Posted in: 10/13/2022
On September 28 , Synergia held the first “ Chat with Maria ”, an event designed to bring employees closer together, resume personal contact and strengthen relationships with the founder and CEO, Maria Albuquerque .
Held at Synergia’s headquarters in São Paulo , the event had the participation of Joyce de França Rodrigues, Viviane de Souza Moraes, Rafaella Cruz and Thiago da Rocha Silva, who signed up and guaranteed participation through a draw . Renata Guirelli and Clarissa Age, representatives of the People Management team, were also present and followed the chat.
During breakfast , Maria and the participants were able to talk about different subjects, which ranged from work -related topics to their personal lives – such as learning to cook, making cakes, breads and other activities.
The impact of the pandemic and social isolation was one of the topics addressed, and it brought candid testimonials about adapting to remote work , living together intensely or not with family members and pets, and everyday life during the pandemic.
Maria highlighted the importance of an event that seeks to regain contact and demonstrate that there is the possibility of new work models beyond just face-to-face or remote only: “ We are so far apart because of this abrupt change caused by the pandemic that this rapprochement, this direct contact , this face-to-face conversation with people is very important. It is super motivating, mobilizing and helps us to think about this transition to a new model of work relations that we still don’t know what it will be, but I think it is being built ”, points out the CEO.
Adapting to the remote work model, the privilege of having an adequate space to work from home and the even greater need for self-discipline were also highlights of the chat.
The discussion of these topics brought an important reaffirmation that the offices have their doors open for anyone who feels the need for a support place to work, even if only for a few days a week. “ We are wasting collective intelligence by working remotely. No technology replaces direct contact. Nothing will go back to the way it was before. But it’s still not the perfect model. It is a reconstruction of our way of acting. We still need to rethink this new way ”, comments Maria, when discussing the importance of the company providing spaces for the collective construction of knowledge, but also of using technologies evolved during the pandemic to facilitate processes.
The accelerated growth of the company in the last 2 years was also a subject. The challenge of providing faster responses to customers , guaranteeing the same quality of service, hiring people in the territories and mobilizing male and female collaborators were mentioned during the conversation.
The “ Chat with Maria ” brought together an audience that was representative of the company’s current situation, which reinforced the differences and similarities between people who had already worked at Synergia for many years and people who entered the period of social isolation – and had not had the opportunity meeting the CEO or even working in the office.
Rafaella Cruz, for example, was hired as a young apprentice during social isolation and was recently hired. She still didn’t know the CEO personally and points out that the opportunity made all the difference: “ I was really nervous to come, because Synergia means a lot to me, knowing Maria means a lot. I started my trajectory here at Synergia, I had never worked. I was recently hired and received many compliments for the things I developed here. So, for me, it makes all the difference to know her, because this company has taught me a lot. I really wanted to meet Maria and say thank you ”, she comments.
In the company for 8 years, Viviane de Souza Moraes points out another side of the meeting: “ I think I had more things I would like to say to her than I would like to ask, because due to the work dynamics, the company’s culture, we feels her, we know what she thinks or how she thinks. But I think that receiving information from us, knowing how the employees think about all this, was also important ”.
Viviane highlighted the importance of the meeting to demonstrate accessibility and the fact that Maria is available to speak and listen: “Looking at her, I could see that it is nice that she has this feedback too, knowing that we face our difficulties, but he is also very proud to work here and to identify with the company’s ideals. It was good because I got to know how she thinks, how she is seeing the expansion, because the company has grown a lot in the last 2 years, and I wanted to know how she was seeing all of this ”, she adds.
“Bate-papo com Maria” will continue to other Synergia Territories in Brazil . The next meeting will be in Nova Lima, Minas Gerais , and expectations are high. Participants commented on the anxiety of seeing the meeting take place in other states.
Viviane highlighted the integration that the event will bring to collaborators in the field : “It is very important for the person to feel integrated, to feel part of the whole, especially in the field, because people feel very isolated. [..] I think having the president of the company going to the place, talking to people, shows that she cares. And that makes a difference in people’s motivation to work”. Rafaella added: “I am very anxious to see the event take place in other territories, because, like it or not, in São Paulo, most people already have contact with her. In projects, no. I think it’s going to be really cool, I’m curious to see how it goes.”
Maria stressed the importance of taking the meeting to the territories as well: “ Today, we have this feeling and the clarity of the distance that was established. With regard to territories, this distance is even more profound. Going to the territories is a movement that will help to rescue this unit of the company, this unit that needs to be strengthened ”, comments the CEO.
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