THE UPCYCL Builds Team Culture and Increases Focus on Empathy and Diversity

A start-up is fast-paced. THE UPCYCL works with many different partners, bridging the gap between companies that have industrial waste materials and companies that can use these materials as a resource.

And when you're a first-mover in the circular economy like THE UPCYCL, things can move in a really fast pace. A solid team culture is needed to ensure that employees feel good and perform well without compromising their wellbeing.

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Empathy and inclusion as a driving force in team culture

When THE UPCYCL came across Personpilot, they were working on their manifesto. An open document that describes how they want to act as a company. One of the points is ‘Empathy and Inclusion’, where understanding differences is emphasised as part of the culture.

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Therefore, Personpilot is an obvious choice to incorporate diversity as part of the culture. Rikke Lauritsen, Communications & PR Manager at THE UPCYCL explains the background.
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"We focus on building a strong team culture where everyone knows each other and themselves. It's important to nurture the team and culture when things are going fast. We have two major annual team events, which create a good sense of unity. But on a day-to-day basis, Personpilot helps us gain a greater insight into how we are different as individuals and in this way strengthens our ambition for an empathetic and inclusive culture."

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Focus on diversity during roll-out

THE UPCYCL goes live with Personpilot. All employees are created and take a test in DISC. Next they arrange a workshop with an external management consultant to focus on employee differences and how they can work with the insights from Personpilot's digital platform and the colours from DISC as a common language.

Subsequently, every Monday at the morning meeting, they have had presentations by individual employees who, based on the personality profile, briefly explain what it means in the collaboration for the individual employee: What is important to me?
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In this way, Personpilot has got under the skin of all employees and has created awareness of themselves and their differences.
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"Yes, it may sound like a very open approach, but in a supportive environment in a small team, it doesn't become overwhelming. We cultivate a culture where you can make mistakes and be vulnerable. It takes courage. And that's where Personpilot and personality profiles help us, because they give us a tool to express awareness of differences. Both for the individual and at team level,"

says Rikke.

Focus on team motivators

THE UPCYCL is driven by a strong belief in doing something good for the planet. But sustainability is not just about climate and reusing resources that would otherwise be thrown away. Sustainability at THE UPCYCL is also characterised by the S in ESG; Employees are passionate about their work, but they must not burnout as people.

"The benefit of Personpilot is an increased awareness of colleagues. As an employee, you realise how colleagues have different preferences. And as a team leader, I particularly benefit from how motivational factors can be different in my team. It has a big impact on the way you approach a task and your behaviour towards colleagues,"

says Rikke and adds.

"In general, we've gained good insights from Personpilot that we'll continue to use. Specifically, we realised that we are in excess of red and yellow -and can therefore be biased towards hiring those who are similar to ourselves. Here, we really pay attention to diversity, so we can see the strength within the differences."

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