Putting people’s well-being at the center of your actions

By: E&N Brand Lab for BancoAgricola

As part of Grupo Bancolombia, BancoAgrícola works every day to make reality its objective: promoting sustainable development to achieve the well-being of all. In this sense, the well-being of people is at the center of the organization’s strategy, which is why it focuses on creating strategies designed for their development and progress.

BancoAgricola is betting on the magic that is created when organizational purpose is linked to people’s expectations and dreams. “Happiness is at the heart of everything we do, because it is connected to our purpose. We are a company that understands our role in influencing each of our stakeholders by supporting them in achieving their dreams, goals and objectives. For us, the development of our purpose is fundamental, as well as lasting relationships with interest groups through actions that have good outcomes for individuals, communities, companies and governments. Ultimately, what we want is to generate sustainable growth in El Salvador,” said Alejandro Gómez Fernández, vice president of talent and culture at BancoAgrícola.

wellness strategy

For Alejandro Gomez, people make BancoAgrícola, which is why it wants to ensure that its leaders and associates truly connect with the company’s purpose and feel identified with its culture. For this reason, a wellness strategy has been developed so that they can achieve their goals at a professional level, enjoy the process and maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life. “At BancoAgrícola we listen to the needs of our associates, which is why we implement flexible work plans that fit our productivity and goals as well as their needs and their role,” said the manager. As a result, approximately 50% of the Bank’s 3,000 employees in El Salvador are currently in flexible work arrangements.

According to the Vice President of Talent and Culture, BancoAgricola’s wellness strategy includes the physical, mental and spiritual areas, as they are convinced that people are integral beings who need attention to these three aspects. For example, in the physical aspect, Gómez highlights that overweight rates have skyrocketed in recent years in many Latin American countries, which is why the institution promotes physical health programs, led by doctors. , is done by experts, sports scientists and sociologists. Teams work together to provide medical assessment and advice.

Additionally, we are working on mental health care strategy through psychological helpline, especially after the pandemic. “With the help of our insurers and a team of doctors and professionals, we created a call center specializing in mental health issues, with psychologists available 24 hours a day,” Gomez said. Associate. “Let’s remember that in a pandemic we are facing difficult circumstances, not just at work, but isolation, having children at home all the time and even the death of loved ones; “They were all very complex situations whose consequences continue to this day,” he said.

On a spiritual level, BancoAgricola practices respect for human beings, their differences, beliefs and the right to believe or not believe in any faith. Alejandro Gómez Fernández said, “It is essential to respect how people want to develop their spirituality and how they understand life.”

A diverse and inclusive organization

BancoAgrícola has developed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategy as part of actions aimed at achieving the objective of promoting sustainable development to achieve the well-being of all, as it understands that wealth Which arises from the differences that exist between. Man and viewpoint. “We talk not only about sexual diversity, but also about ideas, beliefs and origins,” Gomez said.

This includes ensuring that more women are included in leadership positions by enabling the necessary conditions so that any woman, regardless of her role, can choose how far she wants to go in the organization and can develop adequately to achieve its goals. According to the manager, the bank is currently composed of 55% women and 45% men, and of the approximately 400 leadership positions at BancoAgrícola, 50% are women and the other 50% are men.

Additionally, the institution was a leader in the country by promoting Salvador’s commitment to women by following the United Nations Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEP) principles, which allow them to be measured. Standard UN international organizations in terms of gender, diversity, equality and inclusion, because they are convinced that “what is not measured is not managed.” In this sense, the Bank has annual and five-year guidelines and goals, which allow them to monitor all their policies.

Along the same lines, the Bank promotes a strategy that aims to increase the percentage of associates in STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) through academic programs in alliance with universities in the country, so as to harness human talent. Can go. Capabilities in these areas.

a team with purpose

According to Gomez, BancoAgrícola has done a very interesting job by training its leaders to define goals together with their teams around the purpose of the organization. For this, it has training and learning programs that provide technical training to each associate as per their role or function, with special emphasis on topics such as customer service and customer experience.

Similarly, the Bank maps every two years what current and future skills they should focus on, and executes a series of programs in collaboration with national and foreign universities to develop these capabilities. “This model of schools has training programs in service, analytics, cyber security, architecture, data. It is an entire curriculum that we create as per the aspirational profile, i.e., where we want to take our talent,” the executive highlighted.

BancoAgricola knows that leaders are important to contribute to the development of human talent, which is why it has a Leadership Institute To consolidate leadership style as a key organizational capability to achieve business objectives and its objective. “We have a very powerful culture and it is beyond speech. We want this to be a reality that is lived every day, regardless of level, geography or position, and that’s why we work hard on training our leaders,” Gomez said.

In this way, BancoAgrícola has become an organization that provides opportunities for growth, development and lifelong learning. He concluded, “We want our associates to live happily within the organization, growing and learning in an organization full of opportunities for Salvadoran talent.”