VRH (Veiligheidsregio Haaglanden)

How Plek helps VRH to increase connection amongst colleagues

At VRH, colleagues work in a variety of disciplines, spread across different locations and shifts, from office hours to irregular (shift) shifts. The challenge they were looking for a solution to was: How do you ensure that all colleagues - whether they work fixed office hours, are rarely in the office, have irregular shifts, or work as fire volunteers - stay connected? And how do you tackle internal communication when part of the organization is hardly ever at a computer, if at all?

• Daily fire brigade care and the fire brigade control room (Haaglanden Fire Brigade);
• Care continuity during events and crises (GHOR Haaglanden);
• Coordination of medical assistance (Ambulance Dispatch Centre).

Challenges and objectives

- Increase mutual connection: There was a desire from within the organisation to create more connection among employees with the organizations policy and values as well as with each other. In this way, VRH continuously strives for an efficient operation with satisfied employees who are committed to the organization.

Associated objectives: 

> To inform about the direction, policies, strategy and goals of VRH;
> Strengthen mutual connection: by making more visible what is going on in different
organisational units through news and other content;
> Celebrating success: increasing pride by having employees share (success) stories;
> Finding ways to connect colleagues from various organisational units on the basis of expertise, professional field and/or interests.

- Improve knowledge sharing around projects and agendas:  Many different projects are ongoing within VRH, often affecting multiple parts of the organization. A clear project overview with regular updates helps to ensure that the right colleagues are hooked up and aware of project activities. 

Objectives:

> Make employees more aware of what projects are going on in the organization;
> To provide insight into what events and events are planned;
> To make employees better aware of what their colleagues are doing;
> Give employees quicker insight into their own schedule.

- Improve staff insight and quality of knowledge: The intranet should be a social digital environment where knowledge as well as opinions, questions and wishes can be shared. This aims to increase the level of knowledge and make visible what is going on within the organisation.Objectives:

> To make work-related information more visible and findable;
> To give employees quick answers to their questions;
> To help prevent questions from others by being transparent
.

Solution

After an extensive tendering process, the VRH chose Plek's social intranet. Plek's user tests were positive, and furthermore Plek meets all (technical) requirements and fits perfectly with the VRH's organizational structure.

Increasing interconnectivity
Plek's social intranet offers a convenient combination of communication, information and space for own contribution. When designing the platform, emphasis was placed on the availability of the right information per target group. Whether it's an employee in one of the barracks looking for the right document, a colleague in the office wanting to read the latest news, or the new shift schedule being shared, the intuitive mix of information provides a relevant platform for the entire organisation. 

Besides displaying information, it is possible for any user to share a message and respond to colleagues' messages (depending on roles/rights within the platform). This allows employees to seek interaction themselves, whenever they feel the need, within set guidelines and without missing important information.

Improve knowledge sharing around projects and agendas
With so many different types of content, it is important that the social intranet always remains clear. Clear with the most up-to-date news items, relevant information or, for example, the most up-to-date telephone numbers. 

In the menu, users navigate easily to get to the right information, a clear structure ensures that information is easy to find. The modules use taxonomy filters to let users easily categorise information. When it is not immediately clear where information can be found on the platform, Plek's search function helps to find colleagues what they are looking for.

Improve staff insight and quality of knowledge
How the platform is used, which information is most searched for, and much more data are collected in Plek's statistics module. The statistics give a complete picture of how the platform is used and how information/messages perform. By looking at the statistics over a longer period, the communication department is now able to report the results of their internal communication.

Implementation

Prior to the project, extensive consideration was given to the organizational wishes and needs for a new social intranet. Because this was clearly mapped out beforehand, the implementation process was gradual. In the Plek project team, clear divisions of roles were made so that it was clear to VRH who was responsible for which part. For instance, process-related questions could be discussed with the project manager, while technical questions went straight to the integration specialist.

During the implementation process, extensive consideration was given to Plek's functional start page on the desktop. Its aim is to give users an immediate overview of what is going on in the organisation and let them easily navigate to the information. This is done through quick links and buttons that redirect to the appropriate information page, among other things. In the future, it is planned to have a similar view for users in the mobile app.

Results and benefits

Since its launch in 2019, the intranet has played a central role at VRH. The platform provides mutual connection and encourages employee involvement in what is happening in the organisation. By now, at least 75% of all colleagues and volunteers check the platform weekly or more. 

The fact that employees feel free to post their own messages can be seen from the very active use of a number of user groups. For instance, colleagues can share joys and sorrows with each other and the operational department, for instance, also uses Plek to share current content information. Partly because of this, the platform can add value to everyone.

Do you also want to improve communication and connection within (and between) your teams? Find out how Plek can transform your organization: contact us today for a demo and experience the benefits for yourself!

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