Water for the Future

"You should fix the roof while the sun is shining," says Grietina Jans, Manager of People & Organization at Oasen. "With captive customers and the responsibility to secure drinking water provision for the future, our responsibility is significant, and so are our challenges." Grietina outlines some impressive developments that Oasen will face in the coming years. "The Groene Hart area is significantly below sea level. As sea levels rise, we increasingly face the salinization of our drinking water sources. Additionally, the concentrations of unwanted substances in the environment, and thus in our drinking water sources, are increasing. Furthermore, we have to deal with land subsidence, which increases the risk of pipeline breaks, impacting our infrastructure. To tackle these challenges, we must continually develop and apply new technologies in the water process to ensure we always deliver perfect quality drinking water to our customers. We look many years ahead, calculating what we will need in 10-15 years for our sources, purification stations, and pipeline network."

Changing the Organization but Keeping the Field of Play the Same

Adding up all these developments and challenges led Oasen to critically review its organizational structure. "We saw that we had some silos in our organization—separate departments for different steps in the water process. Yet, our core process is as fluid as water itself: extracting, purifying, and delivering. The new organizational structure centers on the water process and the customer. We can work more effectively and efficiently with a more process-oriented organization. This has led to new teams and new roles."

The changes were not only about organizational adjustments. "We also took this moment to look at our culture and how we want to work, emphasizing giving and receiving feedback and taking responsibility—not just for what you do, but how you say it: direct but respectful. We emphasized making this shift with everyone at Oasen. There was no reorganization or budget cuts; the field of play remained the same, but the internal structure changed."

Watermakers Take the First Step

This process began with finding some pioneers and "watermakers"—people from the organization who became leaders and coalition partners, working in various workgroups. "These watermakers gathered input within the organization: what's going well, what can be improved, what should we discard, and what do we need? After collecting all the information, the pioneers identified common themes and threads, which formed the basis for the new organization. This meant focusing on the primary process, an integrated approach, and multidisciplinary teams. For the culture, this meant delegating tasks and taking and giving responsibility. Additionally, a new management team was formed. Throughout the process, we remained in continuous contact with all partners and stakeholders, including the Works Council, the Supervisory Board, and shareholders."

Dealing with Resistance

"We had agreed beforehand how to deal with resistance: by standing alongside, giving feedback, and providing perspective, we cleared the way to look forward. Employees saw how others were already enthusiastically advancing our company. It's important to address resistance not defensively but by showing concrete results, making people join in more quickly. It's about repeatedly explaining why we're doing what we're doing and inviting people to participate." After drafting the organizational sketch, Oasen moved to the next phase: developing teams and roles into profiles.

Matchmaking Insights

"We worked with GITP to conduct assessments and use their Talent Map solution. The Talent Map highlighted the qualities, talents, opportunities, and points of attention for all teams. This approach created a level playing field with objective information, which we used to shape the placement plan. The Talent Map insights also helped people see themselves within the organization, the strategy, the structure, and the culture." A separate profile was created for the pioneers, and selection assessments ensured a good start for the project. While 2020 was about preparation, drafting, and setup, 2021 focused on implementation: from February 2021, Oasen has been working in the new structure. Grietina looks back on the process with pride and satisfaction. "We wanted to do it with as many employees as possible, and we succeeded; out of 200 employees, only two couldn't be placed. What touched me most was that through insight and intensive discussions, people made choices that best suited them. Sometimes it meant a leader transitioning to a specialist role or vice versa, and sometimes employees consciously took a step back or forward. When people take charge and responsibility, it leads to greater satisfaction on both sides. That gives me a sense of fulfillment."

About Oasen

Oasen produces drinking water for 790,000 people and 7,200 businesses in 21 municipalities. It supplies approximately 46 billion liters of drinking water annually through seven purification stations, nine pumping stations, and a water tower. By focusing on improvement and innovation, Oasen takes significant steps to secure future drinking water provision, ensuring better water quality, an improved transport system, and better customer interaction. This is achievable by focusing on the craftsmanship of their people, leveraging and stimulating their talents.

People-Oriented and Data-Driven Change

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