Company bio
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 courses here. According to HR manager Evelyn Janssen, we live in the ‘ century of design ‘. Design helps you look at the world in a different way and come up with solutions. Evelyn will share the solutions she sees at DAE in the context of employee engagement.
“With a tool like askemo you reach all employees, not just those who shout the loudest.”
Evelyn, the best design education. How do you keep such a company running?
“The group of 145 employees consists of education coordinators, workshop instructors, tutors and employees in support services such as ICT, HR, facilities, administration and communication, etc. Together we aim to create the healthiest and most pleasant workplace possible where everyone can thrive to the best of their abilities. In HR we ensure a socially safe environment where multiple cultures can collaborate effectively.”
"Creating the healthiest and most pleasant workplace possible together, where everyone can thrive to the best of their abilities. That is our main goal."
Then HR has a lot on its plate..
“The education takes place on a different floor than where the support staff works. In addition to the fact that we do different work, there is also a physical distance. It is therefore important that tutors are asked what their needs are. We started askemo to gather this input.”
Over a year later, Where are the learning moments?
“First of all, collecting input is not enough and we also use askemo as a conversation starter. We’ve learned recently to operate in shorter cycles. Instead of first presenting the gathered input to the management, we discuss it immediately within the team. If there is too much time between the collected input and the evaluation, it fades into the background.”
And so everyone contributes…
“We are not yet satisfied with the response rate of 30 to 40 percent. The level of engagement varies across departments in terms of how actively employees provide input. We aim to reach teaching staff, but due to their full days in the classroom and often managing their own practices, unfortunately, we reached them less effectively than hoped. We are now planning to shift to asking four questions every other week instead of twice a week.”
How do you stay alert to engagement?
“We haven’t worked out all the details yet and will continue to evaluate with a diverse group. So far, the responses have been positive. Support staff indicate that it’s a useful tool they can quickly complete in the elevator. They just don’t find the design that appealing… haha.”
What has changed for you since askemo?
“What I noticed before is that the dialogue mainly took place among managers. With a tool like askemo, you reach everyone, not just those who speak the loudest. I recently received a call from someone who potentially wanted to work with askemo. I told them I’m a fan for two reasons: the ease of use and the people who work there. They make the difference for me, I have nothing but praise for them.”
Like Evelyn, are you also looking for an automated, accessible way to gain more insight into what is going on with your employees?
In less than half an hour we will show you askemo during an online introduction to one of our other Feedback Experts.
Schedule your introduction now!