How is TomTom Preparing Itself For The ‘Post-corona World?

Employers and workers have skilled that distant working upped productiveness and, on the similar time, improved the work-life stability. Additionally because of the world pandemic, the world noticed a big lower (common of 21 per cent) in congestion, and an astonishing 28 per cent common lower in congestion throughout rush hours. What does this imply for the way forward for work as soon as we return to regular? Will we fall into outdated routines, or have we discovered one thing from this massive experiment?

BW Businessworld determined onto digging deeper on this side and therefore bought on-board Arne-Christian van der Tang, CHRO, TomTom who additional defined what he and his crew have learnt from the massive working from residence experiment, and from inner surveys throughout the pandemic.

Additional, he shall even be explaining as to how it will assist put an finish to hurry hour, as they supply their workers the final word freedom to resolve in the event that they wish to do business from home, from the workplace, or from a mixture of the 2 – with full flexibility day-to-day.  

1. Why is TomTom implementing an activity-based working technique?

The world TomTom’s driving in the direction of will probably be a safer, cleaner, congestion-free world. That’s what strikes us daily. That’s why we do what we do. As a corporation, we constantly pay attention, be taught and alter our methods of working to create the very best surroundings doable to allow workers to create the revolutionary applied sciences that can form tomorrow’s mobility.  

We’ve had a robust office-based tradition. Most of our workers had been used to working from the workplace 4 or 5 days every week. Security all the time comes first with TomTom, so our workers switched to distant working for the reason that begin of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a world expertise firm individuals had been already used to collaborating throughout a number of places and time zones, so working from residence didn’t impression our companies, and we stored the identical degree of productiveness.  

Actually, our worker survey revealed that the majority of our colleagues valued the time they saved with out having to commute, they usually skilled, regardless of challenges like educating youngsters at residence, a greater work-life stability. However in addition they missed socializing with colleagues and dealing collectively in actual life.

General, we’ve discovered that work location was much less vital than we thought it was. So, we’re making ready for a post-corona world the place we will mix the very best of each worlds. A world the place alternative and suppleness are key.

We began contemplating activity-based working technique to profit productiveness and the surroundings. Pondering of it as much less of a band help and extra of a long-term resolution. That long-term resolution is freedom on the place we work. This encourages us to ask ourselves whether or not we actually should be within the workplace – the commute there and again equals numerous preventable emissions. 

That’s why we’re launching our new activity-based working technique, named Working at TomTom. Impressed by suggestions from TomTom’ers, it permits us to decide on the place we work – at residence or within the workplace – relying on the duty at hand. 

2. How will TomTom combine the brand new means of working and handle challenges which come up from it?

Like with any large-scale transformation, we’re approaching it step-by step, studying and adjusting as we go. 

The very first thing we did was to arrange ourselves round completely different areas of experience, specializing in maximizing the advantages of the worker journey and expertise. From the brand new that means of the workplace, the rising significance of the house workspace, the implication on our digitals instruments or making certain safety, to the brand new abilities we would wish to develop. We’ve requested ourselves one million completely different questions, many instances over.

We went by way of intense design pondering sprints, inventing and re-inventing doable options, contemplating the completely different wants personas now we have internally could have, to unravel the potential challenges forward and maximize the advantages of the brand new methods of working. We additionally created a various consumer voice group that assist us to validate preliminary findings or point out us to return to the drafting board. It’s vital for us to ask for suggestions. 

The one means we’ll profit from this transformation is to have our individuals as part of the change. 

TomTom is going by way of one in all our most fun journeys to rework the best way we work to make TomTom the place the place our workers can obtain extra!

3. How does TomTom view the way forward for work evolving submit pandemic and what steps is TomTom taking to make sure its workers well-being each bodily in addition to psychological well being?

At TomTom we imagine that strongly aligned group values can overcome any problem. The pandemic has solely reaffirmed this perception and accelerated our agile journey to form tomorrow’s mobility and contribute to a safer and cleaner world. From extra expertise improvements and automation, to utterly new roles and hyper-specialists, gig-like initiatives, stronger environmental evangelism on the office and higher cross-cultural collaboration are a number of the features of how the way forward for work will evolve. 

Within the submit pandemic world, we see letting go of issues which can be needlessly fastened and undertake a full exercise based mostly working technique, we see improved productiveness, regaining of useful time, studying of latest abilities alongside the best way and delivering on our imaginative and prescient of a cleaner world by lowering the pointless commutes. 

We look after our individuals and worker well-being is our precedence. The pandemic accelerated and introduced the sentiment ahead strongly. Now we have skilled counsellor help, psychological well-being workshops, one-on-one help, and scores of webinars on ergonomics, stress, yoga and different bodily health actions for our individuals. Final 12 months we launched TomTom Buddy – the place workers get related to 2 different TomTom’ers from our places of work world wide to get to know one another, change experiences and have time collectively. All of this continues regardless of the pandemic and the place we work from.  

The guts of the [email protected] is enabling workers to select the workspace that finest suits the exercise they should do. Put up pandemic too, worker workspace at residence will play a greater function than earlier than, which is why we launched advantages like a one-time residence workplace price range to help workers in enhancing their residence workplace surroundings, and a month-to-month allowance to help workers in residence workplace bills.

4. Please share the distinctive worker engagement actions TomTom has undertaken for workers working from residence and submit pandemic how will TomTom proceed to have interaction its worker.

At TomTom now we have massive plans and a daring imaginative and prescient for the long run. Realizing it requires everybody to be concerned, excessive ranges of engagement and dedication to range and inclusion.  

Our leaders, proper from the Senior Management crew, immediately work together with workers globally by way of our quarterly all arms in addition to on-line Ask Me Something periods. Staff can ask questions and upvote questions from colleagues – all anonymously. There are world and native platforms for workers. As an illustration, in Pune, now we have a supervisor open discussion board to share, inform and work together on all the things taking place at TomTom, construct belief with them and their groups. 

We rejoice range and inclusion in some ways. Our digital world occasions cowl Diwali in addition to King’s Day (celebrated in Netherlands), a expertise contest, CSR give-a-thon quiz, sharing of residence workplace set-up after we introduced our activity-based working program – [email protected] advantages and a lot extra. When the pandemic hit, all the things we did in individual transitioned seamlessly to the digital world.

Actually, we have elevated our engagement throughout the pandemic. In India, we’re Nice Place to Work 2020 licensed and within the prime 25 Finest Workplaces 2020 within the IT-IT-BPM trade. Globally, Glint (by LinkedIn) locations us amongst the highest 10 per cent expertise firms based mostly on benchmark and our worker engagement survey.

5. For at this time’s digital first world, what are a number of the distinctive initiatives TomTom is taking to upskill its workers?

Now we have a duty of making essentially the most revolutionary applied sciences to form tomorrow’s mobility and contribute to a safer and cleaner world. To have the ability to do this our technique uniquely combines upskilling workers on expertise and strengthening management. DevOps and accelerating on-line is our means of working. Our on-line Centres of Technical Excellence convey to our workers strong upskilling and technical studying. We guarantee our workers are benefiting from these upskilling alternatives and are constantly studying. 

6. What are TomTom’s plans to nurture its pool of expertise? 

We would like TomTom’ers to get essentially the most out of their careers at TomTom and obtain extra with us, quicker than wherever else. To do that we provide a spread of related technical, industrial, private growth and management abilities coaching by way of face-to-face, on-line and exterior programs and conferences. As a studying group, typically for one 12 months we accumulate 1000’s of studying hours in comfortable abilities, behavioural, administration and management coaching packages.  

Nurturing at TomTom is a lot greater than creating and studying. It’s additionally mentoring, inspiring, constructing a development mindset and strengthening management. Right here I’d prefer to name out our largest world innovation occasion known as TomTom Lab. It fosters studying, collaboration, and encourages our individuals to work collectively throughout models and making moon shot concepts actual.  

7. As a world HR Chief, what are the three main areas you’d give attention to to construct a extra resilient and stronger group? 

We’ll proceed to take heed to our individuals and provides them an superior expertise at each step of their journey at TomTom. On the similar time, we’ll develop leaders at each degree within the group and unleash the potential of each TomTom’er. Most significantly, we’ll proceed to foster our inclusive surroundings, be delicate to what’s going on round us and ensure that TomTom gives a protected place to work and be your self.