Colgate-Palmolive

Daniel Arouca

“Vulnerability has become a sign of courage and commitment to development”, says Senior HR Director at Colgate-Palmolive

I highly value the benefits of a positive workplace atmosphere. I look back to when I started my career in Human Resources, at the beginning of 2000, and I realize that most companies did not focus on employee well-being, much less quality of life programs. Topics that are present in everyday life today, such as diversity and inclusion, psychological safety and concepts of high-performance teams, were not as present in the conversations.

I remember very well an episode from that time that marked me, when a professional publicly exposed a deficiency in his leadership style. That was an exposure of his vulnerability - and the repercussions and comments about that exposure shocked me. Vulnerability was seen as a sign of weakness, but I see that starting to change. I see a promising future in the search for psychological safety in companies.

In part, I believe that this movement advanced with the pandemic, when personal and professional lives mixed in many ways. We began to see more closely the other facets of our colleagues, who are also mothers, fathers, children, pet owners, artists, athletes, etc. I confess that, like many people, I experienced difficult times during that period. The action plan to improve my mental health was to incorporate healthier habits into my daily life, such as physical exercise, in addition to maintaining a timetable. I also experienced the vulnerability of exposing situations for adjustments - and opening dialogue with colleagues was fundamental to seek a better quality of life.

This entire movement exposes our vulnerability to the corporate world - and vulnerability has become a sign of courage and commitment to development, a clear indication of different levels of maturity.

"The fact is that the corporate eye will be increasingly attentive to holistic well-being programs, quality of life and psychological safety."

For me, this is a path of no return. Vulnerability enables authenticity and well-being. I have observed in the teams where I work that the correlation between well-being and performance has intensified. There have been many cases where professionals focused on results, even managed to exceed goals, but forgot to maintain the appropriate balance. And that is not sustainable in the long term. Sooner or later it ends up impacting results.

The fact is that the corporate eye will be increasingly attentive to holistic well-being programs, quality of life and psychological safety. Not only from the business aspect, with a focus on productivity and engagement, but considering a more human, empathetic and people-centered approach, which must be at the heart of company operations and organizational culture.

So whether or not you are a team leader, always have this important topic on your radar, aim to achieve a work/life balance that works, and do your part to support and encourage others around you to achieve what works, according to the characteristics of each one. This makes it possible to maximize connections and inclusion so that people can bring their best version to the workplace.