by Katrien Decroos | Oct 18, 2023 | All
From which conviction stems the unique bridge that Square Circle builds between HR and communication? What makes Square Circle both a centre of expertise and a trusted sparring partner for professionals? Partners Katrien Decroos and An Dewaele sit down for an exclusive double interview about Square Circle’s distinguishing factors. An inspiring conversation tailored to corporates, SMEs and experts who want to (further) prioritise their people and their communication.
Hello Katrien, hi An! Let’s go back in time 21 years. What was the mission behind the founding of Square Circle in 2002?
Katrien: “Square Circle was started with the aim of engaging people to grow along with the changing context within their company. Communication and hr are the ideal levers for this. It is crucial in change to get managers and employees on board. If they do not get on board, the hoped-for change or transformation will not happen. What is the potential hidden in change? We help translate high-level plans into effective realisation on the work floor. Anno 2023, we are essentially doing the same as when we started: supporting our clients through change.”
An: “When getting to know Katrien in 2021, it quickly became clear to me that Square Circle’s mission is unique and still relevant. Today more than ever, there is a need to pay attention to the human factor in the business world. It is not processes that ensure that business objectives are achieved. It is exactly the other way round: people get companies moving and help them achieve results. As a result, a focus on communication and HR remains indispensable.”
Three different target groups can call on your expertise: large companies, SMEs and experts. Why this choice?
Katrien: “The division evolved organically from the companies that we have served over the past +20 years. After all, what we do is not limited to one type of company. Regardless of the size order, it pays to initiate and support change in a well-founded and human way.”
An: “True. We want to offer added value to the organisations that engage us. In large firms, for example, we see that support structures and processes are usually in place. The experts are also familiar with the matter. Yet both look to us for additional expertise or capacity and experience. SMEs, on the other hand, are more often somewhat lost. When a problem arises, we can make big differences with our experience already with small actions.”
Square Circle has a unique selling point. Can you explain the power of communication and HR?
Katrien: “Every business revolves around people, because every company wants to achieve results. You can’t achieve goals without people. From this point of view, you have everything to gain from your employees, from managers to executives, doing their jobs in the best possible way. Staff is not a machine; you don’t have a fitting solution that applies to everyone. It takes time and attention to get and keep people motivated. What drives them? What tools and resources are appropriate to activate those drivers? Square Circle combines the two domains that make that happen: communication and hr.”
An: “We offer the sum of communications expertise and HR practices, for us an obvious combination for success. But if we are to take our clients and our newest expert, Helena Schalenbourg, at their word, this is quite a special mix. For example, when we assist a company in announcing a new corporate structure or reorganisation, we not only provide the right messaging, but we look at the entire process for the announcement from the perspective of the executives and employees. We prepare the leadership to make the announcement in the most optimal way and to pay attention to aftercare. For example, when a team is downsized, the job is not done after the employees leave the company. Those left behind also go through a change process. This is something you need to pay attention to.”
If today you were allowed to plot the future, what do you wish for Square Circle? Feel free to dream!
Katrien: “Gosh! (laughs) That’s not an easy question to formulate an answer to. Or perhaps it is. I greatly appreciate it when clients we have supported in the past find their way back to us. I hope to build and maintain more of these strong collaborations in the future. My ambition: to remain top of mind with organisations and managers looking for a pragmatic approach to communication and HR-related issues.
In short, to continue to be a centre of expertise and a reliable sparring partner for professionals.”
An: “I agree, our guiding principle is always to be ‘a house of people and communication practices’. In addition, I am looking forward to turning the knowledge we are providing today into tools that can be used immediately. Right now, success sometimes depends on our presence, whereas our years of experience, sector know-how and people knowledge can be fused into hands-on solutions that any company with the same questions can apply. Without wanting to expose too much at the moment, we are in the process of building a support tool for change projects that customers will be able to deploy themselves during the process and work on this independently.”
The future is promising, that much is certain! Thanks for the instructive conversation, Katrien and An.
Do you want to steer your organisation smoothly through a process of change? Strengthen your teams or employees through tailor-made training courses? Contact us and receive additional information without obligation.
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Square Circle, the story behind the name
For our company name, we draw inspiration from Chinese mythology. There, a square symbolises the earth, where we are, and a circle symbolises the sublime, to which we aspire. Square Circle’s field of activity is the complicated but fascinating force field in between. How can we improve? What does it take to realise a better version of ourselves, our organisation and our teams?
by Katrien Decroos | Jun 8, 2023 | Communication, HR & People Solutions, Transformation
Anyone who has ever organised a party knows Sabam as the Belgian association of authors, composers and publishers that collects copyrights for the music you play. But Sabam is so much more than an administrative collector. On the eve of its 100th anniversary – in January 2022 – new CEO Steven De Keyser presented its future: to be a solid, transparent and reliable partner for authors and users. Helping turn that vision into reality is a daily task for Head of HR Sofie Vlaeminck and her team. They enlisted the help of Square Circle to help support this transition. We asked Sofie to share her experiences with us.
Square Circle: We help companies strengthen their teams and individuals, how have we at Sabam contributed to that?
Sofie: “Sabam is in a big transformation, we have a new CEO who has implemented a different organisational structure with some big shifts for the employees, with a number of employees also moving from an expert role to a leadership role. So we have relied primarily on your support to coach those people in their leadership growth. For them, you also organised a New Leader Assimilation workshop to strengthen the connection between the leader and the team. In addition, you also coached the sales team to introduce a more commercially focused way of working and mapped out a customer journey of our customers.”
Why did you look for our help?
“The transformation is of such magnitude that we quickly felt in our small HR department that we could use some support for this. For example, we also moved to a new, smaller building where only about 100 people can work at a time. So we introduced a new, hybrid way of working In addition, we also went through a year of social negotiations on salary costs. In short, we understood very quickly that we needed support to manage that change.
“The transformation is of such magnitude that we quickly felt in our small HR department that we could use some support for this.”
How have the trajectories gone? What is the feedback from the coachees?
“Very positive. You know, a number of our managers are people who, mainly from their expertise, got the chance to take on a managerial role at some point. But they are not used to people management, Partly thanks to your coaching, we now notice change. For example, a people manager who struggled to hold difficult conversations and until recently always called on our help for this, now does so on her own. There are also managers who are somewhat insecure by nature, but after the coaching they dare to bring up certain things, whereas before this always went through us. The common thread in all trajectories is that our leaders become more autonomous, that we are much less solicited to provide support in certain matters.”
“The common thread in all trajectories is that our leaders become more autonomous, that we are much less solicited to go and support in certain matters.”
What does Square Circle’s help mean for you as an HR team?
“Until recently, HR was the typical payroll HR service. But human resources and working with people did not receive enough attention. We are now trying to make that turnaround. That means mainly focusing on people development, and making sure you create a working environment that is pleasant and in which they have every opportunity to develop themselves. And we cannot do that all by ourselves. When we feel an employee needs more support than we can offer ourselves, we call in external support. Actually, coaching is a job in itself, so why not call in expertise – which may be external – but with people who really have the experience to help someone further in concrete terms? A coach who really works with people day in day out, and who also does this in other organisations, is going to be able to offer support much more from his own experience.”
“It’s actually a specific skill, coaching, so why not call on expertise – which may be external – but with people who really have that experience to help someone concretely move forward?”
How did the collaboration with Square Circle go? Was there anything noteworthy you’d like to share?
“We always started with an intake interview. And we immediately felt – that time was taken to ask questions from different angles so that we got to the heart of the problem. What we also like is that you can offer different profiles as coaches. Depending on the problem, we can then choose a coach who is the best match. We then put you in contact with the coachee, and if that clicks, you’re off. We don’t have to stay so close to it because we know it’s going well and if there would be something, you signal it. And most importantly, we also see results in people.”
“We shouldn’t stay so close to it because we know it is going well and if there would be something, you signal it.”
Would you recommend these cooperation to HR colleagues?
“Yes definitely. The added value is that you have a very broad spectrum of areas in which you can provide guidance. And that you are reliable: the agreements that are made are really kept. You are also open and transparent, so if at any point something is not going well, or if we come up with certain questions, you take the time to solve it.”
Are you, like Sofie Vlaeminck, looking for professional support in a transition within your company or team? We give you access to more than 25 years of
practical experience in HR and Communications. Want to meet to see what we can do for you? We do this while maintaining the strictest confidentiality. Book a no-obligation mini-consultation right away or contact us via our website.
by Katrien Decroos | Feb 14, 2023 | Risk & Crisis
Getting a company restructuring right requires a lot of knowledge and skill. Why exactly is it useful to call on external expertise? Katrien Decroos, Senior Communication Expert at Square Circle, asked Jo De Cock, currently Head of HR Western Europe at H.Essers. At two other companies, she coordinated a reorganisation with the guidance of Square Circle.
Katrien: Why did you find it necessary to engage Square Circle?
Jo: “I have experienced two reorganisations in recent years: a closure with collective redundancies where the Renault Act applied, and another case where several people were made redundant for economic reasons but there was no collective redundancy in the legal sense of the word. In both cases, we realised we needed external help in terms of communication and mapping out all the stakeholders and the actions you take towards them. As a team, you’ve been working on it behind the scenes for a while and then some things seem obvious, while to the employees or the outside world it might not be. That’s when you need someone to hold up a mirror to you and help you take a few steps back and revisit your story. And that’s how I ended up at Square Circle.”
What was the biggest challenge?
“The main question was: how do we best articulate this, taking into account the feelings of each person involved? And: ‘how do you bring a valid story to the press with a balance between the business and human side of the story‘?
After all, your story must make sense on all sides. Because what do people read in the newspaper? X number of jobs are disappearing, nothing more. In the media, the human part of the story is often underexposed. It is important to have that story co-written by someone who has not lived through the whole preparation phase and looks at it with a new perspective.
In the last case, Square Circle also helped to draft a letter to all employees appropriately: on the one hand, explaining why the company is taking such a decision and, on the other, stating that you sincerely realise that this is tough for the employees involved and their families.
In addition, the practical script and roadmap that Square Circle prepares are also incredibly valuable, in addition to the compact but very insightful training for executives.”
How did this roadmap help you?
“It helps to bring structure to the process. The Square Circle team consist of communication professionals and at the same time they know the legislation well and what steps to take.
The existence of such a roadmap that indicates from day to day and sometimes even hour to hour what actions you take to each stakeholder gives you a good grip on things as it can be quite hectic when you are in the midstof a difficult announcement and the weeks that follow. Square Circle has guided such crisis situations very often.
There were actions we didn’t think of, but which they pointed out to us based on their experience. The roadmap structures the communication and legal process in a very good way…”
Can you outline how stressful such a company reorganisation can be?
“An intention to close a part of the business and collectively dismiss employees is never announced lightly. The weeks before are therefore quite intense. The day of the announcement itself certainly causes stress: for the first time, you confront employees with an intention that will have dire consequences for them if the intention is confirmed. The realisation that a lot of employees may lose their jobs then comes in sharply. Even in those difficult circumstances, you want to handle things with the utmost respect for the staff. Square Circle has helped us here as well: ensuring that the whole process is done with the right empathy. You must be able to focus on people, which is not always obvious when you are in the middle of a process that also has very strict legal rules.
The role of the press is often problematic in reorganisations. How did that work out for you?
“Both HR and a few top management members have received training from Square Circle on how to deal with the press. That helps to stay in your own story and not get caught up in their questions. I would recommend such a training to anyone. It prepares you to make your own point in the very short time a journalist allows you and show the human side of the story.
How did the HR department experience Square Circle’s help?
“As an HR department, when there is a collective redundancy, you are very busy dealing with the unions, the information and consultation procedure and afterwards negotiating a social plan. Of course, an announcement that there is an intention to make collective redundancies affects all employees in a company. Managers are often as surprised as employees. Their employees then look to them for support and seek reassurance and clarity. The Square Circle training ‘Communication in Uncertain Times’ gave them a very good framework to handle this. It gave them insights into how people react to such news and how to deal with it as a manager. I received very positive feedback from the managers about training. It is valuable that the direct managers also have someone outside HR to take them by the hand for a moment and say: look, this is how you can make it a little easier for your people.”
More insights? Register here to our webinar ‘The do’s and don’ts of a successful communication’ on Tuesday 7 March 2023 or subscribe to our Newsletter and you will soon receive our E-book on this topic.
by Katrien Decroos | Dec 8, 2022 | All, Communication
Rudy Coenen joins the team of Katrien Decroos, An Dewaele and Ludovic Goethals with a communication expertise forged by 20 years of experience in leading companies in various sectors such as banking, insurance, asset management, the public sector, training, energy and associations.
With a career marked by diversity, Rudy has been able to embrace all the finer points of the professions linked to corporate communication. He has held several positions related to communication in a broad sense, up to the final responsibility of a communication department. He puts his know-how at the service of companies wishing to engage in a constructive dialogue with all their stakeholders.
At Square Circle, Rudy will use his talents to help companies facing changes and transformations to develop engaging and human communication with a particular focus on exchange, transparency and relational aspects. He will also actively participate in the communication training programme developed by Square Circle and by himself during his career.
Rudy Coenen: “What attracted me to Square Circle, apart from the solid expertise of the partners, was the integrated approach to Human Resources and Communication issues. Starting with a situation, a project or a need related to the human factor in the company, Square Circle will develop a complete solution that will encompass the typical HR or communication aspects in a totally integrated manner in line with the client’s needs. Such an approach is much more effective than the traditional approach where HR or communication experts or consultants go their separate ways”.
by Katrien Decroos | Nov 22, 2022 | All, Communication, HR & People Solutions
Square Circle, or the house of practical expertise in management, HR and communication, has been working closely with a business world in change for 20 years. From transformation projects, strong leadership and corporate culture, to crisis prevention and crisis management; they help realise the ambitions of tomorrow’s companies, each time using an integrated and practice-oriented approach.
Over the past 20 years, Square Circle has encountered the same needs at many companies: motivating employees to move ahead and convince them to tackle change in a constructive way.
“We often see that communication is only one aspect of the issue. People Management and HR are at least as important in the continuous changes a company faces,” Katrien Decroos points out. She herself has been advising organisations on managing their communication in business developments and transformation processes for more than 25 years, together with Ludo Goethals. Since the very beginning, both have formed the basis of Square Circle.
All too often, management has the idea that communication is simply words you utter top down. That a word creates a mental image is often forgotten. “We help management to speak a language with rational as well as emotional elements, because it is precisely the latter that gets people moving. Communication starts from people’s perception and should always be close to their own context,” says Ludo Goethals.
Square Circle consciously opts for a partnership and coaching approach and strives to provide real practical assistance and relieve the company where necessary.
At the same time, it takes time to get people and consequently whole companies moving. Often, management has been working on a specific change for a long time and employees cannot be expected to be as quick on the uptake. “Daring to show that taking time is really necessary is one of our challenges,” says Katrien Decroos.
A third partner joined in 2021. An Dewaele has been making a career in the HR sector for 30 years. “With An on board, we have an even broader base to help companies with an integrated expertise, where communication and HR come together,” indicates Ludo Goethals.
Companies knock on Square Circle’s door asking for guidance, not only in the event of major changes or when a crisis occurs, but also in positive trajectories.
An Dewaele: “The best way is to participate in a company’s project as a close partner. That way, we are not the consultants that bring the theory and then leave, instead by working hand in hand, the organisation learns and evolves and can then use the gained insights themselves going forward. In the future, we want to be able to remain a true sparring partner for the CEO or management of organisations more often. We already have this relationship with certain companies, but we are sure we can expand our role in this; we feel there is a need for it. More and more, we want to be the house where you can simply come in, where we listen to the issues, and then think and work flexibly with you on the basis of our expertise in HR and in communications. There is a noticeable evolution, a need and urge for a more integrated approach, and that is exactly what we can offer with Square Circle.”
Copyright text: HR Square
by Katrien Decroos | Nov 2, 2022 | All, Communication, Transformation
Victor has to announce some changes in his department. He has spent hours preparing 58 slides to explain the objectives, the new structure and the rationale for the change. In short, Victor is very satisfied with his presentation and so is his boss. On the announcement day, his employees listened to Victor. In a deafening silence.
Silence is the primary form of resistance
In the weeks that followed Victor continued to ‘defend’ his project. Always with the same words, the same ideas, the same concepts.
Six months later, the project is still not operational. Three employees have left. There are still gaps in the structure. Nothing is going well. The morale of the troops is close to zero. And Victor is seriously thinking of leaving the company too. ‘They don’t want to change’, he told his boss. ‘They don’t want to understand’. ‘They are resisting’.
Words and numbers
The presentation’s 3,400 words, 27 tables and graphs did not convince his employees. Worse still, they sowed doubt in the minds of the employees. Because the story Victor told was about him, the management and the company. Not them. They felt excluded from the project from the start.
On the very day of the presentation, the project took a nosedive. What followed was the chronicle of a predicted failure.
Victor did not know:
- That words create mental images, produced by our brain
- That only strong mental images, which resonate within us, make us ‘move’
- because they appeal to our reason but also to the emotion we feel
- That an emotion that is well experienced by employees opens the door to trust and commitment, a requirement for any change
- That the majority of ‘managerial’ words commonly used in communication during transformations do not succeed in convincing because of their lack of content and human feeling: in short, they do not create the mental images that will have an impact.
Convincing is about making words speak
Victor signed up for a ‘convincing through communication’ training course. He wants to learn how to use the words that will create the right mental images to engage employees in change. In other words, he wants to learn how to communicate for them and not for himself. He is ready to abandon his classic managerial lexicon which does not work, because it is meaningless for most people. Starting from what his employees feel, he will focus on the ‘real’ words, the mental images that speak and that will make his team evolve.
In short, Victor will learn to convince by communicating!
He has made it his mission to succeed in the next change mission. Because he has changed employer. And he has been given a major transformation project.
If you have to communicate in your professional life, wake up the Victor in you… you’ll be surprised by the result!
