How PHC has created the best work experience

January 11, 2023

Today we published the most recent gen.talks, our podcast series, where we partnered with PHC Software to discuss how companies can create the best work experience possible.

Since, for now, our podcast is in Portuguese, here’s a quick summary of what happened in English:

PHC is a software company that has developed several solutions for small companies to manage their assets, from finances to people. It was founded in 1989 and has been adapting ever since, having now more than 200 people and being located in Porto Salvo, Oeiras.

A few years ago, PHC decided that creating the best work experience for their employees was a top priority for the company. Since then, a new building was constructed, a pandemic happened and the hybrid model was implemented. In this article, we explore how they managed to keep their workers happy and engaged, even throughout the challenges that the last two years brought up.

Rute Ablum is the Chief Management Officer at PHC Software and also the President of PHC Foundation, created in April 2022 to achieve better digital literacy in Portugal. In the gen.talks podcast, Miguel Pinto Ferreira, Marketing Director, and Sara Salvado, People & Culture Manager at genesis.studio, talked with Rute about how PHC has been implementing the best practices for keeping employees excited, motivated, and involved with the company culture and several initiatives.

Here are the main takeaways for what makes PHC a Great Place to Work and a winner in several other company and culture awards:

People must be aligned with the company culture, from the recruitment phase on;
Companies must bet on people’s professional and personal growth and give them space to better themselves;
The office space must offer everything people value in a workplace, whether that’s a gym, a kitchen, or a gaming den;
People must still meet now and then at the office, on scheduled days, for team building and bonding time;
People must have the freedom to choose their working hours and productive time;
Communication is key in asynchronous work;
Happy hours and other gatherings are very important for team cohesion and happiness;
The People and Marketing teams, as well as every team leader, must have that contagious enthusiasm for the company initiatives and be present whenever possible to lead by example;
Working perks and good salaries are very important for people to feel valued and motivated;
One-on-one meetings are paramount for constant communication, feedback, and real-time improvement, rather than annual evaluations, for example;
The OKR Methodology works as a way to align all the workers and teams with the same vision and goals;
Every employee, no matter the team or role, must have the opportunity to ask questions about the direction of the company and to suggest new ideas and processes;
Psychological safety is essential to make people feel secure to share how they feel and what they think, and also to take some time off if they are struggling with mental health issues;
Transparency and trust go a long way for people to feel empowered, useful, and accountable for their work;
Software plays an important role in keeping teams updated and aligned;
Measuring people’s happiness is a way to improve the work environment;
Other companies’ best practices can be of inspiration to implement in our own companies.

These insights and many more are available on our latest podcast episode, on our Youtube channel, which you can find and see in full here [Portuguese language only].