Overall, the latest anonymous survey, administered by experience management leader , showed that 91 percent of Tec de Monterrey employees are proud to work there. According to administrators, survey results in recent years have shown significant improvements in attitudes toward change management, diversity, and work/life balance.
How Hard Was It?
But researching, redefining, and creating a positive work culture was no easy feat, according to Gonz谩lez. Empowering and trusting some employees proved threatening to others. 鈥淪ome managers didn鈥檛 like that they were losing control,鈥� he explains, noting that he felt 鈥渁 lot of pressure.鈥�
Gonz谩lez recalls the problems faced when he arrived on campus six years ago 鈥� each of the university鈥檚 55 different campuses had implemented its own unique hierarchy, systems, and processes. The many disparate systems prevented the 32,000 university employees from easily communicating with each other and learning about career-growth opportunities.
鈥淲ith such a wide range of systems in place, it was very tricky to get even very basic information about the organization, such as employee headcount and demographics,鈥� he explains. 鈥淣ot only did this hinder strategic decision making, it also meant that each campus existed in its own bubble. We wanted to introduce a standard system across all campuses, helping to establish a single, unified workplace culture.鈥�
One of Gonz谩lez鈥檚 first decisions was to implement . 鈥淚t covers everything from core HR functions to workforce analytics 鈥� everything you could possibly need. This was a really important deciding factor 鈥� we didn鈥檛 want to install lots of different systems that we鈥檇 have to integrate and then manage and upgrade separately. We wanted a one-stop shop for everything HR.鈥�
Does the Impact Last?
Now, about six years into this journey, campuses no longer operate in isolation and faculty can more easily find each other and collaborate on projects. With better compensation, career opportunities, and cultural perks in place, Gonz谩lez proudly shares metrics showing employee engagement and performance at all-time high levels: 鈥淔eedback from senior management and leadership has been great.鈥�
Meanwhile, Ruiz says he definitely feels that those survey results create a lasting impact. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen a lot of positive cultural changes in the last five years.鈥� And that helps motivate him to model Gonz谩lez鈥檚 successes to nurture a culture of trust on his own Employee Services team.
鈥淲e want the employee to feel that we trust them. I鈥檓 going to remove myself from the equation because I trust you. Since I trust you, I鈥檓 going to empower you.鈥�
This article first appeared on the 51风流News Center.
