How Van Geloven Bridged the Employee Communication Gap in Operations

If you've ever enjoyed a serving of 'bitterballen' or croquettes, chances are they were made by Van Geloven. With iconic Dutch brands such as Mora, Van Dobben, and Kwekkeboom in its portfolio, Van Geloven is the largest snack manufacturer in the Benelux, producing 800,000 'bitterballen', 500,000 croquettes, and 18,000 spring rolls every day.

The Challenge:

Hit the restart button on employee communication

Van Geloven's mission is to produce quality snacks for businesses and consumers. Quick and productive dialogue between the head office and factories in different locations is crucial. The factories must always be kept to the highest standards in safety, hygiene, and productivity, which means all employees must always be updated on the latest policies.

Even though the head office and main factory are housed on the same lot, there was a large gap between the employees. People working in the factories didn't feel connected to the head office and vice versa. Putting up policy, updating memos in the factories, and sending emails to the head office led to missed or forgotten crucial information. These were only one-way communication channels without opportunities for feedback or real-time messaging.

The Solution:

The right message to the right person at the right time

Van Geloven recreated its organizational structure with Speakap, which led to :

• Employees to access information specifically tailored to their function, department, and location.
• Employees in the factories and head office to connect and engage with each other with comments, updates, and photos
• Different factories to share best practices and improve quickly
• Safety and policy changes to be adopted swiftly and more permanently

The Results:

Finally! The workforce is more connected than ever!

Van Geloven saw an immediate improvement with Speakap:

• Better communication between factory and head office employees
• Quicker spread of company news
• Workforce feels more connected to the company values
• Increased adoption and adherence to new and updated factory guidelines

"To me, Speakap excels in how accessible it is. If you know how to use Facebook, which almost everyone does, you can use Speakap. It's this accessibility which makes it fun for me and my team to actively use and engage with the platform and with colleagues throughout our locations."

Hans van der Ploeg - Team Leader Sales Support