Details

October 2019

Department meetings ensure a healthy working environment

Expensive, but necessary.

That is the bottom line conclusion for the department meetings, which Hjerno's three production departments hold regularly every or every other week.

Because although the meetings come on top of the other meetings that are held during an already busy week, the time is well spent - even though the department meetings annually at the bottom line cost almost one million Danish kroner in working time lost.

"From a cost point of view, I may whimper about the costs, but I accept that such meetings are necessary to run a modern business where we constantly evaluate and streamline - but also remember to focus on the social well-being of the employees," says Managing Director Aage Agergaard.

How are you?
Because although the meetings - led by Hjerno's Tool Shop Manager Kristian Jessen Hansen - always start with a technical and production planning agenda, it is also an obvious opportunity to talk about the softer values such as work environment and general well-being.

“I always end the meetings with the question: How are you?” says Kristian Jessen Hansen.

"It may seem clichéd, but in this way I get immediate response to how the employees feel and what they are concerned about during that week."

Avoids interruptions during the day
According to Kristian Jessen Hansen, the meetings are also a useful outlet in relation to airing any challenges and problems in the department.

“It has turned out that the meetings are worth all the money, because we get a lot of knowledge communicated at one particular time. We get big and small issues aired and don't have to spend a lot of extra time on them during the day, e.g. in this way we avoid a lot of small interruptions during the work day,” he says, adding:

"Even if it may be difficult to make up the value of such meetings, it's important to keep in mind that it would become even more expensive if we didn't have them."