At Bufab Flos, managers have regained their overview

Everything was documented. But nothing actually happened.

Marie-José van Eck joined Bufab Flos just over four years ago, shortly after the merger of Flos and Bufab Benelux. The organisation was looking for a strategic partner, and the Managing Director wanted to bring people to the management team table. There are now around 140 people working in Eindhoven, representing ten nationalities, and with a social ethos that has always been there.

So it wasn’t a lack of attention to people that was the problem at Bufab. When Marie-José started in 2022, appraisals were already taking place: a performance review in June and an end-of-year review in December. The reports were drawn up in Word and filed away in the personnel file. “But of course, nothing changes this way,” she says. “There’s no automatic follow-up. The manager or the employee has to remember themselves: ‘Oh yes, we’d agreed something; we need to follow that up.’ In practice, of course, this didn’t happen. What she heard on the shop floor was: ‘I was promised a training course, but nothing’s happening.’

In the autumn of 2022, Bufab Flos began implementing a software package. This decision had already been taken before Marie-José joined the company. It was an improvement on Word, but in practice it ran into difficulties. The system was not intuitive: a manager who is also an employee had to switch between roles in a cumbersome manner, and HR was bombarded with questions about it. There was no real trigger for follow-up, and completed objectives simply disappeared from view, even though they are essential for continuing to hold productive discussions. Furthermore, the system lacked functionality. No AI support, no 9-grid. And if you wanted to make any changes, you had to go through the supplier.

Last year, she asked herself: “Do I carry on with something I hardly believe in myself anymore, or do I change course?” She changed course.

Chosen together with the managers, not before them

The impetus went beyond the software alone. Bufab Flos refined its leadership vision: working every day to improve your team. This is what the new generation – whom we are keen to attract as talent – demands, but our customers are also exacting when it comes to quality. ASML is perhaps the best-known example of this. This also led to the strategic policy: standardising, digitising and using AI wherever possible. “So you look for software that supports that,” says Marie-José. “From an HR perspective, you want to help your managers so that they and their teams can do their very best work. Because they have an incredible amount on their plates.”

Based on that vision, she set out the requirements she had for software to support her managers as effectively as possible. As it happened, she was already familiar with Treams, having once seen Iris speak at an event. And as luck would have it, there was already an ambassador within the company: a manager who had returned after ten months with another employer, where she’d worked with Treams. “She said: ‘That’s much better.’ And she was immediately much more actively involved with her team than the other managers.”

In the end, Bufab Flos opted for Treams in consultation with the General Manager of Operations, HR and the managers. It is perhaps this last group that is the most important: they are the people who need to believe in it and put it into practice.

From strategy to day-to-day operations

All levels of the organisation worked together during the implementation phase as well. We held a two-day workshop with our General Manager, HR and a manager. Marlie’s sessions were truly inspiring. “Interactive, informative and simply great fun. All three of us came home feeling full of inspiration on both days.”

For her, the added value lay in taking a step back. Not jumping straight into implementing new software, but really taking the time to consider: how does this fit in with our strategy? Who will be using this? How does this fit into our work? “That’s how you ultimately build a strong foundation. From there, it becomes much easier to translate this into individual objectives and day-to-day operations. Because people want to know: what’s in it for me?”

The two-day event was interactive, informative and simply great fun. All three of us came home feeling inspired on both days. Two days spent thinking about what we want to see as an organisation: we never normally have that luxury.

Just before going live, Bufab Flos organised a test afternoon with ten staff members from both the operations and office teams, led by Aafke and with a member of Treams’ technical team present. Minor, practical issues were dealt with straight away or noted down for improvement. “I could really sense the level of commitment. Those people already felt like ambassadors.” Finally, there was Lizanne’s in-depth session for all managers, split into two groups, each with its own unique dynamic. “Inspiring, and essential for really motivating the managers. Lizanne had a good sense of what was needed in both groups.”

Managers have regained their overview

On 15 June, Bufab Flos went live, deliberately just before the summer. Six weeks later, the tally stood at 360 targets, and 97 of the 122 meetings had either started or been completed. In the assembly department, all but two of the meetings had been held two weeks before the deadline.

The feedback she receives is overwhelmingly positive, particularly regarding the AI support. The best moment came from the Business Development Manager, who is responsible for the entire sales team and who used to get bogged down during the round of meetings every six months. “He came up to me with his laptop, absolutely thrilled: ‘This is brilliant – I’ve got my overview back. That’s what I do it for.’”

Managers have an incredible amount on their plate. That is precisely why AI is such a huge help: in setting goals and sub-goals, in summarising, and in recording meetings.

The biggest change lies behind the figures: it’s now up to the staff. Anyone who wants to develop takes ownership of their own progress, and managers are learning to let go of the need to plan everything in advance. Marie-José is already looking ahead to the next steps, such as the competency profiles and the skills matrix. “I’m fully confident that in a year’s time we’ll have so much more information that we’ll be able to make really significant progress.”