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Vorsselmans

Customer case

Sector: construction

When Mark Vorsselmans took over the facade construction company from his father, he was determined to further expand and develop the company. He managed to do this quite successfully: turnover increased, the number of employees rose steadily, an impressive new office building was erected, the number of projects increased, both nationally and internationally, ...

Client requirement

Nevertheless, after a few years it became clear that the organisation was losing momentum. Continued growth became an issue and there were signs of ‘growing pains’. Because a solution was not immediately available internally, Moore Belgium's consultants were called in to carry out an analysis: what were the potential causes of this obstacle to further growth and (above all) which remedies were available to deal with it? The analysis was based on interviews with key figures within the company, site visits and observations.

One of the main reasons that stood out was related to the organisation structure. A traditional (widely used) hierarchical structure was in place: a number of employees reported to managers, who in turn reported to the CEO, etc. Each department was given its own specific objectives with corresponding incentives.

Approach

And that's exactly where the problem was found. As each department/manager focused mainly on their own tasks and responsibilities, local optimisation was pursued in the various departments, ultimately leading to a lack of global optimisation. The focus tended to be on internal matters rather than on the customer. To remedy this a change process was set in motion, focusing mainly on processes and their progress, and no longer on departments.

Successive processes were mapped out. Stakeholders discussed in detail the input and output of each process, how they were linked, the exact transition modes for the transfer between internal supplier and customer, which tasks needed to be completed, which resources were needed and who was responsible for the successful functioning of the process. In the end, a consensus was reached concerning this operating method, which resulted in an impressive process schedule that was displayed in the meeting room for everyone to see.

Results

To measure the extent to which process thinking was embedded within the organisation, a series of KPIs were drawn up, which specifically monitored the transition from department to process-oriented organisation. The exact content of each of these indicators was defined, as well as who implemented measurements or assessments and what the targeted objective or trend to be achieved was. This KPI table was discussed during monthly management meetings and appropriate measures were taken where necessary. Several months on, it is safe to say the employee "mindset" has switched from department to process-oriented thinking. The organisation is now ready for further growth and initial signs pointing in that direction are already noticeable. The organisation’s successful further growth has been initiated!