INTRODUCTION
The Social Worker's role in business organisations is nothing new: it peaked with the industrial development of the 1960s, in response to an emerging Corporate Social Action that took the form of financial aid to the workers (for marriage and childbirth, children's studies, etc.), guaranteed in collective agreements. That figure began to decline in the 1990s, due to the retirement of the professionals and the progressive elimination of posts.
With the evolution of markets and the growing weight of Corporate Social Responsibility, the traditional business model has given way to a more innovative one, integrating work-life balance measures, equality plans and harassment protocols, among others.
ACTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS
All this drives a Corporate Social Action focused today on the social and labour wellbeing of the workforce, articulated through a series of actions and improvements:
- Career advancement plans.
- Work-life balance measures.
- Work flexibility.
- Recognition at work.
- Training programmes.
- Social benefits.
These measures are linked to remuneration without being an economic emolument: they seek to satisfy personal, family and professional needs. This is what is called «emotional salary». The term itself brings together two concepts: salary (the economic) and emotion (response to stimuli); with the former guaranteed, the latter can generate greater involvement at work and become the key to job loyalty.
BENEFITS
Its benefits are confirmed by multiple studies:
- Improved working climate.
- Greater involvement of the workers.
- Increased productivity.
- Reduced absenteeism.
Nonetheless, it is worth stressing: emotional salary must not replace economic salary, which must be guaranteed, but rather accompany it.
THE SOCIAL WORKER WITHIN THE COMPANY
In this scenario, the Social Worker's role is essential: their mission is to advise professionally on the personal difficulties of the workers, with an intervention tailored to each need, through support and help, to improve their wellbeing. They are also a participant in and facilitator of work-life balance, because they know the social circumstances of the workforce and can propose the measures that best fit without harming the company.
Their work rests on the profession's Code of Ethics, which guarantees professionalism, personalised, comprehensive, respectful care subject to professional secrecy. Placed within the Human Resources area, they coordinate their work with Prevention and with the union sections, and also advise the company by adding social value. They are, without doubt, a provider of «emotional salary» and a highly valued professional.
FIRMA QUATTRO AND BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS
At Firma Quattro we have always regarded the business organisation as a necessary field of intervention: companies are made up of people who, beyond their job, have a personal and family life to juggle and whose difficulties they cannot leave behind when they come to work. We develop this in Corporate Social Wellbeing.