In 2019, the Governing Council of Suara Cooperativa appointed Laura Peracaula and Tomàs Llompart as general co-directors of Suara Cooperativa. With this, we became a pioneering and innovative organization when it came to searching for new leadership formulas. Five years later, we can see the benefits it has had for the organization.
One of the drivers of Suara Cooperativa's action is innovation, which is transversal to the entire organization and, for us, goes beyond offering a technological solution, but is also the response we give to the challenges we encounter in our day-to-day lives. That is why, five years ago, we applied innovation to our leadership model, when the Governing Council opted for the general co-management formed by Laura Peracaula and Tomàs Llompart to lead the organization.
This was a pioneering bet, since in the Catalan business community as a whole, there was practically no experience in co-management. A model that, today, continues to be almost non-existent, but what advantages does it bring?
At Suara Cooperativa we understood and understand that co-management responds to the essence and DNA of the organization. First of all, in accordance with our cooperative values, at Suara we promote collaboration and inter-cooperation in all areas of the cooperative: from the day-to-day work environment to the most macro issues such as the strategic lines that we want to promote, a decision that we make horizontally and democratically when we vote at the General Assembly. In this context, co-management responds to this core value of Suara Cooperativa, since decisions are made through consensus and dialogue.
In fact, this is what the Governing Council considered when it gave the green light to the configuration of the general co-management. “Given the nature and way of working of Suara, where shared work, debate, consensus and the democratization of decisions are prioritized, a co-management model fits perfectly”, pointed out the Governing Council in a news item published on the Suara Cooperativa website to inform about the new co-management of the organization.
In these five years we have been able to see other benefits that come with having a general co-management, such as the enrichment in decision-making, which is led by two people with different paths. Laura Peracaula, before taking on this challenge, had held the positions of Finance Director, Operations Director, Deputy General Manager, Corporate Director and Deputy General Manager of Business. For his part, Tomàs Llompart had served as Director of the Social Area, Director of the People Area, Director of the Service Development Area and Deputy General Corporate Director. Beyond this plurality of points of view in decision-making, these are also more robust, solid and mature, since they come from dialogue and consensus.
Work-life balance. This point should be given a change of direction
According to a recent study, 88.3% of people who run a small or medium-sized company (SME) have suffered some symptom related to psychological distress in the last three years. Of these, 80.3% are related to stress, 69% have had problems sleeping, 68.6% have suffered anxiety and 37.8% depression. However, since they assume the responsibility of running a company, only 7.2% have requested leave in recent years.
Often these stressful situations are related to the workload they have, as well as the fact of the responsibility for the decisions they make for the future and viability of the organization. On the other hand, co-management is a formula that helps to ensure the emotional and psychological well-being of the people who make it up, since the functions and responsibilities are shared while at the same time they can support each other in more stressful situations.
Finally, a co-management model can also encourage women to occupy leadership positions. Currently, only 9% of companies in Spain are managed by women. This is due to the fact that, in most cases, they are the ones who are responsible for caring for a dependent relative or raising their children. Therefore, they ask for more leave to meet the needs of the nearby community or accommodate their work schedules with school children. All in all, it makes it difficult for them to combine work life with family life.
At Suara Cooperativa we insist that care responsibilities between men and women should be shared to promote equal opportunities between the two sexes in the workplace. However, while this is not a reality in our society, the co-management model is key to encouraging women to assume leadership positions, where responsibilities can be shared and, in this way, they can combine their work life with that of the family environment.
