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An example from practice
When Epahs is asked to come and help, we always do so, on the basis of a question or problem. The same applies here ... we were called because a team was not functioning smoothly. There was a lot of frustration and efficiency & productivity were low.
How can we tackle this? How can we innovate our organisation? We want to be operational again with everyone on the same page, to go forward, ready for the future...
1. The starting position - what we found
Henk is an ambitious and task-oriented manager. He has been working for the company for 11 years now and is appreciated for his decisiveness. He has a clear goal in mind and does everything he can to achieve that goal. He is a real go-getter.
Henk has been the manager of the Company Office for six months. 15 people work on various administrative tasks. It is a close-knit team that regularly makes time for things other than work, such as Friday afternoon drinks. However, Henk is rarely present, he is too busy.
Last week Henk spoke to a software supplier, where a friend of his works. They have developed a great new accounting system. Henk is sensitive to this and decides to purchase this system. One of his considerations for purchasing it is the fact that the communication lines are nice and short as his friend works in the support department.
However, people in the office aren’t exactly jumping up and down for joy. The package that they have been using for 6 years is still fine! Okay, the ’look and feel‘ may not be entirely up-to-date but, apart from that, there's nothing wrong with it. However, Henk doesn’t feel the same about this, that ’old stuff‘ has to go. He is launching a project to implement the new software.
Three months later the time has come. The old system is turned off and with a ’big bang‘ scenario the new system is festively put into use. The team is sceptical ...
And (unfortunately) rightly so… The next day it was already concluded that the billing module is not linked to the CRM system. All relations from the CRM system will have to be entered manually in the accounting system. And we are not talking about keeping the particulars of the relations up-to-date. A lot of things also go wrong with regard to order processing. Hours worked are not always charged correctly, which means that the organisation is simply losing money.
Henk has been the manager of the Company Office for six months. 15 people work on various administrative tasks. It is a close-knit team that regularly makes time for things other than work, such as Friday afternoon drinks. However, Henk is rarely present, he is too busy.
Last week Henk spoke to a software supplier, where a friend of his works. They have developed a great new accounting system. Henk is sensitive to this and decides to purchase this system. One of his considerations for purchasing it is the fact that the communication lines are nice and short as his friend works in the support department.
However, people in the office aren’t exactly jumping up and down for joy. The package that they have been using for 6 years is still fine! Okay, the ’look and feel‘ may not be entirely up-to-date but, apart from that, there's nothing wrong with it. However, Henk doesn’t feel the same about this, that ’old stuff‘ has to go. He is launching a project to implement the new software.
Three months later the time has come. The old system is turned off and with a ’big bang‘ scenario the new system is festively put into use. The team is sceptical ...
And (unfortunately) rightly so… The next day it was already concluded that the billing module is not linked to the CRM system. All relations from the CRM system will have to be entered manually in the accounting system. And we are not talking about keeping the particulars of the relations up-to-date. A lot of things also go wrong with regard to order processing. Hours worked are not always charged correctly, which means that the organisation is simply losing money.
Symptoms:
The team complains bitterly. Due to these kinds of ’thoughtless‘ decisions, the workload of the team increases enormously. There is little sympathy for Henk. And the management is not happy either. They see their turnover decrease and have also learned that the new accounting system might be the cause of this.
Since going back to the old situation is unfortunately no longer an option, a new project is being set up by the management to optimize the administrative processes and associated resources. Henk has lost all support in the organisation and has started looking for a new challenge.
2. What is happening here?
EPAHS always investigates issues from the MIOO perspective. This is about People, Information Management, Organisation and Education. Our help was called in to see what could be done to be able to continue as a healthy organisation.
OUR ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION:
PEOPLE:
When we look at the human aspect, we note that Henk has little regard for the concerns and problems of the team. He operates solo, which means he loses commitment from the team. Ultimately his working method also leads to high costs and therefore less profit. The management of the organisation also loses confidence in Henk and attempts to clean up the mess. Henk leaves the organisation and leaves behind a team that experiences an unnecessarily high workload and a lot of frustration as a result of the introduction of the new accounting system.
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT:
The information aspect shows that the new accounting package was a rash and misguided purchase. Obviously good support is important, but the employees weren’t consulted about how they see the ideal accounting system.
There has been no consideration regarding user-friendliness, possible links with other applications (efficiency) and workability (effectiveness).
There has been no consideration regarding user-friendliness, possible links with other applications (efficiency) and workability (effectiveness).
ORGANISATION
From an organisational point of view, we can see that the wrong man was put in the wrong place. Henk is an authoritarian and dominant manager, while the team consists mainly of stable and conscientious people who go for quality and value some degree of autonomy. A team that should not be steered, but facilitated and coached by a leader with vision, insight and overview. Someone whose focus is on people and processes.
EDUCATION
When it comes to training you can ask yourself in this case to what extent did Henk have the knowledge and skills a manager of an administrative department requires. Training must be in line with the needs of people and the organisation. The question is to what extent could Henk have had the right education and training at his disposal to perform his work properly.
What is happening here?
In this organisation they had an awful lot of extra work as a result of making a rash and ill-considered choice.
For example, the administrative department had to work harder (the workload increased, resulting in higher absence), an actually unusable software package had been purchased and a new project was set up (unnecessary costs were incurred) and more errors were made (with a possible impact on the reputation of the organisation, as a result of which, customers would leave).
For example, the administrative department had to work harder (the workload increased, resulting in higher absence), an actually unusable software package had been purchased and a new project was set up (unnecessary costs were incurred) and more errors were made (with a possible impact on the reputation of the organisation, as a result of which, customers would leave).
3. The solution - What does Epahs recommend now?
EPAHS is different from other organisational consultancy firms. EPAHS is focussed on getting organisations ’into shape’. EPAHS helps organisations become future-proof! That’s why we have a lot of diverse in-house expertise that focusses on the pillars of MIOO (People, Information Management, Organisation and Education) and the integrality of these pillars! We believe that these pillars are inextricably linked!
About Epahs
Since 2016, Epahs has been the organisational consultancy firm that works with a unique, integrated approach, focussing on different areas within an organisation. With this in mind, Edwin Stolk started to build a network of professionals to optimize the performance of people & organisations. More efficiency, more effectiveness. We are here to help you grow as an entrepreneur. We create healthy business operations by integrally balancing the People (Mens), Information management (Informatiemanagement), Organisation (Organisatie) and Education (Ontwikkeling) focus areas referred to as the MIOO approach.
Do you want your team to grow? Become more profitable? Optimize business processes? Develop as a team or company? Innovate? We can provide a thorough investigation report within 3 weeks. This will clearly state the current and desired situation for your organisation in all 4 MIOO areas, from where we will start the roll out. No-nonsense, qualitative and completely customized for your organisation, so that your organisation becomes healthy again and will head into the future successfully.
Do you want your team to grow? Become more profitable? Optimize business processes? Develop as a team or company? Innovate? We can provide a thorough investigation report within 3 weeks. This will clearly state the current and desired situation for your organisation in all 4 MIOO areas, from where we will start the roll out. No-nonsense, qualitative and completely customized for your organisation, so that your organisation becomes healthy again and will head into the future successfully.
Do you want to know what Epahs can do for you?
Meet EPAHS
EPAHS is a team of experienced specialists. We have developed a unique formula that makes your organisation / company more successful, more sustainable, more profitable and more future-proof.
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Contact
Location Den Helder
Willemsoord 29a
1781 AS Den Helder
Location Alkmaar
Koelmalaan 350
Unit 0.07
1812 PS Alkmaar
Location Nijmegen
Stationsplein 26
6512 AB Nijmegen
T: 088 - 50 17 100
E: info@epahs.nl
Willemsoord 29a
1781 AS Den Helder
Location Alkmaar
Koelmalaan 350
Unit 0.07
1812 PS Alkmaar
Location Nijmegen
Stationsplein 26
6512 AB Nijmegen
T: 088 - 50 17 100
E: info@epahs.nl
Meet the team
EPAHS is here to help your organisation grow. We are the organisational consultancy firm that can rebalance all the areas of your organisation / company.
Meet our specialists
Meet our specialists