Evangelische Omroep (EO)

With the belief that development is becoming increasingly important, Evangelische Omroep (EO) has facilitated the transition from traditional assessment culture to development culture. Through training sessions from GrowQu and the performance management tool from TruQu, the media company stimulates a growth mindset for each employee and they invest more in development and less in control. Employees are given control and are the starting point.

Evangelische Omroep contributes to the pluralism within the public system by telling stories about God and following Jesus. With content for different target groups, they make their own Christian sound.

EO’s professionals used to work with an assessment cycle that consisted of a planning interview, a progress interview and at the end an assessment interview. The characteristic of this cycle was that the manager was always the starting point. Only the manager had access to the system and filled in the result agreements. The employee review was one-way traffic.

There was a need for change. Freek van Slooten, head of HR, explains how this came about. “The main reason for this need is that we increasingly believe that everything around us is changing. The media landscape and technology. What doesn’t change? Continued development has become so relevant. You have to set up your system and your cycle accordingly. And, offer the right tools for this. Invest more in development, less in control.”

Evangelische Omroep decided to organize a kick-off with behavioral scientist and most requested speaker Ben Tiggelaar. “We wanted to do that to show our colleagues that by taking small steps, by asking for the right support and by organizing good feedback, you can get started with your own development,” says Freek. “To prepare everyone for this new way of working.”

The director also spoke during the kick-off and spoke from his own experience about the benefits of feedback and change in his own development process. In order to involve everyone in the change and to discover the new way of working, training courses from GrowQu were started immediately after the kick-off.

GrowQu is a specialist in providing feedback training and shaping a development culture. As an implementation partner of TruQu, GrowQu uses the software of TruQu as a means to easily use feedback in organizations. During the training sessions, given by Martijn Lodder, employees receive their personal login details from TruQu in order to immediately discover the power of feedback.

But, according to Freek, such rules should be unnecessary. “I actually think that asking for feedback should be part of the way you work. That it is a natural way of looking at your work. Who do I ask for feedback? What am I asking for? To which goals am I going to link this? You want to evaluate this immediately after a project.”

However, the first phase is more focused on cultural change. “I mainly want to use this phase to let people within the EO feel how nice it is to get feedback. That people think about how you did something. What can you do better next time? In the next phase we will look at how we can actually make feedback a part of the natural way of working.”

The new cycle has formed, employees are actively and enthusiastically working with TruQu’s performance management tool to chart their development, goals have been set and employees have become the starting point. The manager can still make adjustments, but the employees get more control within the media company. The cycle has been fully completed, thanks in part to the training sessions.

According to Freek, it is important to listen to where you stand as an organization at the moment and what is needed to reach your talents, employees and your potential even further. “In addition, you also have many people who would like it, but don’t dare. If you say that your organization is ready and you want to develop your talents and potential, then you should just do it. If you let go of control and give confidence, you will get a lot more in return.”

“Do not use the tool as an approach route,” is what Freek says emphatically. “TruQu is not the goal, but the means. I hope that people will talk to each other and take control of their own development. That they get better and that you also make the organization better. That is the goal for me. It’s about the mindset you have. Martijn’s familiar words: the growth mindset.”

The second pitfall that Freek wants to protect other organizations from is not to make it an “HR thing”. “You have to make sure that it becomes something that you as an organization can say that you are ready for. You think this is important and you will organize this together. And, HR certainly helps in that, but it belongs to the organization. It should help managers make the conversation with their employees deeper and better. It must help employees take control of their own development and it must help management to set goals.”

To promote continuity, Freek schedules sessions and meetings with the HR team. “Everyone chooses one development goal for themselves that they will name during the team meeting. This is my goal, which I have set for this reason, and I need you for this.

You share common knowledge and responsibility with regard to achieving those development goals. You can help each other with this. This is a way of how you can give it a place in your team.”

The GrowQu trainings are now given to new employees every two months to make the way of working accessible to everyone. This way it remains a continuous process. “If we do a training once every two months, with GrowQu, you take the people with you,” says the head of HR.

The Evangelische Omroep experienced the training as valuable. Freek concludes: “It fits well with the organization. Martijn is enthusiastic, he believes in what he is doing and knows how to move easily in the organization and learn to speak the language of the organization.”