News Article

Positive thoughts for ADM’s 15th anniversary

2013-04-21T09:22:53+00:00

None other than Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and his son Peter Van Rompuy, Member of the Flemish Parliament, were the keynote speakers at the annual ADM reception, celebrating our 15th anniversary.

In his own charismatic style, Herman Van Rompuy shed a light over the "what" and "how" of the recent financial crisis .. to end with the hopeful conclusion that Europe is slowly recovering, thanks to our common European currency.
But money alone is not everything in one’s life, explained Peter Van Rompuy. Individuals and companies should strive for a better balance between welfare and well-being. Happy people perform better ... and manage to work longer.
Closing the evening, ADM General Manager Ingrid Hoffman thanked the whole ADM team for their contribution to ADM’s success in the past 15 years: partners, board members, programme managers and in general everybody who ever attended an ADM event. ADM business – as business in general - is all about PEOPLE.

“Wie niet kan delen, zal nooit in staat zijn te vermenigvuldigen” – one of the opening statements by ADM Chairman Jan De Schepper was not only made clear in the different speeches of the evening, but it was clearly turned into reality during the vibrant networking buffet afterwards.

YouBridge
It has become a tradition to place a goodwill organisation in the spotlight at the occasion of our annual reception. This year we offered Mr. Van Rompuy a gift to pass along to YouBridge, an organisation that he and his wife are actively supporting. YouBridge supports students and entrepreneurs around the world by giving them laptops and access to the world wide web. The YouBridge platform enables students and donors from around the world to immediately connect to and interact with each other.
More info : http://www.youbridge.org

“We need a mobile app” is NOT a mobile strategy

2013-04-02T08:17:55+00:00

During the whole track on mobile applications (that started in January 2012) it has become more than clear that an app is not just a toy.

An app can only be successful if:

It comlies with the business strategy
It is in line with the customer’s (external or internal) needs
It matches the necessary technical requirements (scalability, security, version management, choice of platforms …)

In other words: the success of the app depends on the COMBINED input by marketing, business, and IT.

To cloud or not to cloud, that is not the question.

2013-04-02T08:06:35+00:00

Cloud applications are a fact. The discussion will increasingly be about how the users deal with the apps, not if they are reliable and secure.

During this info session we looked at 4 totally different types of cloud applications, some free of charge, some at a cost. Every application has its own set of rules, its own way to deal with the information that is stored in the cloud, its own flexibility level. Very often the service level is higher for paying apps than for products that are free.

So it is up to the user to judge

What the application will be used for / what he really needs
What specific levels of service, security etc. he wants
How much he wants to pay for these

In order to make a sound decision it might be useful for the business, IT and legal to sit together and make a risk analysis.

A passionate plea for change: big boss era is over!

2013-03-20T14:06:26+00:00

Special offer for ADM members: “No Way” – new book by Bruno Rouffaer: -15%!

During his entertaining session for ADM on 17 September 2012 (see our site), Bruno Rouffaer already announced he was working on a new book urging leaders to change their way of thinking, behaving...

The book was officially launched on March 20^th.
It is available both in Dutch and English.

ADM members have the privilege to order the book at a discount of more than 15%

About the book

The earth will survive without us. Can we afford to keep on making the same mistakes? Can we afford to keep on thinking only of ourselves?

The leaders of tomorrow are the children of today. Ensuring good leadership in the years ahead means starting with the proper upbringing of the new generation. We need future leaders with a high degree of emotional, intellectual and spiritual intelligence. Leaders who are guided by the new motivating forces of trust, integrity and humility.

About Bruno Rouffaer

Bruno Rouffaer is sociologist with more than 20 years of experience as an international management consultant. He is much in demand as a speaker and organizes workshops and training programmes on the themes of leadership and coaching, both at home and abroad.

Price

Normal Price : 24,99 €
Special price for ADM members : 20.99 €* - No shipment cost

*1) This special discount is only valid
- for purchases via the Lannoo webshop (not in regular bookshops!)
- when ordered via de special URL for ADM members : http://www.lannooshop.be/adm-noway
- as long as the supplies last
*2)The discount will visible after adding the item to your shopping basket

How to order

You can order your copy of “No Way!” at the reduced price via the special URL :
http://www.lannooshop.be/adm-noway

ADM speed dating: a “sexy” corporate culture for all

2013-03-01T20:10:09+00:00

14 CxO's and young professionals met for a speed dating session in the Foyer of Utopolis in Mechelen.

From the long list of possible subjects that was put together by the nextGen kernel, five themes were selected as discussion topics for the evening.

Evaluation and giving feedback
Attract and retain employees
NWOW
Flat organisation
Spreading mission and vision

The expectations of diversity, openness, inspiration, interaction, but also of fun were amply met. The younger participants were surprised by the approachability and openness of the CxO's – after all, they're only human . In their turn, CxO's discovered several gems amongst the youngsters.
Just like at the speed dating session in April 2012 (check out the ADM website) it became clear that there are more similarities than there are differences between the objectives of young and old. Only the way to reach them can differ on occasion.
You will find the participants' tips "worth remembering" by theme in the document below. (in Dutch) Those of you who also want to witness the enthusiasm of the participants can look at the pictures and the video report. Highly recommended!

A funny difference between both generations: the tips worth remembering were written on NCR paper to allow the participants to keep their copy and have one for ADM. The principle of the "old-fashioned" non-carbon copy paper proved to be a novelty for some of the youngsters!

Or: how young and old can continuously learn from and inspire each other.
A big thank you for this to all participants!

Monitoring and measuring ROI of Social Media

2013-02-27T08:10:45+00:00

Social media have found their spot in many companies. As their professional use increases, at some point the question pops up "how well are using them?" and "what do we gain in using them?".

During the info session on 21st February four companies shared their experience on this subject

N-Allo : Social media as a strategic tool in customer relationship building
Belfius : Social media as one of the ways to interact with customers
Tech7 : A Facebook campaign increases the number of fans of the brand
Inno.com : Successful use of e-media and social media as a recruitment tool

Although these cases where different in use, purpose and approach, they all made clear that
   - Social media are a tool, and just one of the tools at your disposal
   - Take an approach as for any (marketing) project and think up front about:
                    >Objectives
                    >Target audience
                    >Means
                    >Stakeholders

Just like for any other MarCom tool, the direct ROI is sometimes difficult to calculate. How would you convert a customer's "feeling good about it" in €€€?

The cases are briefly described in below videos. Additionally ADM members can download the presentations.

bpost explains innovative “shop & deliver” project

2013-02-07T11:20:52+00:00

4 February 2013. After the board meeting, Peter Somers (CEO bpost Parcels & International) introduced to the ADM board members the “show and deliver” pilot project by bpost. This is one of projects that bpost is working on in order to convert the traditional “old lady” - mainly involved in delivering paper mail - into an innovative company focusing on delivery of virtually any type of goods.

bpost launched in 2012 selected pilots for the combined home delivery of different types of purchases. If the results are positive, bpost will gradually roll out the service in 2013 and 2014.

This is a strategically important project for bpost in a falling market of paper mail. Moreover it meets the growing importance of e-commerce and the wish of consumers to have their shopping delivered at home. Goods will be picked up from local shops, supermarkets, internet stores .. and delivered to the customers where and when they want it. It improves their quality of life and is also environmental friendly, because several orders are delivered in the same round.

On the dedicated online platform, consumers can schedule an appointment for the delivery of their shopping. They can even combine different orders for delivery at the same time and ask to pick up goods they want to send or return. The system will also offer safe and payment opportunities.

You can see how it works in the video below. ADM members can (after loggin in to the website) view the presentation by Peter Somers.

First CoderDojo in Belgium on 2 February

2013-01-27T22:32:45+00:00

Just read the latest She goes ICT blog by Martine Tempels, and you’ll agree that CoderDojo is a great initiative!

You'll find the blog here

During the ADM inspiration trip to Dublin in November 2011 (see our website), organised by Enterprise Ireland, the whole group was impressed by the CoderDojo concept. During the presentation of the initiative at the Belgian Embassy, I remember Martine saying "I want this in Belgium too". Hardly three months later the first CoderDojo in Belgium is a fact. Congratulations!

The first session on February 2 is already fully booked, but more sessions will follow in Antwerp and other locations.

After reading the blog, do visit the CoderDojo Belgium website

To know more about it
To register your children (between 6 and 18) for one of the following sessions
To register yourself as a mentor in the programme

Women and ICT : “yes you can!”

2012-12-12T22:28:04+00:00

ICT Woman of the Year Martine Tempels and Young ICT Lady of the Year Karlien Vanden Eynde were the guests at the ADM foyer on December 11th. And what else is there to talk about than "women in ICT", or maybe better put as "the lack of" women in ICT.

One of Martine's proposals to get ICT out of the high-tech / boring / nerd atmosphere is to show children already at a young age how useful (and fun) programming and computers can be.

During the ADM study trip to Dublin (see website for the report) we made the acquaintance of CoderDojo, an initiative with exactly this purpose.
As a scoop for our ADM Foyer, Martine announced the start of the first such dojo in Belgium, more specifically in January in Antwerp, with the help of startup accelerator Idealabs.

Martine and Karlien will hand over their titles to the new ICT Woman en Young ICT Lady on February 7th.
Luc Blyaert, Editor-in-Chief of DataNews, invited those present already to attend this event. The December 21st issue of DataNews will announce the candidates for both titles and everyone will be able to vote

Another feminist touch: there was no sign of the claim that women are bad networkers. Close to 50% of those present were women, strong women who work in ICT. Amongst them were a number of candidates for this year's Young ICT Lady.

To BYOD or not to BYOD, that’s the question

2012-12-12T22:27:06+00:00

The answer to this question is not a matter of technology, but rather one of (changing) corporate culture. This became abundantly clear during the two sessions on this subject on December 3rd.

"The technology is mature" claimed Tim Groenwals during the bpost case, but the decision to introduce BYOD must not be taken lightly. A lot of consultation with all stakeholders is necessary (Board, unions, management and staff), clear implementation guidelines, a firm planning and most of all a lot of communication to draw up clear agreements and to make all aware of potential security risks.

Students from the Thomas More Hogeschool Mechelen performed a quick poll amongst young employees and students from graduating classes (next year's employees!). The result clearly showed that the younger generation has a higher need to use their own familiar devices, rather than using the often outdated equipment and technologies that some employers make available. And although not always wholeheartedly, they understand that firm agreements must be in place and that there are limits to what is allowed. BYOD is here to stay, of you cannot beat it, join it ...

The law hides more than the eye can see: there is no specific legislation for BYOD, so therefore no unambiguous regulation, legal nor fiscal.
Leen Van Damme, Director SD Worx, confirmed once more the importance of drawing up solid agreements between employer and employee (e.g. through a policy). In fiscal matters it is important that agreements clearly reflect that the concessions granted by the employer are solely meant for professional purposes.

ADM members can download the presentations below, after logging in on the website.