Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) is one of the world’s best design schools. Creative students from all over the world follow various bachelor’s and master’s programmes here. According to HR manager Evelyn Janssen, we are living in the ‘age of design’. Design helps you look at the world in a different way and come up with solutions. Evelyn will tell you what solutions they see at DAE in terms of employee engagement.
“Our team of 145 staff comprises education coordinators, workshop instructors, tutors and support staff in areas such as IT, HR, facilities, administration and communications, etc. Together, we aim to create the healthiest and most pleasant workplace possible, where we can all thrive. From an HR perspective, we ensure a socially safe environment where we can collaborate across multiple cultures.”
“To work together to create a workplace that is as healthy and pleasant as possible, where we can all thrive to the best of our ability. That is our main goal.”
“Teaching takes place on a different floor from where the support staff work. So, as well as doing different jobs, there is also a physical distance. That is why it is important to ask tutors what their needs are. We started using askemo to gather this feedback.”
“Firstly, gathering input isn’t enough, so we also use askemo as a conversation starter. We’ve recently learnt to work in shorter cycles. We don’t take the collected input straight to management first, but discuss it immediately within the team. If too much time passes between gathering the input and the evaluation, it fades into the background.”
“We’re not yet satisfied with the 30 to 40 per cent response rate. It does vary by department how actively staff provide input. We want to reach the teaching staff, but because they spend whole days in the classroom and often run their own practices on the side, we’ve unfortunately reached them less effectively than hoped. We’re now going to start asking four questions every other week, instead of one question twice a week.”
“We haven’t worked out all the finer details yet and will continue to evaluate the system with a diverse group. So far, the feedback has been positive. The support staff say it’s a handy tool that they can quickly fill in whilst on the lift. They just don’t find the design very appealing… haha.”
“What I noticed before was that dialogue mainly took place between managers. With a tool like askemo, you reach everyone, not just those who shout the loudest. Recently, I received a call from someone who was interested in potentially working with askemo. I told them I’m a fan for two reasons: its ease of use and the people who work there. They make all the difference to me and I have nothing but praise for them.”
