Just like other companies, steady and controlled growth is one of our corporate goals. To achieve this, the strategy and especially the mindset of the people have to change. And as we all know, this requires well-organised change management.
Scaling up starts and ends with the people. The following article touches the measures we already took and gives and outlook on what we think is still important to be successful. We will find out later how success is defined in this context.
As already mentioned, people are the key factor in achieving the goals set. Keeping employees involved and engaged is essential for maintaining high levels of productivity, morale, and job satisfaction. Open and transparent communication was the starting point for our improvements. Regular updates keep the employees informed and help them feeling a part of the bigger picture. Since we are a mid-sized-company, we can organize our “Kaffeklatsch” on a regular basis, where everyone can listen to inspiring presentations out of our own ranks while having cold and warm drinks and not to forget various snacks. The pictures were taken on August, 1st at our last meet.
As an outcome of this meeting, we implemented our “good-idea-program” to Engage in Decision-Making. All employees are asked to put ideas into a box, that make their work easier and more efficient, saves costs and resources or of course brings us growth. The saving part is mainly meant to save the environment and offer sustainable after-sales solutions.
This program is linked to Recognition and Rewards, which is another important topic. With an incentive program that was specially designed for this purpose, people are motivated to contribute their thoughts and ideas. We will also make sure, that extraordinarily good ideas will be celebrated on a public stage.
To the next strategy, I have to say: We nailed it! Our multicultural and multilingual team consist of people from The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Cuba and the US. An Inclusive Culture where we take diversity and inclusion initiatives is mandatory for us. With team building activities like our family BBQ in the summer this year, we strengthen relationships among team members.
We do our best every single day creating a Positive Work Environment with a workplace culture that is supportive, collaborative, and positive. Because we have understood the basic needs of people, we offer office perks such as fresh fruits, water and coffee for free. Next to that, we create comfortable office space with air-conditioning and allow casual dressing to everyone. Closely linked to this are working conditions that contribute to a better Work-Life Balance such as our flextime system spared with humanity and understanding for personal situations. We support our people as much as possible and find solutions in close collaboration.
What we still miss in this matter are wellness programs. We are currently discussing about gym collaborations and fitness programs. Upfront, we looked into the possibility of a contribution to a “company bike” that some employees already use.
Last but not least we should talk about attributes of a good leadership. Nowadays, people look for Autonomy and Empowerment. That’s why we aim to give employees the freedom to make decisions, and provide the necessary support and resources for them to succeed. Moreover, we allow employees to take ownership of projects and tasks. When employees have control over their work, they’re more likely to be engaged. In order to give all the trust and support that is needed, we defined three things as mandatory:
Set Clear Goals, Expectations and Objectives to ensure that employees understand their roles, responsibilities, and how their work contributes to the company’s goals.
Support Personal Development by offering coaching’s with professionals as well as improving skills and capabilities by regularly performed trainings and workshops.
Hold frequent one-on-one meetings to discuss progress, Provide Feedback, and adjust goals as needed. The feedback should flow in two ways: From the manager to the employee & from the employee to the manager.
Of course there are so much more to do. Anyway, we are proud of what we already achieved together with our great team. And hopefully the good-idea-program will bring us fresh insights into the 72 minds we currently have on board.
Thanks for reading!
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