Home Extras Interviews Ricoh and Acerta find each other in HR Flex-project
Ricoh and Acerta find each other in HR Flex-project
“We only associate ourselves with the top”
Until recently the brands NRG /Nashautec and Ricoh lived separate lives despite their both being part of the Japanese Ricoh Family Group since 1995. In November 2008, however, both brands were definitively integrated under the name Ricoh. To ensure a smooth integration with regard to HR, Human Resources Director Linda Verdonck, worked together with an Acerta HR Flex-professional. From the start, this collaboration proved to be nothing less than a great success.
The new Ricoh’s ambitions are no small feat. With a market share of more than 39%, the integrated organisation became Belgium’s absolute market leader and wants to keep it that way on all terrains. Linda Verdonck: “As a top company in our sector we want to associate ourselves with top suppliers. Every commitment we enter into needs to be a success right from the start.” This rule of thumb was especially applicable in using a freelance HR-professional in the integration of NRG /Nashuatec in Ricoh. Verdonck: “Ricoh’s and NRG Nashuatec’s company cultures showed several significant differences and with integrating one needs to pay close attention to typical pitfalls like the domination of one culture above another. It is to avoid this that I quickly reached the decision of involving an objective party in the process. We needed someone who is not only aware of the legislation pertaining to the subject but also capable of benchmarking and making the comparison with previous cases. From the start it was also clear that it would be a temporary contract within a limited timeframe and that’s why we chose to work with an intermediary party like Acerta. Acerta’s input allows us to only use whatever manpower and time is necessary. Moreover, the person selected for the project is associated with Acerta’s reputation and that provides us with an extra guarantee. We have an agreement with HR Flex to have talks every trimester to discuss plans and opportunities for the future, which guarantees us to stay ahead of whatever evolutions may come our way.”
The perfect trio
Control, Commitment, Communication and Creativity are the four C’s that carry the new Ricoh’s company culture. Linda Verdonck: “Amongst other things, Control implies that we keep track of the ROI of all our activities. For example, this resulted in the re-insourcing of our fleet operations when we integrated the two companies. When 70 percent of a staff counting almost 600 people, have a company car, fleet management is one of HR’s key activities and needs to be controlled from within the company.” With regard to the HR Flex-project, Control was also a key concept. Linda Verdonck: “This needed to be a success right from the start. That’s why clear agreements were made like the HR Flex-professional being allowed to be very critical concerning the correctness of the measures being taken but never being allowed to sign off on a project in Ricoh’s name. The trio Ricoh – HR Flex – freelance professional needed to function perfectly and that was the case.”
Next to the essential expertise and the necessary know-how, an ethical moral and tact were also expected from the HR Flex professional. Linda Verdonck: “The HR expertise needed to be available in a cut-and-paste modus, or in other words readily available. Next to that, the person carrying out the task was also required to familiarise himself with the company culture in a very small amount of time. Being able to touch upon the more difficult issues with the necessary tact was also very important. After briefing HR Flex about these needs, they immediately presented us with the ideal candidate. A relationship like that needs to just click and in our case it did click.”
HR GPS
Linda Verdonck wants to feel surrounded by knowledge when she enters into a partnership with an external supplier: “You need to know what type of knowledge is present in an organisation. HR is a subject onto its own and works according to an internal network that feeds itself with knowledge, with culture and the vision that shelters behind it. That Acerta understands this is apparent from their website www.ikgavoorhr.be which contains an HR GPS. The HR GPS allows you to test your HR policy against the Ulrich model. Initiatives like this demonstrate a company like Acerta’s knowledge and that provides peace of mind for a company with ambitions like those of Ricoh.”
