Matrix is one of the world’s fastest growing commercial fitness brands and part of Johnson Health Tech, a multinational exercise equipment business. Johnson Health Tech manufactures – among other brands for home use, the Matrix brand. Matrix, cardio and strength equipment for commercial use, is sold worldwide.
The brand was founded in 2001 and introduced to the Benelux market in 2006. Since then, team Matrix has grown enormously, from 20 employees in 2006, to more than 120 employees in 2019. Wouter Hofstede, HR director for Matrix Fitness Benelux believes this is all due to the strong sense of teamwork the company has built.
Before the company started working with Sympa, Matrix Fitness was using another HR system. It was a poor fit, largely because it was very complicated to use. When the company set out to replace it, the HR team drew up a list of key criteria for the new system. Their priorities were flexibility, ease of use, and the ability for employees to take care of as much of the routine admin as possible by themselves. The ultimate goal that the HR department had in mind was to be completely freed up to take care of the important people-related tasks within the company, instead of devoting vast amounts of time to administrative tasks. Ideally, employees would be able to update all their personal details and could even request appraisals whenever they thought it necessary.
In the end, the search for a new system turned out to be remarkably straightforward. Knowing exactly what it was that he was looking for, Wouter Hofstede searched for an HR system to match his requirements. Sympa topped the results. He asked for a demo and the business relationship quickly grew from there. “As well as offering exactly the features and the flexibility that I had been looking for, the system also had a very modern look and feel to it,” Hofstede says.
The system is flexible and offers the tools necessary to create an open work culture that stimulates trust.
The implementation project turned out to be equally smooth. Hofstede explains: ‘’Because of the strong communication between both parties, good preparation and a pleasant cooperation between Matrix’ project managers and Sympa’s consultants, the project went along as planned, and was finalized during the agreed time frame.’’
Almost immediately after finishing the implementation project, the positive effects of Sympa HR became visible. All data has since been stored in one place and the user friendliness of the systems enables employees to easily use Sympa HR independently. Not to mention the beautiful database that can be used to communicate with the management and entire organisation, by showing them clear and useful insights. Hofstede adds: “We have gained a lot of insight in our company, which has enabled us to become even more efficient than we had been before.’’
Hofstede’s next move is to optimise the system so that existing workflows become even easier and notifications will be sent for a wider range of events and situations, easing the work of HR even further. “My dream?” Hofstede says. “That I won’t have to take care of administrative HR tasks any longer and will instead be available to really talk with our people and help them develop every single day.’’
The word I would use to describe Sympa HR, is simplicity.
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