Vitrov

2013 – Vitrov in Vught is an architectural engineering firm with a specialization in existing buildings. The services range from construction advice to construction management. The company monitors the entire construction process and ensures the involvement of stakeholders. Vitrov now has eleven employees.

Workplace innovation
The manager/owner Erik Damhuis wants to make construction processes visible, open and transparent and to focus on adding value for  the user. Therefore, the work organization must also have those characteristics; it must be an “agile" organization, of which professionalism and open communication are the foundation. The basic principle is that every individual has his or her strengths and uses these for the common goals. The employees work as a self-managing team.
The ultimate goal is to bring  both the individual and the organization to high performances.

Approach
On February 1, 2006 Erik Damhuis started Vitrov to follow his passion for old buildings and heritage and to concretize his views on the construction chain: that should be transparent and focused on sustainable use. He gave a name to the company that expresses this vision.  Vitrov is derived from Vitruvius the name of a Roman architect who put the use and the feeling of a building in the center.
That vision also had to be leading for the work organization. In daily work, the vision is made applicable by the so-called “scrum", a rugby term. Every morning at exactly nine o’clock until a quarter past nine the Vitrovians stand  together at the scrum table. They always answer three questions to each other, namely: what did you do yesterday? what are you doing today? and what ‘s stopping you? Thus is given substance to the core values of openness, transparency and a vulnerable position in the daily work.

Result
Vitrov is a company where professionalism and open communication are the foundation for all the cooperation and the excellence of individuals and the company as a whole. There is grown a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Reference
The company was named one of the ‘Smartest companies in the Netherlands’ on the ‘Energy Day 2013’ organized by a SME-network of Syntens (a former state agency to support SME’s). The jury report can be found in the Annex.

Topics : Labour relations; SME; Self organisation;
Sector: Commercial Services , Construction
Source : Case

Properties