Suzanne feels that ensuring a healthy and pleasant working climate is the responsibility of every employer. 'Personnel is a valuable commodity. You must look after them. This is a very topical theme. For every employer, it is important to do something in this respect. Create a culture in which you all work together on ensuring a pleasant atmosphere, in which people are healthy and energetic and where you can talk openly to each other.'
Production company
Nyloplast is a real production company. This involves a specific culture. 'We have an organisational culture with hard-working, motivated people who are totally committed to their work. But, because of this no-nonsense culture, we may be less aware of how people are feeling. We want to monitor that more. How are things going? How are you doing? How do your feel about your work at the moment?’
Suzanne feels the Action Team Good and Healthy Working is a good way to do that. 'The project has a head and a tail. In four to six months, you plan actions and work together, in a way that is appropriate to your organization. We have more working groups with employees in our organization, but this allows you to step outside the daily routine. With support, you look at certain situations. What are we satisfied with? What could be done differently?
‘Personnel is a valuable commodity. You should be careful with that. It's a very actual theme. For every employer it is important to take action on this. Create a culture in which you work together to create a pleasant atmosphere, in which people feel vital and have open conversations with each other.’
Vacancy
'For our action team, we approached people with very different roles and positions in the company. A board member, but also Works Council members and of course people from the work floor. We also advertised a vacancy. That meant that anyone from the organization could apply. Because we can determine who contributes ideas, but employees may think differently. We had some nice responses. The action team works well. You stimulate ideas and everyone sees what they can do in the process.'
Less task-oriented
As an example, she mentions expressing appreciation. 'It is very much part of our culture to immediately get started on a rush order. The idea of don't discuss, just do. Which is great. But it's even better if you tell each other that you appreciate what they are doing. A production company tends to focus on the task. But sometimes you need to step away from that task orientation. Saying that makes all the difference.'
Suzanne feels that a good and positive working climate is also a condition for sustainable employability. 'Many people have worked here for a long time. We value that and are proud of it. But the retirement age is rising. We want to ensure that our people are healthy and enjoy their work. As an organization, we must facilitate that. By working together on a positive working climate, we can achieve that.'
