[Startup Interview] Martin Meulenkamp, Co-Founder 2daysmood
24-04-2018 20:10:00 | Editor: Max Vlugt | hits: 9354 | Tags:

Martin Meulenkamp is Co-Founder of 2daysmood, they help organizations to improve their employee engagement, happiness and well-being through an innovative 15-second survey.

Please describe 2daysmood?

One question more and more organizations are asking themselves is ‘How do we create a culture of highly engaged and happy employees?’ At 2daysmood, we help organizations to improve their employee engagement, happiness and well-being through an innovative 15-second survey.

Via short and fun weekly interactions, the 2daysmood survey gathers valuable insights in how people feel at work and why. These insights in employees´ emotions and engagement levels spark actions big and small, which consequently improve the overall working experience. The results are presented in real-time through an online management dashboard.

Employees receive weekly team reports that aim to inspire individuals and teams to take action to increase their own happiness at work. These reports include data-driven advice and tips. To complete our holistic approach, 2daysmood HR experts assist and support (HR) managers to secure the follow-up of the results.

Why did you start 2daysmood?

In 2015 Jan Pronk decided to quit his job as IT manager at a large Spanish bank. He saw how cost cutting decisions from higher management negatively impacted the morale of his employees. Were the removal of plants and reducing the quality of coffee the right decisions to reduce costs effectively? The only way to measure the impact was through the annual engagement survey, but these results instantly disappeared in the lowest drawer of the management desk after three meetings. Fortunately, the company also realized that this was not the right approach and a happiness team was appointed to come up with action plans. But did these action plans influence the involvement and happiness of the employees? That remained unclear, after all, it was only measured once a year. This was the final straw for Jan Pronk and driven to make a change, he founded 2daysmood.

 Who owns 2daysmood?

Founder and CIO Jan Pronk and co-founder Martin Meulenkamp.

Jan Pronk has twenty years of IT experience in the Netherlands, Germany and Spain in various roles from programmer to CIO of a large bank. His expertise, combined with Martin´s 20-year HR career and experience as a former HR director of an international transport company, forms the solid foundation of our company.

How and where are you located?

We just moved to our new office at Utrecht, an innovative working space newly built for start-ups and scale-ups.

How is 2daysmood financed?

Partly through LEF funds, external funders and through the equity of both co-founders. And now also partly through our customers' own turnover.

What distinguishes 2daysmood from other businesses in the industry?

Firstly, what sets us apart from the other businesses in the industry is our continuous measurement of emotions and the fact that conclusions can be drawn from this based on a scientific model. Secondly, what makes us unique is our innovative 15-second survey method which is simple, effective and fun for employees. Thirdly, our 4-A holistic approach. Our goal is not only to provide (hr-) managers with valuable and continuous Analysis, but also to create Awareness, spark Action and support with expert Advice.

What is it clients want from you?

Organizations are noticing the benefits of measuring more frequently as opposed to their current traditional, yearly survey. Yearly engagement surveys are often perceived as time-consuming and boring. Employees often feel that the organization is not taking any action based on their feedback. Organizations also notice that employee branding is becoming more and more important in the current labor market. A focus on happiness can help companies attract and maintain young professionals, talents, specialists etc.  We provide HR- and team managers with more frequent insights in the emotions and engagement levels of their employees, in order to effectively take action to improve the overall happiness at work.

What does 2daysmood need to grow?

We need an investment to make the most of our first mover advantage by hiring extra hands for IT development, sales, account management and to professionalize our external communication & marketing.

What are your international ambitions?

2daysmood has a solid growth ambition. We want to be a respected name in the market both in the Netherlands and abroad. We want to take an expert role in the field of engagement, happiness and HR. We are working together with international partners such as an academic institute in the UAE and soon a Happiness institute in the USA.

Any recent news you would like to share?

In 2017 we were listed as HR Tech to Watch by Recruitment Daily and we were listed first in HR Zone's main HR apps. This year we will continue to contribute to a world in which organizations flourish through happy employees. We started the first quarter by implementing a number of attractive new features in our tool such as a baseline assessment - an innovative replacement of the annual engagement survey, a heat map that shows critical topics within different teams at a glance and a renewed library with statements and open questions about our newly developed 2daysmood Mood Driver model. In 2018, besides supporting management, we also want to offer the individual employee with the right insights and tools to nurture employee happiness.

www.2daysmood.com

 

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