HR Business Partnering at Unilin Insulation

The initial scope of the project involved supporting the HR department at Unilin Insulation during the absence of one of the HR Business Partners for blue collars. "We were looking for a versatile HR Consultant who could manage various HR projects and thus take over some of the workload from the other HR Business Partners. Jana more than met those expectations. She quickly integrated into the team and was able to support several projects," says Tine Vanlombeek, HR Director at Unilin Insulation.

The successful co-operation and Jana’s proactive approach led to her staying on board for some time even after the return of the permanent employee to further develop some projects. Finally, Jana ensured continuity during the maternity leave replacement of the HR BP for the white collar employees.

Framework for language training

One of the projects on which Jana was able to leave her mark was setting up a policy for language training for non-native employees. Dutch language courses had already been started because of the need to recruit non-native employees. But these did not have the intended results and there was also a lack of a clear policy around the training approach.

"After an evaluation of the existing approach, I developed a complete framework around these language courses. There is now a language matrix that maps out the expected proficiency level per workstation and the learning objectives are clear to trainers, course participants and the business," Jana explains.

Diverse HR projects

Jana proved her multi-talent skills by working on very diverse HR projects. For example, she optimized and documented a range of HR processes, from onboarding and the creation of a welcome guide, to monitoring absenteeism and reintegration, to seniority and retirement celebrations.

She assisted in internal communication by sharing important updates through company-wide emails and messaging on information screens in production areas, and by organizing regular business updates. This ensured that all employees, regardless of their role, were kept informed about company developments and expectations.

“I also contributed to a number of initiatives on employee engagement and wellbeing, including the establishment and implementation of an annual calendar for wellbeing initiatives. I was also fortunate to work at Unilin Insulation in the very year the company celebrated its 50th anniversary, which included a family day with production visits. Organizing this was a pleasant addition to my responsibilities.”

Development dialogues

At the end of her time at Unilin Insulation, Jana also played an important role in employee development dialogues. She followed up the constructive discussions between managers and employees and ensured that this input was fed back to the Direction Committee so that appropriate actions could be taken based on the learnings.

Sharing best practices among HR Business Partners

"Her contributions will definitely continue to benefit the company after her departure," reflects Sarah D'Hondt, Business Manager at TriHD. Bringing in Jana as Project Consultant boosted the HR team at Unilin Insulation. Sharing best practices between the HR Business Partners for the different departments was improved and the roles of the different team members were fine-tuned.

Tine Vanlombeek, HR Director at Unilin Insulation, reflected on Jana’s impact: "Jana integrated seamlessly into our team and brought a level of versatility that was indispensable during this period. Her ability to take on a wide range of tasks, from language training to process optimisations and event planning, was impressive. Jana’s contributions have not only filled the temporary gap but also had an important role in the development of a new standard for our HR operations."

Would you like to learn more about how temporary support from our TriHD Consultants can strengthen your business? Don't hesitate to contact us at info@trihd.be