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For over 30 years, Veldhoen + Company has developed and implemented new ways of working for forward-thinking organisations.

5 min read

The New Way of Working at Municipalities: A Distinct Profession for Nearly 25 Years

Roel Geenen

01 October, 2024

For 23 years, I have been involved in change strategies at municipalities that want to start working with The New Way of Working. Over the years, it has become clear to me that successfully implementing The New Way of Working at municipalities is a profession in its own right and that the process is really different from that in a commercial company. This is because the management mechanism is simpler there.

COMPLICATING FACTORS

Firstly, there are a number of complicating factors involved in successfully implementing a change strategy for The New Way of Working at municipalities .

  • There are often multiple clients, such as Facility Management, HRM and Organisational Development.
  • Budgets must be reallocated each year.
  • The decision to spend money is often made by someone other than the person who sets the policy.
  • The Municipal Executive is a powerful body that often intervenes personally in such programmes.
  • With a change strategy such as The New Way of Working, resistance and dynamics are inherent phenomena, which means that “powers” quickly gain control of the situation.

All these factors often have a negative impact on the progress, underlying beliefs and consistent implementation of The New Way of Working.

SUCCESS FACTORS

Looking back on my role as an advisor to local authorities on implementing change strategies for The New Way of Working, I can see a number of success factors. You could also call them preconditions.

  • It starts with a pact, an open process and an advisor who knows how a local authority works.
  • Both the client(s) and the advisor know what people do at a local authority; what their work involves and why they are so driven. In a change process at a local authority, people link the step they have to take to that drive. 
  • Because employment is based on a vision, a change strategy towards The New Way of Working requires a corporate story. A substantive umbrella and a common thread above the programmes.

SUCH A CORPORATE STORY AS THIS HAS TWO MAJOR ADVANTAGES:
  1. It helps to get and keep the many internal stakeholders on the same page.
  2. It supports the “what's in it for me” process that every team and every individual must go through.

WHY THE NEW WAY OF WORKING IN MUNICIPALITIES?

Finally, I would like to discuss why the New Way of Working is particularly interesting at municipalities. As I mentioned earlier, municipalities are unique for a number of reasons:

  • Few organisations have as many different processes as municipalities
  • Few organisations have so many customer groups that depend on different processes.
  • The outside world increasingly sees municipalities as a single organisation, which is why recognisability and uniformity are very important for them.
  • There is always tension between internal and external collaboration, which ultimately only the professional and her team (leader) can resolve.
  • Accommodation, IT and civil servants will always be seen as a cost item and will therefore be under scrutiny from both society and the administration.
  • Right now, there are many square metres (and therefore costs) to be gained in that accommodation, with the absolute promise that if employees are included in New and More Effective Working, the result will be positively noticeable for all stakeholders.

All this makes it interesting for a municipality to implement The New Way of Working. It helps the municipality to focus its sights more effectively.

THE NEW WAY OF WORKING THEREFORE HAS VARIOUS OBJECTIVES:

  • It should increase the scope for flexibility.
  • It should improve individual choice
  • It should clarify agreements within the team.
  • The accommodation should be suited to the New Way of Working.

Finally, I would like to thank the various municipalities that have commissioned me or one of my team members over the past few years. These include the municipalities of Heemstede-Bloemendaal, Breda, Alkmaar, Heiloo, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Wageningen, Hoorn, Heusden-Vlijmen, Oude IJsselstreek, Overbetuwe, Altena, Coevorden, Oirschot, Best, 's-Hertogenbosch, Boxtel, Hollands Kroon, Horst aan de Maas, Tilburg, Neder-Betuwe, Stein, Zaanstad, Lingewaard, Roosendaal and Venlo.
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