Create a strong front line
Hans Demeyer (Supplier of Optimism & Inspiration) started his keynote with a trick to engrave in our memory the effects of a successful working environment. He got the attendees to form a heart shape with their hands, give a thumbs up sign, make a payment movement with their fingers and then stand up. The heart symbolizes the happiness that employees feel at working in a suitable environment, this will make them more productive (thumbs up), which means more money will flow in, and you can use that money to grow. A modern workplace aims to be as inclusive as possible, and invests in the things that make people feel happy.
Involve your people every way you can whenever there are changes. Find out what they experience, what they object to, and take that into account. Listen and act on it. Build in measurements and organize feedback opportunities.
Hans also touched on the hot topic of the GDPR. He strongly underlined the importance of the front-line workers. These people meet you in the shop, they have the initial contact with customers, are the first ones to see the product, and to see how consumers react to it, they can display their expertise and have the opportunity to create a deeper connection with each customer. Hans predicts that customers will ask a lot more questions about data, and the first thing that will do is make the job of front-line employees more difficult. Consumers asking why exactly you need information and what you are going to do with the data you collected, will become the rule rather than the exception. We need to ensure that employees can respond instantly to these types of questions, in order to gain and keep our customers' confidence. To support them in this, you need tools that are not too complex and are close at hand when you need to use them. In addition, the front-line employees need to know why customers are being asked for certain information, how this fits into the overall process and where the information goes. When selecting tools, you also need to take into account the different levels of maturity, because babyboomers and Gen X need different tools. The challenge is to get a mix that works so you can use it to deliver a high level of user satisfaction across all the different generations.
Office 365 going full speed ahead at Alpro
Stijn Raemdonck (ICT Director Alpro) knew that with Office 365 they had acquired a great new racing car, but sadly many employees were still driving it like an old banger. The basics were fine, but the extra options were not being exploited, and that is exactly where the differentiation potential is to be found. Working together with the Realdolmen Change management team, a step-by-step plan was developed that would help users to make effective use of all the available assets.
The most important support we received from Realdolmen was the coaching during the gradual implementation, when you start getting the end users on board. Alpro did not have this expertise first-hand, but it was crucial for getting the best out of O365.
The aim was to avoid just rolling out an IT project and then hoping that everyone would find the right way to use it. You have to communicate transparently about the change, and listen to user needs.
Moving to a flexible, digital workplace with Realdolmen
Realdolmen helps organizations to digitize and update their workplace, with an eye on automation and process optimization. We help your front-line employees, who travel a lot and are the first point of contact with your customers, get the right tools for maximum impact. In a nutshell, we provide workplace solutions that are tailored to your company.
Read here how we can help you.
