DSM Manufacturing Center

Zhimble helped DSM in Geleen, with 12 plants and a decentralized services unit, to overcome the negative effects of a major reorganization en to regain top performance on the basis of a healthy cooperation and culture.

Description

At the end of 2006 DSM Geleen was coming out of a classic top-down reorganisation. Four hundred and fifty employees changed roles and were placed in a new, decentralized, services unit. There was no place for over three hundred other people. The reorganization was executed cleanly and forcibly with a strong focus on work processes, methods and systems that were thought out centrally. The intended result, a strong reduction in costs, was achieved according to plan.

After the reorganization, a downside of this approach became apparent. An atmosphere of discouragement had developed, there was very little initiative for improvements, plants and the central service unit were clashing head-on, people lived in the past and departments worked as silo's and not client-focussed. Safety performance went down and plants were dissatisfied with the effectiveness of maintenance and projects.

DSM asked Zhimble to support them in creating a culture based on cooperation, proactivity and empowerment, aimed at improving the operations of the Geleen site.

Results

A different game: “From top to bottom, from leadership team to workfloor, Zhimble has made our people realise that the ball is in our court. All If's and But's were transformed to 'what am I going to do about this and which responsibility will I take for it?'. They have jumped started the organization again." Peter Groenen, Director Sitech, Geleen

Leadership: “Zhimble has helped us focus time and again on what it is we want to achieve. They keep asking about the goal, what it looks like, etc. This helped (helps) focus difficult discussions on the end result, which enabled us to achieve that as well. Through this result focus we also dared to have conflicts, which made us perform better as a team." Rene Slaghek, Director Manufacturing Services Sitech.

Teamwork: “Something like a fine screen has disappeared, a kind of play that unconsciously we performed towards each other every now and then. It was not always real. We have moved one layer deeper in how we act as a team, and as a person, in working together." Rene Slaghek, Director Manufacturing Services Sitech.

Responsibility: “It is very easy to say that we want to be results focussed or work safely, but the folks from Zhimble kept digging until you really reached your own boundaries of "what is it that I really want?". Then you make a step in your development that causes you to do things differently." Astrid Mimmel, HR Director Sitech.

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