Increasing productivity SME, 12 employees.
Stress generated by difficult working conditions (open landscape) causes a backlog in files, demotivation, complaints from customers
- The office is unstable, good employees are leaving.
- High costs of new hires.
- Office is not ready to evolve.
- Danger of losing customers.
- Negative spiral
ANALYSIS
- Average time lost due to inability to concentrate is calculated at 2 hours/day/6 employees. 2,760 hours on an annual basis (= 1.6 FTE)
- Disruption caused not only by open landscape but also a notary who is constantly coming in and interrupting employees.
- File backlog for 2 employees is also linked to poor knowledge of the software. Additional loss of time of 8 hours per month/person
- No dialogue to vent personal concerns, this is not part of the “culture” of the office.
- Managing Director not aware of the difficulties and frustrations of employees.
APPROACH
- Socio-Economic Approach to Management (SEAM) for SMEs.
Structured “focus time” for all employees introduced by the colleagues themselves.
- Employees can work undisturbed for several blocks of 3 hours a week.
- Colleagues also make clear agreements of rights and obligations for using focus time
- Introduction of daily structured check-in moments for discussion of files and personal matters, in consultation with employees.
- Managing Director no longer interrupts.
- Communication and feedback are stimulated
- Training “in house” by the best software expert
RESULTS
- Measurement after 8 months
- 70% lost time has been regained (1,932 hours/year = 1.1 FTE).
- General stress is gone, employees feel a noticeable improvement in their working conditions and job satisfaction.The notary experiences the positive aspects of the dialogue.
- Difficult files are now also handled during focus time, fewer errors and faster processing (customer satisfaction).
- There is more attention for the quality of the files and a more anticipatory approach is taken.
Employees are now involved in defining problems and solutions.
Work is being done in a more structured way, which makes things calmer at the office