In today’s episode, we reflect on the profound connection between job satisfaction and corporate culture.

We explore how strategic recruitment aligns individuals with environments where they can truly thrive and discuss adapting these strategies across diverse global settings.

Our dialogue also embraces the role of compassionate leadership in nurturing inclusive workspaces.

Expect to gain actionable insights on fostering happiness at work and learn how tools like the Happiness Planner integrate into professional life to promote personal and organizational growth.

Key Points

• Strategic Recruitment Enhances Job Satisfaction: Effective recruitment aligns individuals with corporate environments that reflect their values and needs, enhancing job satisfaction and fostering environments where employees can thrive.
• Compassionate Leadership Drives Inclusivity: Leaders who exhibit empathy and understanding are pivotal in nurturing inclusive and supportive workplaces, which are essential for a positive corporate culture.
• Importance of Corporate Culture in Recruitment: Understanding and aligning with a company’s culture is critical in the recruitment process, ensuring that new hires are a good fit for the existing workplace environment, which can significantly influence retention and employee happiness.
• Integration of Well-Being Tools: Tools like the Happiness Planner play a crucial role in personal and organizational growth by helping individuals focus on gratitude and personal goals, which contributes to overall workplace happiness.
• Adaptation Across Global Settings: Adapting recruitment and corporate culture strategies across different cultural and geographic contexts is essential for global organizations to maintain a cohesive and supportive workplace environment.

More information about Betty Encinales here.

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Does your workplace feel stuck in a rut? Are silos and outdated leadership styles stifling creativity and collaboration?

At Management 3.0, we understand these frustrations. That’s why we offer tailor-made training programs designed not just to enhance skills but to transform entire organizational mindsets.

With our expert guidance, envision a workplace where barriers are broken down and everyone is empowered to contribute their best and leadership not only manages but motivates and inspires.

Ready to create a thriving workplace culture? Visit our website at Management30.com and see how we can help your organization build a happier, more productive workplace. 

***

Transcript

*Please note that the transcript has been automatically generated and proofread for mistakes. But remains in spoken English, and some syntax and grammar mistakes might remain.

Elisa Tuijnder: [00:00:00] In today’s episode, we reflect on the profound connection between job satisfaction and corporate culture. We explore how strategic recruitment aligns individuals with environments where they can truly thrive and discuss adapting these strategies across diverse global settings. Our dialogue also embraces the role of compassionate leadership in nurturing inclusive workspaces.

Expect to [00:00:30] gain actionable insights on fostering happiness at work and learn how tools like the Happiness Planner integrate into professional life to promote personal and organizational growth.

Before we dive in, you are listening to the Happiness at Work podcast by Management 3point0, where we are getting started. Serious about happiness.[00:01:00]

I’m your host, Elisa Tuijnder, Happiness Enthusiast and Management 3point0 team member. In this podcast, we share insights from industry experts, influencers, and thought leaders about what it takes to be happy, motivated, and productive at work, so that loving your job becomes the norm. And not the exception.

We’ll be publishing every fortnight on Friday, so be sure to tune in and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts[00:01:30]

today. We are thrilled to welcome Betty and Chines, a co-founder of the Happiness Planner in la, and a leader in global talent acquisition. Betty has not only shaped careers, but also cultures within some of the world’s leading financial institutions with her firm. Be Crude, and is currently Global Corporate Talent Acquisition Partner for Newsweek.

Beyond her impressive career credentials, Betty is also deeply [00:02:00] committed to supporting women and underrepresented groups and is passionate about raising awareness on issues like dyslexia and promoting inclusive growth. Betty, thank you so much for joining us.

Betty Encinales: Thank you, Lisa, so much for having me today.

Really glad to be here today and discuss important topics for, about happiness in the, in the corporate world.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, absolutely. Super important. And I am really excited to, to, to hear your views and, and your, and your experience. So, but before we dive into all of this impressive career and the support that you [00:02:30] do, uh, we always have to ask the same question and that is, what does happiness mean to you?

Betty Encinales: Happiness for me means satisfaction. It means for me. If I put it on an emoji, let’s say, it would be an emoji that is like, with a flat mouth, let’s say, because I think that happiness is not about being extremely on the high. I think it’s more like being content with what you have and who you are, being grateful.

[00:03:00] Be free on everything that that entails, you know, like have the freedom for me, happiness is freedom. Yeah,

Elisa Tuijnder: for me too.

Betty Encinales: For me, it’s about not this kind of moments of being extremely high in life, but more about being content and being grateful for what you have and seeing always

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, yeah. So sort of really cruising along that flow state that not always boop, boop, boop.

And, um, yeah, that’s, [00:03:30] uh, yeah, that’s great. I really hope that you have that as much as possible, Betty, but I’m sure when you’re busy career, there’s so much going on as well, I’m guessing. So, hey, let’s get into that. So you’ve chosen a career in recruitment that might’ve been accidental. That might’ve been very deliberate.

What drew you to the field and, you know, how, how You know, how do you impact life and company cultures? Because actually it’s fast, isn’t it?

Betty Encinales: Yes. So how did this happen? I think it’s because I’m very passionate about people. Um, I’m always passionate about serving people [00:04:00] and in my job as a recruiter, I actually do that every day, help people understanding what they want in their career, to try to connect them to the right jobs, to try them to be kind of that bridge between.

People, talent and companies, you know? So I think that that was a drive for me to, to, to pursue this career and to be successful in this career is a passion that I have for serving people on their careers. And I think that how do we. Kind of make that [00:04:30] impact in a corporate culture is about really understanding where people come from or where people want to go to, you know, so understand the company’s culture and what they’re looking for and be able to be again that bridge or that middle man that basically helps them to connect.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, I love the metaphor of the bridge. Really, it’s the, you’re sort of the glue that holds all of these little things together and understands it really well. And, um, that is really what a recruiter should be, or all recruiters [00:05:00] should be. And it’s, and that also implies that it’s not just the company that’s hiring somebody.

Also, the person needs to decide that that’s the right culture. for them, right? So we have mentioned the word culture already 15 times by now. As always, but how, uh, I have to say, we have to make things explicit sometimes. So how important is understanding and shaping corporate culture when, when placing a candidate?

Can you make it a bit more tangible for us? Maybe like some, uh, story. I mean, you probably have loads and obviously you [00:05:30] don’t have to give us any names or, or any companies, but you know, anything where you saw that the cultural fit, uh, has significantly influenced the hiring decision. and really made it better or was it the, you know, the driving factor.

So

Betty Encinales: I think Elisa is fundamental to, to fit because it’s the values and it’s the personalities and it’s, The culture is everything really. Cause if you don’t fit on the culture, you will soon leave. You won’t, you won’t, you won’t. And [00:06:00] actually it’s great that this question happened right now, because like, for example, on Friday, we had like a recruitment day for, for Newsweek.

And I could completely see that some of the people were in. On the same kind of, like, cultural frame that we were looking for. And the reason is not about, um, how can I say, it’s not just about the personality, but when, when people have a complete different views on, uh, on, on politics or views on, um, Especially [00:06:30] in a news corporation.

Let me explain. You know, like, so you, you need to, I mean, for example, our company Newsweek, it’s, it’s middle ground, you know, there is no left for rights. It’s just news. And we want to make sure that we recruit people with that views, that they’re not gonna be feeling uncomfortable to write news that they don’t feel comfortable or they don’t believe in, you know?

So that’s, I mean, it’s super important for us to get it right. Because if you believe that this is. The way should be things. And this is your belief and this is [00:07:00] what you like advocate. And then working for a company that’s going to say to you, look, this is the news that we need to like, this is the middle ground news is going to be very difficult, you know, for that person.

And also for the company to kind of like portray or try to, you cannot change people’s personality or views. And we don’t want that as well. I think that it has to be natural and it has to be something that align it. on the values of the other people and their views as well. [00:07:30] And going back to an example, for example, it’s on Friday, for example, we, we were recruiting Recruitment Day and we invited around, uh, 30 people for our, our Recruitment Day.

And you can see different personalities, but the ones that, uh, let’s say the people that we want, uh, to, to give that chance to progress on the process. is the people that we think are aligned with our values as well. And in terms of personality, in terms of, um, experience and culture as well. Um, you know, like laid [00:08:00] back people that is hungry, people that is willing to do, uh, the work they’re flexible, you know, if you have that kind of personality, you will be able to, to let people in our company, you know, but if you have other types of views or types of personality, probably we wouldn’t be the right fit for, for them, you know.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, absolutely. And I’m guessing also now it’s almost more important than ever within the news, sort of that the role of how important it is has massively come to light also over the, [00:08:30] over the last few years. Um, I, I was going to say, sometimes what I get back as feedback is, Elisa, you always say diversity is super important and diversity is this, but you also have to, Uh, hire for culture fits and you have to hire for values.

And I say they’re very different things. You don’t have to hire, you don’t have to hire your copy. You don’t hire the same people as you. Uh, but I, I wanted to see your, your opinion there. You don’t do little clones, right? That’s, that’s not the point of it. Yeah.

Betty Encinales: I mean, I particularly, I’m [00:09:00] very proactively.

Advocating for that. Also because I come from Colombia, for example, I speak Spanish. And back in the day when I started my career, I was bullied and I was excluded in many things just because I wasn’t white and I, you know, have an accent. So particularly for me was, was a challenge. And that’s why when I started this career, I was very much Empathize with everybody that has the same kind of background for me.

Not that I support them [00:09:30] more or less. It’s just more about being unbiased about decisions that are part of, of the recruitment process. And I, I’m absolutely saying that it’s very important in a company culture to be able to be unbiased in every aspect, you know, like to be able to give people a chance that come from different colors, different backgrounds, different experiences, because I completely think that.

What you can add as a different person from, from your background, from your experience, from, [00:10:00] you know, where you come from, adds so much more value, um, to the table, you know? Depth, research, experience. It gives, it gives a whole new perspective on things sometimes,

Elisa Tuijnder: right?

Betty Encinales: 100%. It gives so much different perspective.

Like when you come from, like, for example, in this recruitment day, I give you this example because it just happened over Friday, but we have people from China. We have people from Pakistan. We have people from England. We have people from Slovenia and it was so [00:10:30] nice how people, you know, like how this mix of women, men, uh, different religions, different colors, different everything came with different points of view because they’re representing They were picking up things that for them mean different things than from someone that was local, you know, so as a recruiter, you have to be that ambassador for promoting unbiased, bringing that in and pushing it forward.

to [00:11:00] a recruitment process and being fair on the process with everybody. And I 100 percent think that that creates a lot more, not only multicultural culture and a culture, but actually you add so much value in everything you do. And there is proven test and there is a statistics that Completely prove them, you know, so yeah, they, they

Elisa Tuijnder: support that fully.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And it’s, it’s, it’s funny in the UK. Um, I, when I moved to the UK when I was 25, I [00:11:30] think, or something like that, I no longer lived there, but I spent my good 12 years there, I think, or 11 years, I was so impressed. I mean, not that the UK still has a long way to go, but at the time as well, I came from a very echo chamber, uh, in, in Western Europe and, uh, I sometimes call it a white picket fence in a Volvo area.

Like, you know, I didn’t see all of these other things. And in the UK, um, there was in companies so much diversity already and people like it was not sort of these little islands, all of them around, [00:12:00] yes, there was different cultures, but it was celebrated and it was appreciated. And I know there’s a lot of.

A lot of space to move forward. You know, I thought they were already a step ahead than, uh, than, than, than certain other places. And it’s, it’s nice to see that that continues to grow there as

Betty Encinales: well. It should be, you know, should be only in the UK, but actually everywhere. I think that. I think that when you work, I mean, I have worked with multiple companies in multiple time, different time zones all around all my life, then I [00:12:30] can tell you, I think that the beauty of a workplace is, is being diverse and having different points of views and having different voices and having different access and having different.

Everything, you know, like, yeah, yeah. If you’re all the same, if it’s so

Elisa Tuijnder: monotone, it’s just bland, right? And it’s just bland in any way. Then the culture is also very much. Hey, so you have so many, like, I mean, you just, uh, the recruitment days, there was people from China, there was people from all over the world, and it’s super important to, to bring that [00:13:00] in and, and, and understand that, but there’s also different culture, which is the corporate culture.

And you. They’ve worked with, I’m guessing, I’m really guessing, I don’t know this obviously, I’ve not worked in either of them, that Newsweek versus Goldman Sachs, for example, are very much looking for different types of people or very much recruiting towards different styles and communication styles and all these kind of things, right?

So how do you, how do you, how do you adapt your searches? How do you, how do you work with this? How do you understand it as well? I think to start off with.

Betty Encinales: [00:13:30] It’s a great question and it’s a great, it’s been a great pleasure for me to work from around my career from media to investment banking to insurance to media and journalists now.

It’s, it’s huge. It’s, it’s, it’s a different world. Um, but at the end of the day it’s corporate, uh, which means there is some, you know, rules, there is some processes, there is some etiquette, um, you know, it’s not like there [00:14:00] is process that you have to follow. And I actually love working for corporates because of that.

But again, everything has the pros and cons, you know? Uh, but I think one of the things that I have done to adapt. It’s been very flexible. You have to really be open minded to learn. And I think I’m someone that has the ability to be very open minded. I have lived in eight different countries like all my life.

So you kind of have to adapt. different cultures [00:14:30] and, and really know how to like quickly understand how they work. So for example, right now I’m working with America, but I’m in the UK from an American public. Again, a very different culture. It’s a very different culture, but although you speak the same language, which is English, uh, you still have to deal with different time zones.

So by the time I’m finishing here, they just, it’s, it’s in the morning, you know, um, but I think you have to adapt not only in the time zone, but in the Especially the way people work and the way [00:15:00] you learn things as well in the process, like learning how to, what is the most important profiles that an investment bank like Goldman Sachs were looking and the, and the careers and the culture and understanding what priority for them is super important.

And same for Newsweek. It’s a completely different type of people, like investment bankers with reporters or journalists. They are driven by different things. Probably investment banks are more driven by money. [00:15:30] Yeah. Whereas, for example, the journalists are a lot more driven by, by finding the story, you know, by, by my passion, you know, they’re very much passionate.

But I think when you have. When you, when you build your career, you start getting more easy to read more people and to understand what’s priority. Your intuition grows, I guess. Your intuition grows, your questions are better, uh, your listening skills are better, and the way you [00:16:00] adapt is easier. It gets easier because you have done it so many times.

So, uh, I think the best way for me has been to do my, my homework, which means read about the companies, understand exactly what they’re looking for, do extra work, which means try to really understand the roles you’re working on and ask the right questions so you really get it right. And then look for the people, but it’s a combination of not only understanding the role, but actually understanding the culture and what they’re looking for.

Elisa Tuijnder: [00:16:30] Absolutely. It’s funny, sometimes it’s even what’s, it’s listening for what’s not being said, actually not what’s being said, but what’s also not being, being mentioned and understanding

Betty Encinales: that. Yeah, exactly. It’s actually that, it’s actually what is not written, what is the most important. Yeah, what’s absence.

Exactly that.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah. Yeah. That was, I was gonna, I was, it was gonna lead me perfectly to, to my next, my next question because I’ve been, I was gonna say screaming, that’s sort of sounds a bit aggressive, but I’ve been really talking a lot around being [00:17:00] intentional and being explicit and sort of not supposing that the others sort of understand, especially in culture building, especially, uh, in the values.

Like, you know, there’s, it’s very easy to put them on a wall, but you have to live by them. You have to, you know, they have to protrude to everything but. I was thinking before we got on this podcast around being intentional, like how much easier does that also make your job? Like, I mean, there’s obviously still things that don’t have to be said, but when there’s, when you really make the culture explicit and everyone lives by it, it’s also easier for you [00:17:30] to kind of find the people that are going to be, you know, a fit for that.

And then, then when it’s sort of a left unsaid kind of situation. I

Betty Encinales: think you have to take some of your Personal time to, to really dive in, into the culture. I think the culture, especially when you work remotely, it’s very difficult to kind of really understand it. Uh, and one of the examples I can give you from my personal journey is I, for example, right now, I started with Newsweek a few, a few, um, weeks ago, almost, almost [00:18:00] a month.

Yeah. And I’m trying really to go to the office. I don’t have to go, but I am going to the office to understand what’s, what is the team like, you know, what’s priorities on the roles. What type of people were there? What is that from, from how they dress, how, what they talk about, what’s important, what the news are, what their views are, and that’s how you also start understanding people and taking from your own time as well to go for drinks.

I mean, go for drinks or go for lunch, trying to really understand what’s behind that role, [00:18:30] you know, like the editors, but Who they are, you know, who they are, what drives them to do their work. They do what, what things are not say, obviously it’s not straightforward. And my job is for sure not straightforward.

It’s a job where you have to have a lot of people skills. And that’s something that probably you will learn at university. This is something you learn. Through life and through your work and through like the experience that you have and at the moment I have almost 20 years experience so obviously you pick up on more things than when [00:19:00] you were at university when you started in your first roles.

Um, it’s, it’s a lot hard but I also think that it’s beautiful when you start getting it more right when you start thinking okay you know like I’m understanding this and you ask the questions and you’re making the time to You have to push to understand better. You have to push to understand what’s not written.

You have to push to meet the people in real life and really understand what is behind that job description. You know? Mm-Hmm, .

Elisa Tuijnder: Absolutely. Yeah. Job descriptions don’t tell you everything. No, no. At all. In fact, [00:19:30] don’t tell you much. They tell you. They don’t tell you anything sometimes, or, or they tell you the wrong thing.

I, I, I, you sometimes read them and you’re like, you are really portraying, this is clearly. a sales role, but you’re portraying it as some, as an HR role almost. So to make it sound more dynamic and like, it’s just like, guys just set expectations. You know? So sometimes it’s even the opposite. It’s almost like going against what you were actually supposed to be doing.

Actually,

Betty Encinales: going back to that, what you’re just saying, I spoke to an editor the other day and I said to him, what do you [00:20:00] think is the most important thing to put on the job description? And he said to me, the most important thing I think is to put what we’re not looking for. Okay. Which I thought was like, it’s brilliant because it’s so many things you put on, but it’s also very important to put what you’re not looking for, because a lot of people apply that it’s not really right.

Elisa Tuijnder: And sometimes it’s easier to define also what you don’t want than what you do want. I think it’s sometimes very, like, naturally you can almost say like, no, no, no, that’s really not what we want. Right. So, but, [00:20:30] well, that was okay. And maybe we can add this and blah, blah, blah. So. It’s a process that actually might actually make it more explicit for yourself as well, to really understand who do we need in the role.

Absolutely. Hey, we, we talk a lot with, with leaders and we also cater a lot to leaders. So from your experience of putting leaders in, in, in the right positions, what do you feel is like the most effective in fostering this inclusive and engaging workplace culture that we on the podcast always look for?

Betty Encinales: I think people that is unbiased. And people that is [00:21:00] fair and people that is open minded. I think that’s, for me, what leaders should be having always people that has that open mind mindset to let people be better than them. You know, I think as a leader, you have to really try not to be the one that knows all the answers, but actually let other people shine and being comfortable with that.

And I give you an example, like on Friday, that’s for me, that’s, that’s vital. I had a meeting with one of the senior editors on Friday. And it was [00:21:30] wonderful to listen to him because he’s so unbiased. He just wants people to do the amazing job, regardless of where they come from, regardless of their color skin, regardless of their accent, because they have to do a certain job that is, they have certain skillset, but it’s not someone that, you know, like you can see that they kind of push to certain type of person.

So I love that unbiasedness on, on the mindset, but also the fact that he was actually telling me, like, I would love people to. to [00:22:00] fly on the job to, you know, to have their own wings and do better things and without me telling them what to do.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, that’s a

Betty Encinales: fantastic leadership skill, like just to be able to let other people do the job.

Obviously, as a leader, you have to guide them if they have it, they need any support. But I also think that it’s super important to encourage people to, to give their own ideas, their own views, and to also, if they do a really good job, to be able to [00:22:30] recognize for that and, and

Elisa Tuijnder: go further. Absolutely. And I think for leaders as well, sometimes, um, I think there’s a bit old school and it is going, but it’s still very much.

There as well as like, you know, saying that you were wrong or being willing to be proven wrong. Like you can have an idea and or you can have something, like an idea where the further company should be going and but your people that have worked with you might have a very different idea and actually being open to that.

To be proven wrong and or to say, sorry, like, Hey, [00:23:00] I didn’t, I didn’t get this one right. It’s so important for a leader. Um, I feel

Betty Encinales: constructive feedback as well, Elisa. Yeah. I mean, the other day I was talking to a candidate and he was preparing this amazing presentation. Uh, he got feedback, not from Newsweek, but another company.

And he was telling me how frustrated he was because he, he put so much effort and work extra hours and everything else. And, and the presentation went really well, but it was one mistake. And [00:23:30] his boss was pointing only that mistake. And I think it’s so important for leaders to be constructive. It’s okay to point things out that can be better, but it’s very important always to point out as well the things that are right.

And also it’s totally okay to put your opinion out, to be able to talk openly, to have that middle ground to speak, and that safe space to speak. It doesn’t mean that the company has to agree or not, but being able to be able to, you know, Express yourself is fundamental.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, absolutely. [00:24:00] Absolutely. And, and have the psychological safety for that, to trust and, uh, feeling good about that, right?

So pertinent. Does your workplace feel stuck in a rut? Are silos and outdated leadership styles stifling creativity and collaboration? At Management 3point0, we understand these frustrations. That’s why we offer tailor made training programs designed not just to enhance But to transform entire organizational mindsets with our expert guidance and vision or [00:24:30] workplace where barriers are broken down and everyone is empowered to contribute their best and leadership not only manages, but motivates and inspires ready.

to create a thriving workplace culture, then visit our website at management3o. com and see how we can help your organization build a happier, more productive workplace. Hey, so, um, when I was reading your, your LinkedIn and, and, and, uh, a little bit more about yourself. Hey, so you, what you see [00:25:00] really very much in the beginning is this financial institutions, this mastodons of like big banks and hedge funds, and then all of a sudden there’s this, the happiness planner.

Right. How did you get involved with this? Uh, what inspired you to step into this venture? Um, and what has it taught you? Well,

Betty Encinales: basically my own journey, really, uh, when I was working within financial institutions, it’s a very stressful environment and it’s very much. male dominated [00:25:30] industry and it’s, it’s something that it has, it’s tough.

It’s tough to work within corporations and financial institutions. And I think back in 2019, starting the pandemic, I had almost a breakdown. And I was really much, I never have this kind of anxiety ever, but when you start suffering from anxiety, which I did back in

Elisa Tuijnder: 2020. Unfortunately, I’m somebody who has experience with this as well.

Yeah. Yeah.

Betty Encinales: And after that, I think that it kind of. touch a place that I have never looked [00:26:00] at, which was my own insecurities and my own, my own anxiety issues. And for that same reason, I thought, Oh my God, what, I mean, if that happened to someone like me, which is normally a strong minded, someone very driven, someone very disciplined, it might happen to a lot of other people as well.

And I thought I really wanted to, to take more seriously this path. And I study as well, I started studying Uh, two years in studying positive psychology. And then, uh, [00:26:30] with a friend of mine, which, which owns the happiness planner, he gave me the opportunity to start working on this project as well in Latin America.

And I took it to, let’s say, to more of a serious Corporate levels or whatever they got. Yeah, exactly. To promote it within companies, uh, so they be able to be more aware that this is something that is very important. Talking about happiness, it’s not like a washy, washy topic. It’s actually super important to make sure that people is [00:27:00] content with their jobs.

They, they feed the right culture and they have a space for their wellbeing and support it with their wellbeing. It’s fundamental too.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, absolutely. And also, you know, there’s the study after study, right? And we say this on the podcast a lot. It’s good for your bottom line, it’s good for your attrition, like rates.

It’s good for everything. And also from a moral and ethical point of view, it’s also just nice to be happy at work. You spend a lot of time there. Um, and happy is also subjective, right? It’s, it’s, it’s a lot. Uh, it’s a lot of things. [00:27:30] So, uh, and we also solely responsible for everyone’s singular happiness, but we need to create the spaces for it.

And we need to let people be able to find them. And I think that’s what the pandemic was a bit of a leveler there. And also very interesting sort of silver lining that a lot of people who never were able to stand still with certain things or were never able to Keep running or never saw this, this is the anxiety there kind of all of a sudden and experienced this and I’m not saying we’re more aware of it.

I was going to say empathic. I think people were [00:28:00] already empathic, but his awareness is probably first there. Yeah.

Betty Encinales: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I think that, um, a lot of people weren’t aware of. I don’t think before the pandemic, I think these topics weren’t so relevant, but I think that in the pandemic, there were so many breakdowns and the statistics shows that, that actually work, you need to be able to feel a lot more comfortable working and a lot more happy at work.

And again, it’s not about being like jumping on your seat and [00:28:30] loving your job to your bones, but it’s actually That you’re connecting with the team that you’re working, that you’re not being harassed by anybody at work, that you have a safe space to talk, that you have a safe space to give your opinion, you know, I think that’s so important.

And I think that what is beautiful, I think, is that things are changing. And there is new, new processes. And now being. A lot more inclusive and diverse is almost a mass in every corporation and every [00:29:00] startup. And I think that that’s wonderful to see a lot more women on the boards, a lot more people from different cultures, backgrounds, different nationalities.

I think it’s brilliant.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And it’s not just a tick box. Like we started a podcast. It’s super important for the culture and for, for solutions and all of these kinds of things. So I looked a little bit into the happiness planner and I do a happiness. Diary. So as I say, it’s a very good practice and we preach it all the time.

And I don’t always do it myself. Don’t get me [00:29:30] wrong. Uh, but the Happiness Planner also goes one further and really use cognitive behavioral therapy techniques combined with, uh, with goal setting. So how do you feel that? Like, why, why that? And, and how does it impact individual productivity and personal growth?

Betty Encinales: No, I think that it’s, I mean, I actually do it now for like probably six, seven years. I is one of my rituals is doing the happiness planner, uh, which is a planner about gratitude. Um, and he has a very small, you can [00:30:00] do it within five to 10 minutes really. And just kind of put your ideas on what you’re grateful on that day, you know?

And, and, and I think that how he helps is actually seeing the positive in a, in the darkest times. So many times we live a day and you think that your life is terrible and sometimes you come home and just when you’re right Presley writing makes easier for the brain actually to get To process. Yeah, to process all the information.

So writing, not just also [00:30:30] typing, but writing with the pen actually is a really good exercise for the brain to get things processed, actually, and staining. And secondly, it’s a time for you. It’s your moment where you have your 5 or 10 minutes for yourself to look at the day and see the color parts of the day.

You know, I think we all go through this life living without stopping with so much information, with no breaks. And a planner, it really highlights the few things that you might be like, Oh, actually, [00:31:00] I had a great coffee. I saw a great friend that I haven’t seen. I, the song came out and it hasn’t come out for three months or London.

It actually happened today. Look at the sun. I’m going to write that down today on my happiness planner. But I think it helps you to, to recognize things that sometimes you stop and think you will never recognize.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, absolutely. And look back on also, and look back on, and, and, [00:31:30] and, and, I mean, if you go through it, there’s a log of this, right?

And there’s, there’s a log of learning in there as well. And that is also really interesting.

Betty Encinales: Absolutely. And when time passes and you look back, you’re like, wow, I mean, you look back and you think my life is sometimes You, you, and I said this from a point that I’ve seen many people that is quite miserable, or they quite depressed, or, you know, like they always kind of moaning about a lot of things.

And sometimes looking back, you’re when you’re do a planner, when you are grateful, just gratitude, just elevate [00:32:00] your, your life in every sort of aspects, you know, just being grateful every day, seeing the glass full, seeing the highlights of the day, the things that make you smile, it’s so important. So that’s.

That’s why I think having a planner, writing it and be grateful every day, having that five minutes of stopping your day and say, thank you for this and this and that. It really helps you to be a lot more happy and yeah, and content.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah. The funny thing with, uh, with the [00:32:30] gratitude thing there. And it’s sort of linked to what I just said earlier.

Like, it’s a daily practice, but then like you go through the log and you go, you kind of have this, again, this, this learning, but also this, I was, you’re grateful for the things that you went through. You’re grateful for the periods that you came out of. It’s sort of like, it builds on layers, on layers, on layers there.

A hundred percent. Yeah, absolutely. So I’d say, I need to, I actually, I do it every Sunday now, but it’s, which is already a good start, but every [00:33:00] day I, I think it also, you have to fit, find things how they work for you best and not kind of make it, make it a chore as well in the sense, try and make it a habit, but don’t if it is that hard or is it, if it’s that, don’t beat yourself up for it as well and try to find a way.

Betty Encinales: Yeah. And it’s nice to start with, with the happiness planner. It’s nice to start because you also have like a, like a small quote that kind of start your day on a. with something to think about that is positive, you know. So I think it’s, it’s practices that takes five minutes [00:33:30] and it’s actually, it’s a good ritual to have.

I, when I started doing this like a couple of years ago, it was at the beginning difficult. I was like, Oh my God, I have to take those five minutes. But when it becomes after 21 days, as you know, it become a habit. If you really practice it every day, when you implement this in your life, it really changed your life.

It really does. It’s, it’s, it’s

Elisa Tuijnder: interesting that I remember the first time I heard about it. I was like, ah, man, it can’t be that. Like, you know, it’s sort of this, you have [00:34:00] this journaling. I had this sort of visions of their, their diary and like, you know, but it’s actually, but it’s, but it’s so essential.

It’s so important. And you can’t believe how often people on the podcast. And, and, and, and say, give us my own, their own experiences. So it’s definitely one of those small things that you can start implementing in your life that can give you a massive return. Um, and that is, that’s great. Hey, so based on, on your experience in the Happiness Planner, as a recruiter that comes into all of [00:34:30] these different cultures and then sees all these different people, what advice would you, would you give companies looking to, to enhance their, Sort of their happiness and job satisfaction.

And I know that’s a really big question, so you can maybe just pull one thing out.

Betty Encinales: It’s a really big question, but I think that prioritizing this in the agenda, I think, is my biggest advice. Um, I think that a lot of companies don’t really understand the value of, like, they, they focus so much on the products, on the services, but not on the people.

And actually people The customer,

Elisa Tuijnder: not the [00:35:00] client. Sorry, the customer, not the, not the employee. The customer,

Betty Encinales: not the employee. And actually, the people who Provide a service or the product or to sell the product is actually a people and people is always behind every computer, every system, every product, every service.

So if you don’t prioritize that in the agenda, you’re not going to be successful, especially in this environment. You know, like as, as, as, as much as AI is, is more implemented these days and, and there’s a lot [00:35:30] of things automized and everything else. It’s people behind, it’s people with feelings, it’s people with, with the need support, it’s people that have, you know, issues, it’s people that needs to feed a culture, it’s people that have kids, it’s people that have passions.

So if they get, I mean, my biggest advice, it will be having this as a priority, you know, like, Really fostering good cultures, positive cultures, cultures where there is a lot of more balance between work and lifestyle and supporting the passions and their [00:36:00] careers for people and in offering the support that people need to do their job of the best.

ability that they can.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Focus on your clients as well, but definitely don’t forget about your employees first and, and make sure that they are doing, are being able to lead their best work lives. Um, I would, I would say. Hey, so I said it in the start as well, that you’re being an advocate, um, for, for women underrepresented groups and, and raised awareness around dyslexia and [00:36:30] diversity from your lived experiences, from your background.

Um, Could you just, do you want to pick out some of these initiatives? Cause I’ve always want to highlight and I feel free to plug anything or any events that you are doing as well. Uh, I, I happy to support all of these causes here on the podcast.

Betty Encinales: I love that you point that out because I, for example, I support a lot of made by dyslexia, uh, which is a movement, let’s say, and I have done a few talks like the Telegraph and the Financial Times about dyslexia, diversity and inclusion is something that I’m super [00:37:00] passionate again, because I come from a.

And it’s been my own journey to kind of really promote these as a recruiter and as an employee and as an entrepreneur, uh, to make sure that, that this is important in the places that I work. And it’s something that I’m part of in the recruitment process as well. But dyslexia for sure is something that back in the day when, when I was younger.

It was an obstacle for me and I remember feeling very frustrated because I didn’t want to share that I [00:37:30] was dyslexic because I feel ashamed because I can’t write or read as everybody else. And now it’s becoming a lot more, it’s becoming like a superpower because a lot of dyslexic people start kind of Putting the conversations out saying, we’re not disabled.

We actually have this, let’s say, disability, but actually if you see it on the other hand, it’s also a superpower, like most, let’s say, issues that you can work with as well, you know? So

Elisa Tuijnder: you develop other, your [00:38:00] other skills get pushed up, right? Because you lack one. So you, just having people that are again, diverse and mixed and, and from all these different, complement each other.

Being disabled

Betty Encinales: as a dyslexic, it allows me to have a lot more problem solving skills, and I have a lot more creativity and I have a massive open mind for a lot of different things. So it’s actually, I feel that I’m so grateful to be dyslexic because it allows me to see things in a complete view that Most of the people that I work with don’t have.[00:38:30]

So I found that this is something that I really like because it really shows how having a disability can actually put forward a totally different thinking and a completely different view on something.

Elisa Tuijnder: Absolutely. There’s, there’s a, there’s a bunch of really good examples there around, uh, and in the recruitment, uh, that, that you probably have whole heard and read about, but for our listeners, there’s, there’s things around, uh, Microsoft changing their, their [00:39:00] plans, for example, because they saw that neuro diverse people.

I heard the term neuro spicy the other day and I loved it, but I don’t know how in, how ingrained it is, but I love, I loved it. And, and, and because they, the recruitment processes were basically set up for people who were not neuro diverse and they. We’re very social and there was a dinner involved and there was a presentation and actually none of that mattered to do the job.

Actually, there was none of that in the job, but it was a massive barrier and it made sure that they were able to recruit from a big pool [00:39:30] of people and of people that were not being overseen and that were actually incredibly good at the role. So I think the policy is now around what do you need for the role?

So that’s what we’re testing and not anything else. Um, so I don’t know if you’ve got any other examples there of, of, of like a really cool one. Yeah,

Betty Encinales: well, for example, we’re at the moment we’re in my company, we’re using at the moment a lot of AI to, to gather information quicker. And for example, for me, as a dyslexic, I’m using, It’s super handy because [00:40:00] I don’t know, I could not recognize a lot of the errors that I made when I write and actually having co pilot or chat GPT is actually super fantastic because it allows me to feel so stressed about writing an email or answering an email or, you know, a campaign.

So I feel very grateful for that. And I feel very grateful because I have a team that allowed me to do that. to, to speak with my own voice and to be myself and having my disability put into the plate, like it’s something completely [00:40:30] normal and it’s totally okay. And they support me on that. So I feel that I’m in the right place as well, you know, because in, in some other places you feel that, yeah, they said, yeah, we will support you, but then it’s like, but it’s a problem.

And they really pointed out and it’s something.

Elisa Tuijnder: HR somewhere, but like not everyone, no one else is supposed to know about it or you shouldn’t be talking about it, I guess. Yeah. And that’s not okay. Yeah, I, there is definitely a drive for, for this. And also because there’s, again, there’s a business case for it as well, [00:41:00] but there’s definitely a movement towards it.

But with every movement, there’s forwards and backwards. So, um, Betty, like I, when I was going through your, through your LinkedIn page and then through your things, so I, I was impressed by all of the amazing things that you do and all of the work that you put in, in, in, in, it was like, when does this woman sleep?

Especially when, when, when I, when I got, when I got to this point and, and yeah, this is also. You’re also a multi marathon runner and an Ironman 3 at least, how, how, how do you do this? And, and you don’t have to explain this. [00:41:30] My point was more like, how does it actually, yeah, how has it driven you and changed you also in your professional life?

Betty Encinales: How does it drive me? I think that I like to be very disciplined and consistent with everything I do in my personal life and also in my professional life. I think it’s so important, uh, to have discipline and to follow up on the things you said you’re going to follow up on. And so, for example, if I said I’m going to write a diary every day, I write a diary every day.

If I said I’m going to run, I’m running. Currently, for example, [00:42:00] I’m swimming the channel and back on a distance of 70 kilometers. And, and I’m doing that. In the channel or in a pool? Just double checking here. Okay.

Elisa Tuijnder: I was like thinking you’re going

Betty Encinales: from London to the channel and then back. What is the, is the channel distance?

And it’s 72 kilometers. And again, going back to the discipline and consistency, I am not doing this, it drives me the fact that I’m doing it for charity. It drives me to [00:42:30] say, I’m going to do it and I’m going to commit to it. It also drives me to have a goal to look forward to, and it drives me because it helps me, I mean, it On waking me up.

And even if I’m not a hundred percent on every day, I know that I have something that I have to go back to, that I commit with. You know, like I commit this and I, whatever the day is, even if I, I’m on a 70% or on a 50%, I say, I was gonna do this, I’m gonna do this. You know, and it, it, it helps me. [00:43:00] To be focused, and it helps me to be channeled into something that it means something for me.

It’s a dream for me, always was a dream to dream the distance, and now that I’m doing it for charity, it’s also an extra layer, it is more commitment. And how this affects me in my personal life, I think that there is that quote that says that difficult things are not easy and that’s so true, but they’re worth it.

And I think that for me, having [00:43:30] goals and big goals, the ones that I always try to achieve, I always push to something bigger. I’m someone that loves endurance sports. Very purpose, purpose

Elisa Tuijnder: and goal driven. Yeah.

Betty Encinales: But also I think endurance sports builds character and it builds. Strength not only on your body, but in your brain and your mental, how you take pain in a way that you develop that more resistance mentally and physically.

And it’s not that I want pain in my life, but I think that No, no. [00:44:00] Yeah. It makes me be, yeah, I think it makes me more endured as a human being, and it also makes me committed. Two things I said I was going to do. So I think that being in a sports and doing sports have helped me to develop an endurance personality, let’s say, and on a job that I do with people.

And, and, and I’m very much And Tania, you’re

Elisa Tuijnder: extremely high level of energy as well. You’re

Betty Encinales: going to have energy and you’re going to recharge that energy. And sports clearly do for me, people, my friend, my [00:44:30] family, the people that is close to me by the sports. really fuel me to be able to have the energy that I need to talk to a hundred people a day and talk about roles every day.

It is a lot. Yeah,

Elisa Tuijnder: it’s a lot. That’s a lot of the people take. I am very massively, I’m an, I’m an extrovert, but sometimes I also need to go, whoa, too many people. I need to take my space again. And for me, that is not through sport. For me, that is sometimes through yoga and these kinds of things, but it’s finding those ways for everybody to.

[00:45:00] Tune into your happiness, tune into your balance, tune into all of these things and make sure that you restore and that they contribute to what you do, I’m guessing. And I love that you, you’ve really found some things there that nicely link with all of the things that you know about yourself and also drive you further and push you harder in your professional life as well, so.

Super fantastic. And, and I commend them all. And, and, and I would say jealous, but actually, no, I don’t. I’m okay. I’m okay for not going 70 kilometers of swimming tonight. I’m [00:45:30] quite okay with that. So Betty, I really want to keep talking, but we’re getting to a point where we’re getting over time. So. I’d love to, to hear about your, your backstory and what you did and how you do it.

And, uh, but here we kind of really always want to leave our listeners and we, with a tangible practice and something they can start practicing with. We’ve already talked about the journaling and gratitude and, and you can reiterate that if you want, but is there anything that you really want to leave everybody with as a key piece of advice or a key [00:46:00] practice that they should start?

Betty Encinales: The key practice is don’t wait for the motivation to start. Just start and you’ll find the motivation. That is the only way. So if you, if you wait for the motivation to come, you can wait many days. You can wait years and decades, you know? So when you’re starting, then you start seeing some progress. And I think when you do the sports that I do, like running the marathons or whatever I do, it’s never to look, the final line is, is through the [00:46:30] journey, through the small steps, through the small swings, through the small pieces where you start making progress.

Elisa Tuijnder: Yeah, and that’s how and then the motivation comes in tiny bits and then it grows and grows and grows. And there is something, there is some theory around this as well, right? It’s like, make sure that you don’t put a goal in front of you of like, okay, from tomorrow I’m going to go run a marathon. Make sure that you say, I’m going to, Do this first and then when you’ve achieved that there’s a gratitude and there’s a happiness around that and gives you the motivation to move to the next one.

But if [00:47:00] people want to find you, if people want to get in touch with you about any of the work that you do in Be Crude, in Newsweek and in the planner, in any of your volunteer work or even in the endurance, uh, in the triathlons or, or the, or the running or channel swimming, if they need advice, where can they find you?

How can they best get in touch with you?

Betty Encinales: They can find me on LinkedIn, Betty Encinales and, and I always. Uh, answer and they can follow me or they can connect with me there.

Elisa Tuijnder: I can confirm that Betty immediately answered. I think [00:47:30] when I saw her and I, I, for me, it got lost in the needle of a haystack. Uh, of that links in is within messages.

I, I get super confused, but you were, you were always there and straight away, and that was fantastic. Betty, I’ve really enjoyed this conversation and I, I really enjoyed learning from, from your jour, from your journey and from your practices. Thank you so much.

Betty Encinales: Thank you so much, Elisa, for everything, for your time and the great questions, too.

Thank you.

Elisa Tuijnder: You’ve been listening to the Happiness at Work podcast by Management 3point0, [00:48:00] where we are getting serious about happiness. Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And if you enjoy our shows, don’t be shy. Write us a review. Share the happiness with your colleagues, family or friends.

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