Power to the people

Today we’re launching our new website (erretres.com). This is the culmination of a project that we embarked on over three years ago and which has taken a great deal of time and effort - and between the pandemic and the rest - a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Now, however, with the launch of the new site, we can safely say that we’ve fully completed our transformation. This means we’ve now got our hearts and hands set on the next thing, whatever that may be...

Although still believing that our old website was a great way of displaying our work and our projects, we felt that it was missing that extra punch to communicate our spirit and what Erretres can offer, with our strengths and differential positioning. These strengths and positioning come from a thorough evolution which we’ve all undertaken, during which we’ve gone from being a mere design studio and branding consultancy to a full strategic partner for our clients who find themselves immersed in moments of growth and transformation. We’ve worked to combine and dynamically integrate all of our specialties (strategy, brand experience, digital products, and communication), because only by doing this can the big challenges of today be overcome.

These last two years, we’ve had the opportunity to work with some huge companies and entities, including leaders and referential entities in their fields. They’ve included Movistar+, Santander, Mahou San Miguel, Total Energies, VISA, RNB, KNX, Fosun Group in Japan, Banco Pichincha in Ecuador, and the United Nations in New York. We’ve also partnered up with some of the leaders in consultancy such as McKinsey & Company, EY, UST, BCG, KPMG, and NTT. This all goes without forgetting some of the key players who are defining and building their brands with us today and into the future: the startups. We’ve helped to scale, transform, and consolidate various startups such as Returnly, Seedtag, Civitatis, Bkool, Bnext, Woowbe, Habitissimo, Nemuru, Quantum Squares, and Playtomic.

But it hasn’t always been an easy ride. In April 2020 and in the middle of times of great uncertainty and chaos, we chose to be brave and to fight to maintain our team, our income, and our projects. And it’s worked out well, thanks to our tenacity, work ethic and, perhaps, a little bit of luck that’s accompanied us along the way.

Now, however, it’s time to look towards the future without forgetting our roots. During the last three years we’ve grown from the inside out, undertaking seven projects in Japan, two in California, three across Europe, and two in Latin America. It’s evident that our future lies in exploring other places around the world, be this alone, with partners, or by opening new offices, such as our Brussels office which we’ll inaugurate in February 2022.

The return to normality and life itself push us to take on projects which have a value much greater than just the commercial. Projects which excite, inspire, and energise us, such as our innovation platform Erretres Open Lab, which we’ll soon be sharing some exciting news about. There’s also our Masters in UX Design in collaboration with the Universidad Europea, which starts its fourth edition this year.

Now for some exciting personal projects which I’m also involved in. The most crazy thing that’s happened to me on a professional level over the past few years is that I’m writing a book, a book which brings together everything that I’ve spoken about and more: how the world of brands has changed – and continues to change – and how this affects how they affront consumer expectations. The craziest thing of all is something that makes it even more interesting and enriching, and that’s the fact that the book is by a Japanese publisher, although I hope to close agreements with other publishers soon to have the book released in other languages.

In one of the longest chapters of the book I make an analogy between the decline of the Japanese electronics industry and the current decline of the European automotive industry. This example works to connect some of the management failures of some corporations nowadays: the lack of vision, the lack of understanding of a product as a connected entity, the lack of understanding of the world of the intangible, the lack of focus on user experience, etc., without forgetting the need to to support the promising future of companies across three pillars: design, sustainability, and talent.

I believe that this last challenge is the most important one that us companies face: the attraction and retention of talent. And, as a businessman, I recognise that in the past we may not have always done things the best way, and that we all make decisions that at the time may have seemed correct, but sometimes the passing of time disagrees with us. I also think that, right now, we’ve managed to define a super attractive model between all of us, and that this model will work to ensure that the best talent approaches our company.

If you ask me about my company, years ago growth had flatlined because our mantra was commitment, quality, and effort. Sounds familiar, right? It might seem great and powerful, but people would eventually become frustrated and quickly move on to another company. Thus, a new philosophy with a wider vision was needed. A philosophy that leads to better results, through great commitment, fun, and happiness. 

I have named this new philosophy EDGE. Edge can mean the outer limit of an object, area, or surface, and I believe that in an ever-changing world, companies have to work at the cutting edge: at the frontier of knowledge, outside of their comfort zone. To do this, you have to Empower people to make decisions by themselves, which promotes both agility and commitment. You must set up a team that represents Diversity in its way of thinking. There must be a commitment to the Growth of the whole company: taking into account economical, professional, and spiritual growth. You have to obsess over the global Experience. The way you work and how to take care of others, the processes, and the environment all guarantee the quality and excellence of the delivery. And, of course, having fun is also very important.

Let’s now take a look at each element.

Empowerment: Power to the People.

Nowadays, the key element for success is human capital, even over technology and money. In 2021, Microsoft released a report that states that 47% of employees in services are thinking of changing jobs within the next six months. The pandemic and covid have accelerated this trend, and the average retention rate of an employee in Silicon Valley is only 18 months. Therefore, we are going to have a real battle on our hands to attract and retain talent. The best talent means the best products and services, all whilst a shortage of highly-qualified talent means more power to the employee to decide where and with whom to work.

Empowering people gives them the opportunity to grow professionally, which can be as competitive and fulfilling as a wage rise. People love to be in charge, to make their own decisions, and sometimes to experience their own failures. People love to control their agendas, their “me” time.

In his book “Work Rules”, Laszlo Bock, former VP of People Operations at Google, explains that in the American corporation each employee feels like the owner of the company. He explains how they feel way more involved thanks to being allowed to voice their opinion during company-wide decisions, in doing so impacting beyond their departments on issues such as the sustainability of the planet or social rights.

In short, the power is with the employee and not with the employer, even though it is a relationship of mutual benefit. Teleworking is only nurturing this trend. Labour regulation and companies will have to adapt to this new scenario in order to attract and retain talent.

Diversity: Talent & Mobility.

When we think of diversity, we usually think of diversity of race, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, or many other factors. When we look at the latest Apple Keynotes, for example, they feature speakers from different countries with various cultural backgrounds. All of them introduce the new Apple products in diverse accents and variants of English. These people are not professional speakers, but they represent the effort Apple puts into being a diverse company, one just as diverse as their clients.

Looking at the pages of Google’s website, they portray the classical American family with different pictures. We see depictions of immigrant families with children, one of whom seems to be fighting cancer. Big companies no longer avoid people's problems, preferring to give visibility to people’s realities.

Many of the American start-ups were founded by immigrants. Steve Jobs was the son of Iranian immigrants, while a large part of the workforce at these companies is formed by other immigrants who are living in the country thanks to government policies which attract talent.

The telework paradigm makes anyone able to work for a company in the other part of the world from the comfort of their hometown, as long as they have a good internet connection. Technology opens up infinite possibilities when considering configurations or labor agreements. Regulation and corporate culture, unfortunately, are often several steps behind.

Beyond this, the most important thing is diversity of thought. Engineers, consultants, designers, marketing profiles... everyone's vision is necessary to tackle the challenges of the future. Design thinking arose from the need for different professional profiles and users, working together with a series of methodologies, to solve increasingly complex challenges. 

In my company, the designers used to be in charge. They had a clear vision of how the company had to be managed and influenced the rest of the team: project managers, UX specialists, consultants, sales people, etc. This rule-of-thumb no longer stands, however, and now we have a broader perspective of the company, the world, and client’s expectations. This has served to really improve the quality of each project we undertake.

Products and services with a global reach need a diverse and talented team behind them.

Growth: The New Contract.

It took me a long time to discover that many people are happy with the status quo, with the way the company operates day to day. When we look at the fastest-growing companies, however, we see that they grow by transcending their traditional core through continuous innovation. 

Future business growth will come from new businesses, new services, and products. At Google, they have a day off during which each employee enjoys working on anything they prefer, an initiative which has led to great innovations such as GMail. Even though the final project may end up in the trash, it is critical that employees feel empowered to explore their creativity. This is a mindset that balances both professional and personal growth, which is something we must not forget about.

By operating and thinking like a startup, always evolving and transforming whilst guaranteeing growth, even the biggest of corporations can look attractive.

Therefore, to retain talent it is not only important to pay them well and offer them a high degree of freedom and flexibility. Talent will stay with the company if it is constantly learning, with challenging projects, forward-thinking leadership, and co-workers to nurture and be inspired by.

Experience: The Process is King.

Beyond having a specific customer experience or design department, the entire organization has to focus on the user and the brand experience. Design thinking methods and techniques have proven to be very useful ways of comprehending the complexity of challenges, but they have also demonstrated that often the process is more important than the result.

IBM and Google were once companies full of engineers, but the ratio of designer to engineer has radically changed within the recent years. In fact, IBM has the largest design studio in the world, with 2,000 designers, who complete a more orthodoxal vision based on technology. The number 2 of the number 1 company in the world, Apple, was its designer Jonathan Ive. Similar situations can be seen at Airbnb, where one of the founders have a Design degree. Experience or design understood as the transformative tool for generating value, as a process or as a strategic asset, is a key element in the growth of companies. Listening to their advice and opinion, giving them more value, and including the client and different teams within the creative process are all key to success. 

Over the years, I have come to understand that people perform much better if they are happier and enjoy the process. It’s not only the project and the quality of the delivery, it also how you work, the global work experience. Having a nice office, great coffee, a great company and the flexibility to work remotely is even more important than ever after the pandemic. People will return to grow professionally and seek to experience things that can’t be replicated via a Zoom video call.

Employees need very big reasons to come back to the office. If they sit alone in a corner of a big and cold space without the opportunity to live a transforming experience, they will stay at home. The office is no longer a space, but rather a mindset of shared values. 

This is the reason why many HR departments are rebranding themselves as “People Experience” departments.

The best performers, be they traditional companies or new businesses, have a new mentality and way of operating, with an agreement with their employees that goes beyond the usual transaction. People love to engage and commit to projects that are meaningful to them and to society, and so the relationship between the employer and employee has to be a relationship of mutual benefit.