Simple, straightforward, and smart

Employee satisfaction within ‘s Heeren Loo has been measured in a completely new way. No more lengthy questionnaires, and no benchmarking against how things were or how colleagues are doing. So, what is it then? Compact questionnaires about ‘own themes’ that are relevant within our organization; we determine these themes ourselves, and we can customize and continuously survey them according to our needs.

Ellen Kamphuis-Sterk: “This approach helps initiate conversations among teams. Our mantra is: simple and straightforward improvement. We are a very large organization and want to find out what truly makes the work meaningful in a smart way. With CareRate, we collect direct and targeted feedback on a manageable number of themes. We quickly gain insights into the current state of affairs.”

After the numbers, it’s just the beginning

At CareRate, it doesn’t end with a report. There is a whole philosophy behind it, which states that improvement truly succeeds when you go through all the steps. That means starting with Plan/Do/Check (measurement is knowledge), but also dedicating equal attention to Act and Share. “These last two steps are particularly meaningful. Our teams and leaders start thinking: What does this data tell us, and what are we going to do about it (Act)? We discuss the results extensively within the teams. Each team reflects on the results and generates ideas to come up with concrete improvement actions. The goal is to complete the improvement cycle, and for that, we continue to engage in conversation. Real improvement based on measurement is ultimately crucial if we want to progress. The CareRate application facilitates these steps.

The improvement cycle is only complete when improvements are shared because that’s when we can learn from them internally (Learn). By sharing stories/successes with each other (Share), we not only inspire one another, but a solution implemented by one team may also be applied by another team. “We serve 15 regions. If a team in Noordwijk is working on improving work-life balance, we want the team in Monster to learn from it as well.

The CareRate system is focused on maximum knowledge transfer. Each leader has their own improvement board, and the improvement boards are visible to everyone. This increases the organization’s learning ability. At the same time, it allows us to see where improvement processes may be stagnating and where additional assistance is needed. This also aligns with the Lean and OGSM (Objectives, goals, strategies, measures) method.”

Pearls

The response to the Mooi Werk Meter was 53%. “We are very pleased with that. The intention is for regions and teams to increasingly take ownership of short-cycle improvement for the themes they are working on, so that we can make an impact together.

It’s great that this measurement also focuses on what is going well and what we can improve within the organization,” emphasizes Ellen. “Those pearls, you want more of them. They inspire and generate enthusiasm. And we really need that in this time when it remains challenging to attract and retain people.”