20000303-"If the employees of a business are happy, the rest comes by itself".

"Companies, more than winning or having customers, should be concerned about having the best people and making the most of their skills. And to do so, they must motivate them: if business makes sure that employees are happy, the rest comes by itself". This is what Fernando Francés, director general manager of DMR Consulting Group Spain, said at the University of Navarra. Francés participated, together with the President and CEO of Hewlett Packard Spain, Juan Soto, in the forum on Economics digital, organized by the School of Economic and Business Sciences.

Soto added that "to achieve this, business must emphasize employee satisfaction. It is not possible to succeed without fostering the development of interpersonal activities, which are infrequently prioritized among our young people, although it seems that the development of this emotional intelligence is today the success of these young people".

"Continuous innovation will be the success of business. That is why it is essential to have confidence in human beings, who must be treated as ends in themselves, and not as means of production," continued the Hewlett Packard executive.

Soto also advocated the development of entrepreneurial vocations among young people: "The information society in the U.S. is showing that large companies are acquiring small companies created by young people. And this phenomenon is more related to the issue of people who are trying than to who is trying, but this requires more young entrepreneurs".

Knowledge and know-how

The only way for this society not to lose what it has achieved in recent years," he continued, "is for young people to try the entrepreneurial adventure. To do this, we have to make them lose their fear of failure and convince them that employment in a multinational or at public administration is not the only way to deal with the allocation of human resources. Let them know how to say 'I know how to do', not just 'I know'".

"Young people have to innovate more - continued Francés - because those who do not do so are candidate to be replaced by a machine. Companies are going to change the concept in which the initiative comes from a very small group for one of much more participatory companies, which encourage the initiative of everyone. And this means removing the fear of people expressing their opinion".

With regard to new technologies, Juan Soto commented that "for reasons of survival, small companies will also have to adapt to the IT change. It is impossible to stay in the current market without using these new technologies, which are absolutely necessary". Francés said that "before, only large companies could invest in new technologies because they were the owners, the only ones who knew the basic technology to achieve this. Now, as information is available for everyone, practically anyone can have it".