Testimonial Erwin Tichem AA Partner WEA Gouda

Erwin Tichem on the JobAligner Work Happiness App

We're an office of about 40 people working in business financial services, fairly evenly split between men and women. With an average age of about 42, all generations are represented, from the youngsters to the experienced colleagues. 

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First experiences with the Work Happiness App

During our New Year's gathering, we announced the partnership with JobAligner and demonstrated the app. What struck me immediately was the positive, and among younger employees even enthusiastic, reception. Having your own community app is very modern, and people saw it as proof of good employership. A colleague said: "attention is being given in a fun way, not old-fashioned. I can show this to my friends and I'm going to try to bring them to WEA Accountants & Advisors". As you know, there's a big shortage of well-trained staff.

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The JobAligner app helps us present ourselves as a modern employer. I've also experienced this in job interviews. Candidates respond positively, and it helps me stand out.

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What makes JobAligner stand out?

There are many more HR tools and employee satisfaction apps, but as far as I know none of them give structured, weekly attention to the essential Work Happiness themes. The same goes for the integration of our own community and our DNA blueprint. Just as important, in my view, is the clear overview analysis of the personal data. The same applies to the practical leadership programs, which let us easily implement changes - and that's what matters to our employees. Everything is integrated into one app, which is also delivered in our corporate identity. 

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And these were the main considerations for us in choosing to partner with you. Giving structured attention to Work Happiness. The regularity of a few questions on various themes every week works well for us. Answering the questions takes little time. Employees experience the themes as meaningful and relevant. The questions are answered well. 

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The information I get is very meaningful. The big advantage is that I can take action immediately. 

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Examples

• An employee with a Polish background doesn't have a strong command of Dutch. When asked in a work happiness question whether she knows her own talents, she answered: “No”. We talked to her right away, and it turned out she lacked confidence in her Dutch language skills to speak with clients. We offered her a specific Dutch speaking-skills course. Result: we're happy and grateful, she's happy because she can now independently handle more advanced work herself. Our colleagues are also satisfied, because they see that we're willing to invest in personal development, including individually tailored support.
• A young accountant felt the feedback from a manager was insufficient. We spoke with both the manager and the employee. As a result, both adjusted slightly and now work together even better. I found this a strong example of the app's value myself.
• The app also provides direct information about how guidance is experienced. For instance, a young employee we'd really like to retain spoke up about receiving mediocre guidance from a colleague. Here too, we sat down with both employees. There was immediately more mutual understanding because things were voiced through the app. I'm glad about this, because it benefits our entire organization.

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Work Happiness Module DNA

The JobAligner app also contains our core values, mission, vision, as well as the essential rules of our code of conduct. New employees immediately understand who we are, what we do, what we stand for and what's expected of them. Because all our employees are featured with photos and short self-written descriptions, new employees quickly feel at home with us.

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Conclusion

• Our employees see the partnership with JobAligner as good employership.
• The JobAligner app gives structured attention to essential Work Happiness themes.
• It lets me take action right away.
• Our why, mission, vision and core values are clearly communicated.
• Younger employees especially love the community. They post easily and quickly. There are posts about team invitations, sports matches, polls about organizing a ski trip, and things like that. It works well!

All in all, I'm a very satisfied user, Menco. Not a second of regret, and my fellow directors are satisfied too.

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My expectation is that by the end of this year we'll have better performance on personnel policy, which in turn will nicely improve our financial results as well.

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