Employee Experience at Randstad: ‘Letting Go of Old Habits and Learning New Ones’

Randstad Group Netherlands started its employee experience (EX) journey four years ago. Heleen Mes, an expert in the field, spoke with Andrea Pierik, Lead Employee Experience and Chief Portfolio Officer HR, about her experiences.

In 2020, Randstad Group Netherlands (including Randstad, Tempo-Team, Yacht, and BMC) began revamping the employee journey. “HR had been traditionally organized in previous years, with departments like Learning, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, and Reward,” says Andrea Pierik. “We realized that the quality of the products and services we delivered could be improved because each team operated within its own ‘bubble.’ This led to siloed services that sometimes didn’t quite align with the organization’s needs.”

Better Utilization of Valuable Data

Randstad Group decided to renew the employee journey by focusing on the needs of the end user (employees and managers). “Additionally, we had valuable data that we could utilize much better. In our search for a different way of working and to realize our ambitions, we decided to place this under the umbrella of ’employee experience (EX).'”

More Enjoyment at Work

In 2020—during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic—the shift from traditional HR to employee experience began. The exact destination was unclear, but ‘the path emerged by walking it.’ “We clustered all HR expertise and hours previously dedicated to development projects into three large teams centered around the employee journey,” Pierik explains.

“Contributing to issues outside their own expertise was enriching for colleagues and added significant value. Growing in your work leads to a lot of job satisfaction. Daily operational tasks, such as organizing training, continued as usual and were kept outside these new teams.”

Internal Collaboration

Recently, the three teams were merged into one smaller team of fewer people (now 12), but the total number of hours dedicated to change issues was maintained. Team members spend about 50% of their time working in the EX team. “Planning has improved due to the differences in the required and available capacity for each issue.

HR business partners are key stakeholders but do not have a fixed place in the EX team. Additionally, we determine who else, beyond HR, is needed for each change issue, such as internal communications, IT, and sometimes Facility Management, Legal, or Finance.”

Effective Onboarding Processes

Randstad aims to be the most equitable and specialized talent company worldwide. “So, we also work on a good employee experience for talents who work for our clients via Randstad. We do this by focusing on aspects like well-being and working with clients to ensure effective onboarding processes,” Pierik says. “Within Randstad Group Netherlands, we have a large HR team dedicated specifically to these target groups.”

Design Thinking

The shift to working in journeys was a learning challenge, according to Pierik. The new EX teams received training in agile working and scrum at the outset and were supported by agile coaches during the first three months. Agile is a way of thinking, working, and organizing that revolves around adaptability.

Additionally, some team members were trained in design thinking, a method used to solve problems. This methodology defines problems based on human needs. “We had to let go of old habits and learn new ones. We apply all our knowledge—sometimes in small ways, sometimes extensively. The team can still call on an internal coach for support.”

Prioritizing Based on Value

When setting priorities, Randstad considers the value for the employee experience. What is the value of the issue for employees and managers? What is the value for the business? How large is the group that will benefit? Is it urgent? How long will it take?

The answers to these questions determine what gets tackled and what doesn’t. “We’ve learned to better scope an issue. Progress is made in small steps, and with proper scoping, you can contain it. This way, you can better involve stakeholders, clearly define the target group, and know who needs to do what.”

Dialogue

Randstad conducts an employee survey four times a year. At one point, it was conducted monthly, but that proved too frequent. Besides the survey, Randstad also conducts in-depth research to better understand the outcomes. Additionally, insights are gathered from exit surveys and Workday (the HR management system). “We share insights with each other, for instance, in talent acquisition: where do people come in, and where do they drop off?”

Pierik adds, “About 6 to 10 times a year, we conduct research in our employee community, which includes about 300 colleagues, in collaboration with InnerVoice. Here, we ask specific questions that the EX team wants to know more about. The 300 colleagues engage in an anonymous dialogue and respond to each other.

We, as the EX team, do not participate in this dialogue but receive a report afterward. Based on this, we sometimes ask follow-up questions, to which the group can respond again. For example, we asked, ‘How can we make the value of your benefits package more interesting?’ This question led to the option to choose three holidays freely and the ability to use bonuses to save for a sabbatical.”

Business Outcomes

Measuring the business outcomes of employee experience proves challenging. Innovating the employee journey does not directly guarantee lower turnover or absenteeism. “Hard results depend on multiple factors. And how do you prove that a specific result was due to one particular intervention? On the other hand, the experience of a certain intervention is easier to measure, and we do that. EX also needs time to prove itself,” says Pierik.

Out of the HR Tower

Over the past four years, Randstad has made significant progress. The employee journey was the starting point, but employee experience is only part of the story. “We’re now delving deeper into the business and asking, ‘What is your challenge, and how can we contribute?’ HR is increasingly becoming a part of the overall performance of the organization.

Our approach remains the same: we truly listen to end users and develop solutions together. We offer tailor-made solutions specifically tailored to the target group. We’re now improving our tools—not always new ones, but sometimes by reviving existing solutions. A different approach or an additional element often turns out to be just what’s needed. We would never have achieved this by sticking to organization-wide solutions.”

Advice: Listen Better

Pierik’s advice to organizations wanting to start with employee experience is clear: “Start tomorrow by listening more intensively and better to your employees. You don’t need to be an expert in agile, scrum, or design thinking to do this. Ask employees and management, ‘What do you need? What will help you?’ This already provides so many valuable insights.”