Evelien Westra

HR Manager, Tanis

How the collaboration with How Company started
Päivi took the Personal Excellence in Human Resources, the HR variation on the Communication For Excellence, and advised her colleagues in the management team to follow an open program. For Päivi it was clear where the hidden potential lay in the organization. "The middle management level was finding it difficult to translate the needs and issues of their team members up to Higher Management, and vice versa." She decided to tackle the issue with an in-company How Company program."
Themes:
  • Personal leadership
  • Communication
  • Custom made programs
The openness that this created has made it clear to everyone that we are all working towards the goal, and that we can address each other about whatever issues need discussing. It’s a real relief.
Approach
As the members of the management team had each followed separate workshops it seemed logical to gather a larger group. The idea was that people would be able to share more with each other, and everyone would be talking the same language. In April 2014 De L’Europe sent 20 middle mangers to a 2-day program focused on communication, and personal responsibility and expectation management.
Result
People are now working together much more smoothly, and the new tools gave middle management a real boost. “On a customer service level they are now able to achieve a great deal more, and have also become more effective in their role as link between the teams and senior management. What I’m hearing is that they’ve also got to know things about each other that they didn’t know before the program, which has created a lot more understanding. Speaking for herself, Päivi says that when team members run into a problem, she is more able to point them in the direction of a solution, and things happen and get resolved much faster. "The great thing about How Company is that although the approach is business, the program touches and effects you personally. They have a simple, understandable way of working that opens your eyes in many ways about yourself."
About Hotel De L'Europe
Hotel de L'Europe is a five-star hotel located on the Amstel river in the centre of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Hotel de L'Europe is situated opposite and overlooking the Munt, where the river Amstel flows into the Rokin canal. The 19th-century hotel became an official monument(rijksmonument) in 2001. Since 2012 the hotel houses 1 Michelin star with its restaurant Bord'eau.
www.leurope.nl