CSU becoming the first facility management company in the Netherlands to offer visual employment contracts - co-created with Visual Contracts
Did you know that low literacy levels in the Netherlands are the highest amongst employees in the cleaning industry? Almost 40% of registered cleaning staff in the Netherlands. Also, the cleaning business is not always seen as the most glamorous of professions. However, it should be considered as one of the most important professions. The work is physically demanding, and indispensable. Millions of people depend on it to help keep their environment clean, healthy and safe. Therefore, this diverse workforce deserves to be seen, heard, understood and respected. By doing so, it will enable employers to build and maintain a workforce that is engaged. Promoting its diversity, and working together towards an environment that is inclusive, empowering and respectful.
Cleaners perceive all of this as a lack of respect, even though their work is physically demanding, and necessary. This mix of not feeling respected and physically demanding work creates a lot of pressure. Pressure on cleaners, but also on their employers. Employers need to maintain a workforce that is engaged and vital, in order for their employees to feel appreciated and respected, but also to stay in business.
Challenge
How can Visual Contracts help? Help making cleaners heard and understood, and becoming actively part of a vital and engaged workforce. To create a sustainable, respectful working relationship between cleaner, employer and client.
Background
In 2019 Visual Contracts was asked to take part in a project called The Shiny Future. The project was set up by APG Groeifabriek (an innovation lab by Dutch pension provider APG) and Outside Inc. The main purpose was bringing together people and resources in order to create a product that would have a positive effect on the lives of cleaners. Our role was to look at making employment contracts more understandable. To reduce the level of unclarity about their employment contract, by making cleaners more aware of their rights, and also overcoming the obstacle of low level literacy amongst cleaning staff. We needed to find a way to visually transform all (legal) information, and make it understandable to all parties involved. This is how and where we met CSU.
CSU is a Dutch facility management company, with over 15,000 employees. Representing 130 different nationalities, and a multitude of cultures and languages. It is a family business promoting sustainable employability. Focusing on safety, health, well-being and personal development. Corporate Social Responsibility is key at CSU. With social innovation at the top of their agenda: looking at new solutions to improve the welfare and wellbeing of their employees. CSU are keen to build and maintain sustainable working relationships with all its employees. With a diverse workforce, it is essential that the CSU employment contract is accessible to all. Therefore, CSU approached Visual Contracts to co-create a visual employment contract.
The approach
Being a business that promotes sustainable employability, focusing on safety, health, well-being and personal development, it felt natural to introduce legal design thinking to CSU. Co-creating by working together across disciplines - from HR to legal, marketing to IT - and combining the expertise of lawyers, HR and designers. To better understand the context and needs of people interacting with the law - in this case their employment contract - and to create improvements and innovations based on this knowledge. A user-centric approach, developing user-centric solutions, including user-centered visual design.
Together we followed the (legal) design thinking process: empathize, define, ideate prototype and test. Working this way we considered all business, legal and employee needs. Starting with mapping the employee journey, and exploring the business objectives. But also looking at possible visual designs, creating the right balance between the amount of visualization and text.
*This image shows the summary page of the employment contract.
Results
Jeroen Heijmans, HR manager strategy & projects:
With Visual Contracts we have taken up the challenge to display the employment contract in a visual and understandable way for all our cleaning employees. In this they have distinguished themselves as an innovative party that makes complex matter understandable by means of the Legal Design Thinking theory. Lieke guided us in this in an excellent way and we are proud of the result that is now available.
This resulted in a more human-centered visual employment contract, accessible to all its users - from HR and legal to, most importantly, all CSU employees. With less words and less legal jargon. Instead, an employment contract using easier to understand language and visualizations. Enabling CSU’s diverse workforce to read and understand the terms and conditions of their own employment contract. Occasionally with the help of a friend or family member - depending on the language level. With the visualizations supporting any further explanation required. Making CSU employees feel involved and appreciated. Empowered. Confident to agree and sign.
CSU is currently testing a prototype amongst their employees. Researching whether the effectiveness of the current design can be improved. So far the feedback has been extremely positive. Also, this way of working - involving employees, listening to their feedback and tips - has been a positive experience: working together to strengthen the business, and improving the employee journey.
Once this has been finalized, CSU aims to introduce the visual employment contract to new starters after the Summer, as well as integrating it within their Human Resource Management software system.
Media
Our collaboration with CSU has had great media coverage. From a legal perspective, but also from the cleaning industry. In addition, CSU’s own Innovation Specialist, and Chairwoman of Young CSU, Marloes van Raaij, has shared her enthusiastic view on it all.
To read (Dutch) all about it, have a look here:
- Inclusiviteit als sleutel voor de toekomst: visuele arbeidsovereenkomsten
- Advocatie: the news site for the legal profession
- The contract presented to our Queen Máxima during her visit at CSU
- Clean Totaal: a multi-platform concept for the professional cleaning and facility management industry