Last Thursday, March 23, in Artis, Synergio received from the hands of founder of The Human Capital Company Diane Dros, the HERO Award; an award presented annually to companies that distinguish themselves in the field of Human Resources. The HERO Award distinguishes 3 categories: Individual, Team and Organization and Synergio is the winner in the Organization category. Some of the other nominees in this category were: MontisQ, Budget Home, LCR and Work 21.
As a consulting firm, Synergio helps companies improve their product development process to meet the challenges posed by today’s market. Synergio believes that the key to success lies in the combination of competent people, working together in optimal development processes, supported by the right software tools.
A beautiful belief, of course, but to gauge whether they are acting on it within their own company, managing partner Edwin Schumacher decided to have the company tested. He engaged The Human Capital Company for an audit. Edwin Schumacher talks about this journey that eventually led Synergio to the HERO Award.
Right mindset
“I see our team as a high performing team. For such a team to perform well, you have to put a lot of time and energy into it; something like that doesn’t come naturally. To demand high performance from your employees, you have to enable everyone to deliver it. Our consultants are regularly asked to peak their performance. As a team you have to be in good shape, be able to switch quickly together and have the ‘mindset’ and motivation to deliver a top performance.”
Pillars of the HERO Scan
“The Human Capital Company’s HERO Scan also looks at social cohesion and interaction, group dynamics and how people can work together. Working together is the only way to achieve a high performance result. A result we can be proud of together. The four items that I always have in the back of my mind and that also came up in the HERO Scan are: (1) good working conditions, (2) autonomy, (3) sense of purpose and (4) being able to be an expert in your field. Within this framework, things like sustainability, trust and security and information and expertise were also tested.”
Proud
“I am most proud of the fact that we score a fat 9 on trust and safety. For me, the fact that employees give this back is really what we do it for. After all, without mutual trust there is no relationship. And with your colleagues you also have a relationship. So trust for me is the foundation. The scan looks broadly at this item, in combination with safety, social and physical. For me it is a positive confirmation that this is solid at Synergio.”
Job satisfaction
“Also, we got an 8+ on ‘happiness.’ This section ties in very nicely with our workshop ‘How do you go from work pressure to job satisfaction?’ People laugh quite a lot within our company despite the sometimes high work pressure. I think this has to do with some autonomy within the team. For example, if one of our employees has to go to the doctor with a sick child, that always comes before work. Happiness is broader, of course, but to me our approach to job satisfaction fits well with what the HERO Award stands for.”
Tip for organizations also going for high performance teams
“Avoid striving for a kind of ‘one size fits all.’ Sure, men and women are equal, but they are not the same. And that goes for more differences. Listening well and making room for ‘different’ is the basis. No one is the same so avoid going for one solution that everyone has to be happy with. Short lines, personal attention, openness and seeing the person as a person, not an employee.”
