Staking van 22 december: Ouderen en Walen staken, jongeren en zelfstandigen zijn de dupe

-    4% van de Belgen heeft gestaakt op 22 december 2011: slechts 1% van de Belgen heeft naar eigen zeggen actie gevoerd en og eens 3% heeft gestaakt maar is thuisgebleven. 96% van de Belgen hebben dus niet gestaakt.
-    De stakers zijn bijna exclusief te zoeken bij de vakbondsleden. Onder de mensen die aangesloten zijn bij een vakbond staakte 10%, terwijl dit minder dan 1% is bij de mensen die niet aangesloten zijn bij een vakbond.
-    Er zijn ook geen stakers te vinden bij de zelfstandigen (0%). Alle stakers waren werknemers (5%).
-    In Wallonië werd door dubbel zoveel mensen gestaakt (8%) als in Vlaanderen (3%).
-    Er is ook duidelijk een effect per sector: in de publieke sector werd door 8% van de mensen gestaakt, terwijl dit slechts 3% is in de private sector.
-    Het zijn ook vooral de oudere Belgen die hebben gestaakt: terwijl 7% van de 50-plussers heeft gestaakt, is dit bij de dertigers en veertigers maar 5% en bij de jongeren (18-30) minder dan 2%.
-    Ongeveer 1 op 3 van de Belgen (32%) heeft last ondervonden van de staking. Bij de jongeren is dit zelfs de helft (50% van de 18- tot 30-jarigen). De vijftig-plussers hebben het minst last ondervonden (slechts 23%). Ook bij de zelfstandigen beweert de helft (49%) last te hebben ondervonden, terwijl dit bij de werknemers slechts 1 op 3 is (33%). Doordat er meer gestaakt werd in Wallonië, waren het ook vooral de Walen die last ondervonden van de staking: 41% van de Walen heeft last ondervonden, terwijl dit bij de Vlamingen slechts 25% is.
-    Mensen ondervonden vooral last doordat de NMBS staakte (11% van de Belgen), door de staking van De Lijn (7% van de Belgen) en door wegblokkades (6% van de Belgen). Bij de jongeren had zelfs 1 op 4 last van de staking bij de NMBS en 15% van de staking bij De Lijn.
-    De meeste Belgen (53%) stonden negatief tegenover de staking en 1 op 3 zelfs heel negatief. Een minderheid van de Belgen (19%) stond positief tegenover de staking en slechts 7% heel positief. Ongeveer 28% stond neutraal tegenover de staking. De negativiteit is vooral sterk bij de zelfstandigen (74% negatief vergeleken met 50% bij de werknemers), de mensen die niet aangesloten zijn bij een vakbond (66% negatief vergeleken met 37% bij vakbondsleden), de Vlamingen (60% negatief vergeleken met 41% bij de Walen) en de mannen (60% negatief vergeleken met 42% bij de vrouwen). De attitude tegenover de staking wordt minder beïnvloedt door leeftijd: de negativiteit ligt rond 50% bij alle leeftijdsgroepen).

Staking van 30 januari: Negativiteit tegenover de staking is vooral gestegen bij de vrouwen en bij de Walen, maar stakingsbereidheid blijft het hoogst in Wallonië.

-    Ook tegenover de aangekondigde staking van 30 januari staan de meeste Belgen negatief (55%). Slechts 20% staat positief. 23% is neutraal. Opnieuw is de negativiteit vooral sterk bij de zelfstandigen (78% negatief vergeleken met 55% bij de werknemers), de mensen die niet aangesloten zijn bij een vakbond (69% negatief vergeleken met 38% bij vakbondsleden), de Vlamingen (60% negatief vergeleken met 49% bij de Walen) en de mannen (60% negatief vergeleken met 52% bij de vrouwen).
-    Vergeleken met de attitude tegenover de staking van 22 december 2011, is de negativiteit ten opzichte van de staking van 30 januari in alle groepen gestegen. De stijging is echter het meest frappant bij de Walen, waar 8% meer mensen negatief staan (van 41% naar 49% negatief), en bij de vrouwen, waar  10% meer vrouwen negatief staan (van 42% naar 52%).
-    5% van de Belgen is van plan om actie te voeren op 30 januari. Nog eens 6% is van plan om te staken, maar om thuis te blijven. 89% van de Belgen zegt van plan te zijn niet te zullen staken.
-    Opnieuw zal de staking het meest uitgebreid zijn in Wallonië (17% versus 7% in Vlaanderen) bij de vakbondsleden (23% versus 2% bij de niet-vakbondsleden), in de publieke sector (17% versus 7% in de private sector) en bij de ouderen (14% bij de 50-plussers, 11% bij de dertigers en veertigers en 6% bij de 18- tot 30-jarigen).

6 op 10 Belgen vinden dat het stakingsrecht aangepast moet worden

-    61% van de Belgen vinden dat het stakingsrecht aangepast moet worden: 31% vindt dat het stakingsrecht lichtjes ingeperkt moet worden, 27% vindt dat het sterk ingeperkt moet worden en 3% vindt dat het volledig afgeschaft moet worden.
-    Het aanpassen van het stakingsrecht vindt veel meer steun in Vlaanderen (65%) dan in Wallonië (54%). De vraag om het stakingsrecht resoluut af te schaffen is bij alle doelgroepen minimaal, maar vindt vooral een aantal supporters bij de zelfstandigen (10%).
-    Welke aanpassingen vraagt de bevolking dan? De Belgen zijn vooral voorstander van een minimale dienstverlening in ziekenhuizen (84%)en door de politie (79%). Een grote meerderheid is ook voor een minimale dienstverlening van het openbaar vervoer (73%) en een verbod op wegblokkades (73%), een verbod op wilde stakingen (68%) en een verbod op blokkeren van bedrijven (68%). Een kleine meerderheid is voor een minimale dienstverlening door het onderwijs (62%) en een minimale dienstverlening van de post (52%).

De meeste mensen vinden dat de Belgische economie erop achteruit is gegaan door de staking van 22 december.

-    We legden ook een aantal uitspraken voor over staken die naar aanleiding van de staking van 22 december op sociale media (twitter, linkedin, etc.) en blogs en fora van mediasites werden vermeld en vroegen aan mensen in welke mate men ermee akkoord ging. Behalve met de stellingen die stakers lui en egoïstisch noemden, gingen meer mensen met de stellingen akkoord dan niet akkoord:

• 76% akkoord met “Stakers zouden beter acties bedenken waarbij de bazen gepest worden en niet de klanten (bvb. bij de NMBS of De Lijn).” (11% niet akkoord en 13% neutraal)
• 68% akkoord met “Stakingen treffen vooral mensen die er niets mee te maken hebben.” (17% niet akkoord en 15% neutraal)
• 64% akkoord met “Wegblokkades door stakers zijn pesterijen.” (18% niet akkoord en 18% neutraal)
• 51% akkoord met “Door de staking is de Belgische economie erop achteruit gegaan.” (22% niet akkoord en 27% neutraal)
• 45% akkoord met “Als stakers zouden betogen op zondag of op een feestag, zou hun actie geloofwaardiger zijn.” (34% niet akkoord en 21% neutraal)
• 44% akkoord met “Staken lost niets op.” (34% niet akkoord en 22% neutraal)
• 27% akkoord met “Stakers zijn egoïsten die enkel aan zichzelf denken” (46% niet akkoord en 28% neutraal)
• 15% akkoord met “Mensen die staken, zijn te lui om te werken.” (58% niet akkoord en 27% neutraal)

De meeste Belgen blijven de vakbonden alles bij elkaar genomen nuttig vinden

-    De meeste mensen vinden de vakbonden alles bij elkaar genomen nuttig (56%). Slechts 18% van de Belgen vinden de vakbonden alles bij elkaar genomen schadelijk. 25% is neutraal tegenover de vakbonden. In Wallonië zijn er meer mensen die de vakbonden nuttig vinden (61%) dan in Vlaanderen (53%). Zelfs bij de mensen die zelf niet aangesloten zijn bij een vakbond vindt 42% de vakbonden nuttig (28% onder hen vindt de vakbond schadelijk). Vooral de zelfstandigen (41% onder hen) vinden de vakbonden schadelijk.
-    Ook over de vakbonden werden een aantal (positieve en negatieve) stellingen voorgelegd:

• 44% vindt dat de vakbonden voor een gezond tegengewicht zorgen tegen de belangen van de bedrijven. (36% niet akkoord en 21% neutraal)
• 43% vindt dat de vakbonden opkomen voor de belangen van de zwaksten. (29% niet akkoord en 28% neutraal)
• 37% vindt dat de vakbonden voor een gezond tegengewicht zorgen tegen de politici. (37% niet akkoord en 26% neutraal)
• 36% vindt dat de vakbonden enkel aan zichzelf denken en niet aan de maatschappij. 35% niet akkoord en 29% neutraal)
• 29% vindt dat de vakbonden nefast zijn voor de Belgische economie. (38% niet akkoord en 34% neutraal)
• 25% vindt dat de vakbonden de toekomst van de jongeren schaden. (45% niet akkoord en 30% neutraal)
• 21% vindt dat de vakbonden vooral het belang van de oudere generaties dienen. (44% niet akkoord en 35% neutraal)

Pensioenhervorming van Di Rupo I wordt door de bevolking weggestemd

-    De meeste Belgen (42%) staan negatief tegenover de pensioenhervorming van Di Rupo I. Ongeveer 1 op 4 staat positief (26%) en ongeveer een derde is neutraal (33%).
-    Als ze zelf parlementslid zouden zijn, dan zou 36% voor stemmen, 42% zou tegen stemmen en 22% zou zich onthouden.

Details van het onderzoek

-    Wat? Profacts nam een online kwantitatieve vragenlijst af bij een representatieve steekproef van Belgen.
-    Wie? Een steekproef van 1054 Belgen, representatief op leeftijd, geslacht, provincie, opleidingsniveau en beroep.
-    Hoe? De studie werd via een online enquête uitgevoerd op het panel van Profacts dat 120.000 Belgen bevat en waarvan een representatieve steekproef bevraagd werd.
-    Wanneer? De enquête liep tijdens de eerste twee weken van januari 2012.

Profacts

-    Profacts is een full-service kwantitatief marktonderzoeksbureau, dat in 2006 werd opgericht door dr. Timothy Desmet en dr. Stijn De Rammelaere. Profacts is gevestigd nabij Gent (Eke-Nazareth) en telt momenteel 22 werknemers. Profacts voert zowel online, telefonische en face-to-face studies uit. Profacts is lid van Febelmar, de Belgische Federatie van Marktonderzoeksbureaus.
-    Voor meer informatie over Profacts: www.profacts.be.
-    Voor meer informatie over deze studie: contacteeer Timothy Desmet, Co-Founder en Managing Partner van Profacts via tim.desmet@profacts.be of 0473 444 905.

Hi, I’m Julie. For almost half a year I’m junior research consultant at Profacts. For me this was like a dream becoming reality. Let me explain…

18 months ago, I was a senior year student at Ghent University, trying to achieve my Master degree in Experimental Psychology. But life starts only after graduation (they say…), so I was wondering what to do with that life.
Because I had no idea what possibilities I had with my education, I wanted my internship to bring clarification. I choose for an internship with 2 parts.

The first part took place at the department of Experimental Psychology at Ghent University. Here I could discover the academic possibilities of my degree. I did some priming research on brands. Priming is a method to discover how concepts are linked in our memory. In the priming procedure 2 words are shown with rapid succession. Participants have to do a task with the second word (e.g. decide if it’s a word or a nonword). When the 2 words are related, participants can execute the task faster than when they are not related. So reaction times can be used to reveal the fact that words are related or not in the human memory.By using this method we wanted to discover to what concepts brands are related. Several experiments revealed that brands are related to their product category (e.g. Maes -  beer), competitive brands (Telenet – Belgacom) and the logo (Electrabel - ).
Although this experiment was done in an academic setting, it could also be interesting in “the real world”. The priming technique could be used to reveal all sort of relations with brands (or the lack of it). There’s more to it than just a cognitive theory.

During the second part of my internship, I wanted to discover what is going on outside the walls of Ghent University. And so, I became a temporary member of (you’ll never guess) Profacts. Timothy, my internship supervisor, told me this about Profacts before I begun: “You’ll see that it is a hard job working at Profacts. People are really motivated, work long hours and have to do (almost) everything to please the customer. But nevertheless, working at Profacts is great fun.” Being a student, I could not image the combination of fun and that amount of work to do. So I was a little afraid starting my internship here.
Really soon, I realized that Timothy didn’t lie: Yes, people here work hard and long, but yes, it is fun! I had my own project to work on for my internship, but I also wanted to know what all those other people were doing here. So I also started helping people on their job. And doing all this, I realized: “This is what I want to do!”
During my time here, Timothy and Stijn saw that I liked working here and I confirmed! So after my internship, they promised me to keep me posted on new vacancies!

After my internship, I returned to my student life: working on my master thesis and studying for the final exams. That’s when I met “the black hole”. After my time at Profacts, I was used to have a lot of input, noise… So being back a student felt like a shock!
So time passed by, I graduated and I started looking for a job… At the beginning of August, Timothy called with great news: “We might have a job for you! Are you still interested?” Of course I was! So I came back to Profacts, to present myself (again). Four days later, Benjamin called with the revealing words: “You’ve got the job!”

And that’s how I became the newest member of Profacts!

One of Profacts’ key assets is our involvement and genuine interest in our clients’ business.

To us, conducting a survey is not limited to just asking a list of questions, but each time we grasp the opportunity to truly connect with our clients and their products or services. We develop an open mind towards everything related to the survey topic: the product/service itself, its competitive situation, the communication & marketing actions etc.

Recently, we gave a presentation on the satisfaction & expectations of the users of mobile internet on tablet.

What’s the best way to fully identify with the customer and thus interpret the survey results? Yes indeed: get a tablet for Christmas . And so I did: The Samsung Galaxy Tab is mine .

A very patient & friendly salesman explained flawless all the advantages & pitfalls of tablet use. Furthermore he installed the tablet for immediate use and sends me home very satisfied and eager to start playing (euhm “working”).

Or at least this was my intention. Within the 2 minutes upon my return home, the tablet was out of my hands and my 14-year old brother took the lead. He smoothly installed all “must have” apps: from “Angry Birds”, “Fruit Ninja” to “Tom, the talking cat (seriously: a cat that repeats your sentences in high voice)”.  Together we further discovered other tablet applications such as taking pictures, making movies, Skype & Facebook or even scanning barcodes and QR-codes. The sky is the limit!

Distimo recently published a list of the top downloaded apps in 2011: the Angry Birds are far ahead on common social media such as Skype & Facebook. The addictive game was downloaded more than 300 million times up till now. The game involves using gestures and taps to catapult cartoonish birds at different block-based structures. You can progress through levels based on how many birds it takes you to finish knocking down the structure.

Okay, nevertheless, I agree with the majority of the tablet users in our survey: a tablet is fun, it’s addictive and it’s very user-friendly. I can’t wait to include it in my working and leisure habits. But I’ll need to get it out of my little brother’s hands first .

At Profacts it is always busy at the end of the year. Clients are already making plans for the next year and are developing new strategies, new targets, … That’s where Profacts comes in: via our research methodologies, we can help them to reveal their factors for success and lead them into the right direction.

With the end-of-year rush we would almost forget that the holidays are coming, but luckily we have a few ‘Profacts-reminders’:

-    The piles of New Year cards and presents that are waiting to be delivered to all the people we want to say thanks to.

-    Secondly, at Profacts we are blessed with a neighbor who takes care that nobody forgets that it is Christmas.

-    Then we also have our annual Profacts Christmas dinner! Those who remember the pictures of our summer event already know that the young and dynamic Profacts team knows how to turn a work related event into a fun experience!
Valerie, our office manager, reserved us a separate room at KorenleiTwee in Ghent. Tim and Stijn, the managing partners, directly brought us into the right mindset with a little quiz. A week before, all Profacts employees had to write a little report about their performance interview. Now we had to guess who of our colleagues was the first to send his report, who used most diminutives, who illustrated his report by 4 html-links, … Apparently, we spend too much time together as some people answered all questions correctly .
Afterwards, we enjoyed our dinner and drinks while the voices got louder and the conversations got more interesting, … Anyway, the waitress definitely enjoyed our company: “What a fun company you work for!”.
Below some atmospheric pictures:

-    And last but not least, while I was writing this blog I got interrupted by clinging bells and a loud “HO HO HO”: Yes indeed, we got a visit from Santa Claus at Profacts!! Santa Claus had a personal message for all of us written in his book: funny things that we have done, typical characteristics or personal accomplishes to be proud of! He even made us sing some Christmas songs.

With  all these reminders, we sure cannot forget that a New Year is coming our way so let me finish by wishing you all the best for 2012. May you find your own factors for success!!

Being a research consultant at Profacts and being president of Rotaract Gent-haven, I think I can say that this year is a successful one when it comes to developing my professional skills.

For those among you who don’t know Rotaract, this is Rotaract in a nutshell:

Being part of the Rotary family, Rotaract is a service club which – as the name implies – services others in our society. However, Rotaract doesn’t really give financial support but engages itself in organising events to raise funds and Rotaract uses these funds to do something for the needy in our society.

Organising events implies looking for sponsoring. And of course I could only try and ask if Profacts wanted to support Rotaract Gent-Haven. Profacts helped to realise some of our events. ‘Now Playing’ which is a music contest for starting bands, our movie nights –always at a special location– and Rotaract’s ‘Mini Football Cup’ each turned out into a success. With the revenues, we were able to give ‘Sinterklaas’-presents to needy children, paint a red school into white for children with an autistic disorder, …

Being part of this group of youngsters (18 – 30 y.o.) really enriches my own life experience: As member of Rotaract I get acquainted with a lot of people from other Rotaract and Rotary clubs. Being president of Rotaract Gent-haven helps me in developing my own social skills, learning to manage projects, motivating other members, … and it makes me more aware of the existing problems in our own neighbourhood.

Not only in my spare Rotaract time, but also during work, my professional skills are trained. Profacts recently organised some training sessions for its employees. Implementing the tips & tricks we learned during these sessions and being given several presentation opportunities, help to improve my professional abilities.

I am very happy to learn that the combination of being a Profacts employee and president at Rotaract, is fruitful for my employer, my Rotaract club and of course… myself.

The Matrix : Free your mind !

On October 21st, I attended with some of my colleagues a training, organized by our team leaders,  about internal communication and improving  productivity.

As expected, the training turned out to be very interesting, interactive and of course (it’s Profacts ) … a lot of fun !

A topic I found very interesting was prioritization, an essential skill to make the very best use of your efforts and time.  Not only to create calmness in your work, but also in your personal life.

I think a lot of the young people (like me ) with a job and a young family know the problems of combining a busy life at work and at home.

To-do lists  and day-planners  are very common strategies. But sometimes those lists keep expanding and expanding…  Therefore you need to know what is important and what is urgent.

The urgent/important matrix (= Eisenhower matrix)  is a useful tool for thinking about priorities and helps to quickly identify the activities to focus on. Listing your activities and assigning importance and urgency to each of these activities can help you to plan and minimize stress.

The matrix can help to make a good, efficient list of A-tasks (necessary and important), B-tasks (necessary and less important) and C-tasks (not necessary and no profit).

As an office manager and mom, my lists are very extensive .

At work I’m responsible for the administration of projects, HR-business, incentive handling and contact with suppliers. As a mom, wife and friend my days are occupied with pottie training, playing with my child, the household, social events, and many other things.

I’ts a lot, but planning helps me manage my time-for today and the next week(s)- and makes me enjoy the things I do !

Like someone said : Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan !

Interview with Timothy Desmet, co-founder of Profacts

Last Thursday, Profacts was present at the “Gala van de Vlaamse HR Ambassadeurs 2011”. Profacts is one of the sponsors of the Gala and Timothy Desmet is a member of the jury that elects the HR Ambassador each year. Timothy also gave a presentation about ‘working longer’ and because I’ve always wanted to see a presentation, I wanted to be there. (As a Research Assistant, I collaborate on a lot of projects, but I rarely get the chance to see an actual presentation of the report.) I had the chance to go to the Gala, because Profacts also organized a survey at the event and as an assistant I was asked to pick up the completed surveys and hand out the prize to the winner of the contest that was donated as an incentive for the survey. Unfortunately, I got ill, and someone else went… So I asked a few questions to Timothy, to get a better picture of what I missed.

What exactly is the “Gala van de Vlaamse HR Ambassadeurs”?

The Gala is an event that is organized by D.E.N.K.-HR  for HR professionals, but also for all other fellow board members and executives who are sympathetic to HRM. Each year, more than 500 HR professionals meet each other at the Gala. Apart from being a perfect networking event for HR professional, the Gala aims to bring interesting content and some entertainment to the audience, This year, Dirk Denoyelle entertained the audience with, among others, a perfect imitation of Elio Di Rupo. Most importantly, each year, a jury sends out an “HR-ambassor”.

How do you elect an HR ambassador?

For the jury, which is presided over by Pieter Timmermans of the VBO, it is important not to make the election of the HR Ambassador into a popularity poll, where the audience votes for the most popular person in the room. The jury wants to send out an ambassador, who is able to give the field a positive image because of the values the person represents. The jury follows quite an elaborated process: first, every member of the jury can submit nominees. Second, the jury discusses all nominations and then chooses the short list in a blind vote. Then, each of the companies who are in the short list are visited, interviewed and screened extensively. Based on that screening, the jury chooses the winner, again in a blind vote.

What are the criteria that the jury uses to elect an HR ambassador?

The basic criteria that are considered when electing the HR Ambassador are authenticity, creativity, innovative approach, sustainability, values, personality, vision, openness, inspiration and ability to implement.

Who got chosen this year as HR ambassador?

This year, Schoenen Torfs (Els Van Keymeulen) won the Award. Schoenen Torfs creates added value through the personal happiness of the employees and makes financial success and status subordinate to personal growth, self development and contribution to society by defining goals for (potential) employees and the organization.

You mentioned also that the Gala provides interesting content to the audience. This year, you presented the results of a recent Profacts survey on Working Longer (working until or beyond 65). What were the results from the research?

There were 3 main conclusions from the research. First, the active population in Belgium is clearly more willing to work longer than five years ago. The political discussion about increasing the retirement age, has clearly been followed by the audience. Although there is clearly more openness towards working longer than 65, people are only willing to work longer if certain important adjustments are made, such as working less hours in the week and/or getting more holidays through the year. When adjustments like this are made, about 1 in 3 is willing to work longer than 65 years. The second conclusion is that the HR community in Belgium is not yet taking the proper actions to get their employees to work longer. While most people ask to work less hours when they get older, less than one fourth of the employers offers that option to their older employees. We clearly see a mismatch between what employees are asking for and what employers are providing. The third conclusion from our research is that the most important way to encourage people to work longer is to make sure that the employees have a high employee engagement. People are willing to work 4 years longer if they have a strong emotional bond with their job and their employer!

So, what will happen with the results?

At the Gala, Profacts organized a very similar mini-survey on Working Longer among the HR professionals that were present. In total, more than 360 HR professionals completed the survey, which should provide us with a representative idea of what the HR community is thinking about Working Longer. The next step is to compare the results of the HR community with the results of the employees. The report of this comparison will be sent to all the people who were present at the HR-gala.

As an incentive to participate in the survey, Profacts donated an Employee Engagement study of 15.000€ to a person who completed the survey. Who won this study?

The Employee Engagement study that we donated went to someone who completely filled in the mini-survey, and the winner was Sabine Baes of HDP & Arista. We hope that we can help them to increase their employee engagement on the basis of the results of our study and that they will have no problem to convince their people to work well beyond 65 at HDP & Arista

My final question: how was the performance by Dirk Denoyelle?

I thought he did a perfect imitation of Robby Williams and Enrique Iglesias, but when he started to shout “Timothy, I love you” in the voice of Elio Di Rupo, I wanted to flee the room

Profacts doesn’t just provide a stimulating work environment; the company also provides opportunities for individual enrichment and encourages its employees’ to fulfill their personal aspirations.

Almost a year ago a friend of mine told me about the Oxfam Trailwalker, an endurance walking event, in which teams of 4 competitors must complete a course of 100 kilometres in 30 hours. Aside from the personal challenge, the goal of the Trailwalker is to raise funds to support Oxfam’s various poverty alleviation and emergency relief projects around the world.

I was intrigued but hesitating at first. 100 kilometres? I had never walked more than 25… Tales of blistered and swollen feet, mud-covered walking dead, and the occasional tears were circling around.  In the end, my friend convinced me to join his team. We had nothing to lose. We depended on our high hopes and our camaraderie to conquer the High Fens. At Profacts, the initiative was extremely well received. Everybody was interested and willing to partake in raising funds for the ‘registration fee’ we had to gather, to be able to start the challenge. Moreso, managing partners Stijn and Tim have the heart in the right place, proving it by sponsoring our endeavor.

On August 21 we gathered our tents, supplies, walking shoes and courage and in the evening sun we set out to surmount the dense forests surrounding Eupen. After a savory meal, we set up our tent and with the sound of the pouring we sunk into a light sleep, to wake up at 6 a.m.

In the bleak early morning sun we gathered our belongings, tied our shoelaces tightly together and set out. Underneath a huge arc, thousands of courageous men and women were nervously hopping from one foot onto the other. At 7 a.m. the signal was given, and everybody poured downhill and into the unknown. The initial twenty five kilometres took us over the Belgian border into Germany and from there onto Baraque Fraiture (halfway!). On a plateau some hours before reaching Baraque Fraiture it started to drizzle. Moments later we were in a full blown storm. Wind, thunder, lightning, in minutes we were soaked to the bone. Luckily we were well equipped and the occasional text messages from my colleagues kept me going. Nearly halfway! Further than I had ever walked.

The halfway stop was right in the eye of the storm. At Baraque Fraiture we were welcomed with cheering, hot soup and fresh socks. At a time like that, there is not much more a person could ask for. Fully charged we took to conquering the last 50 kilometres, and night was slowly setting in. One of the most beautiful, yet testing parts of the walk was the nighttime. With nothing but a flashlight, every step could be one stumbling over a rock or in a mud filled hole. Luckily the four of us kept encouraging each other and counting down the kilometres as we advanced.

An indescribable feeling came upon us when we saw the dark of night slowly, yet steadily turn into the dawn. The tops of the trees vaguely illuminated with the first rays of sunlight. The silence, only slightly disturbed by our confident stride. After 23 hours and 56 minutes the finish was in sight, as our supporters came to welcome us, our challenge came to an end. Truly, a once in a lifetime experience! To be continued with an all Profacts team in 2012?

Guess what the three things are people take with them when they leave home?
Their wallet, keys and yes: mobile phone! Imagine browsing your Facebook account and reading the news while on a train on your way to work or waiting on a bus.
Sound all too familiar?  Some employees and managers at Profacts will certainly agree .

The following graph shows the evolution of smartphone versus computer desktop sales.

You can clearly see the “boom” of smartphone sales all over the world.
Is it worth asking today why people use smartphones? With 5 billion users in the world, this “new” technology has become an essential part of our daily lives. So it’s not surprising that market researchers start asking themselves “how could we use these mobile tools to provide more insights?”

Gone are the days of paper surveys! With the advancement of mobile technology, market research surveys can be adapted for viewing on mobile phones, making it more fun for consumers to respond than traditional methods, like paper and telephone interviews.

Surveys via mobile phone can be done anywhere and at any time and therefore have a lot more advantages compared to other research methods. Considering that a high amount of participants of the main target groups can not be reached at home at most hours of the day, the chance to get hold of them by mobile phone is much higher. Especially with regard to people under the age of 25 as well as business people, who are often on the way, the predicted results are promising.

Through the novelty of the form of mobile surveys, mobile research has a motivating effect on the participants. This applies especially to young, technologically-interested persons.

As a programmer and smartphone owner at Profacts, I am driven to make the surveys smartphone compatible.
Participants will have the choice: either you fill out the survey on your PC, where you will get a rich layout, or you choose to fill it out on your smartphone, where you will get an adjusted layout, fit for the small screen.

We believe this will help us to reach more people at different times of the day.
Profacts is hopping on the train of this innovative research method!

When a company wants to create a product with a strong market position, there are different key factors for success.

First, there are the hard skills. These skills implicate that the technical know-how to create a reliable product is present in your company. Suitable employees are necessary but not the only essential part. In today’s competitive economy it’s not only a challenge to find the best employees, it’s also important to motivate them and keep them motivated so they are willing to make that extra effort which is necessary to distinguish your company from the competition. In the literature this is called employee engagement. As you can see in this video some big players like Google are even extremely investing in employee engagement.

Research shows that employee engagement is more than only offering good working conditions and a competitive salary to your employees. Employee engagement is more than keeping your employees satisfied. It implicates that your employees get the opportunity to develop all of their talents. Furthermore, it implicates that these employees are willing to make that extra effort for your clients, to take initiative on the work floor and want to bring their company to a higher level. Engaged employees are always looking forward to work and view their job as a real asset for themselves. In such cases the rate of absenteeism and turnover are very low. Research also shows that being a company with engaged employees is correlated with having a good image in the external world and with gaining more economic profit.

Now, which are the drivers of employee engagement? Profacts developed, based on the scientific literature, a unique model by which we can measure a range of different factors that influence the rate of employee engagement. Based on these measures Profacts is able to detect those factors that have the biggest impact on employee engagement in your company. These results show on which dimensions your employees are satisfied and which dimensions a company specifically needs to improve to make the engagement of their employees even bigger!

Profacts not only investigates employee engagement, but also puts this actively into practice by investing in different aspects that can improve the engagement. Not only are there possibilities during the whole year for the Profacts employees to actively learn, there are also special training days. Those days give each employee the opportunity to get even more in touch with the strategy of Profacts. Also, throughout the year there are opportunities to get in touch with our colleagues in a casual atmosphere. It is clear that Profacts recognizes the importance of employee engagement and the fact that engaged employees can bring a company to a higher level!