Damen Naval has made great strides over the past year with an internal reorganisation designed to future-proof the company. The company has experienced substantial growth in recent years, largely a result of winning large and complex projects such as the F126 frigates for Germany and the Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates for the Dutch and Belgian navies. “First of all, we are extremely proud of these results,” explains Managing Director Roland Briene. “At the same time, it has been established that these successes also present the organisation with major challenges. And that is why we decided to launch the Time for Change process.”

The challenges for the company include a high workload for employees and an organisation that has to pull out all the stops to cope with the amount of work. In addition, the war in Ukraine, among other things, has caused defence budgets in the Netherlands, but also in other EU and NATO countries, to increase and there is more demand for complex naval construction. “All this ensures that high demands are made on Damen Naval, its personnel and its products,” Roland said. “Against this background, the MT has taken the initiative to review the futureproofing of Damen Naval’s strategic direction and organisational model. The aim of Time for Change is to design a future-proof organisation that is able to realise this growth in a manageable way and in which people enjoy working.”

At the most recent Time for Change meeting, the detailed design for the organisation was discussed. At the most recent Time for Change meeting, the detailed design for the organisation was discussed.

In the past year, a group of more than 80 Damen Naval employees has worked hard to scrutinise the current organisation and see where things should and could be improved and adjusted. Five guiding principles were identified to guide the new structure:

  • Human Capital: employees are put at the centre and Damen Naval provides a safe working environment where empowerment is key.
  • Customer Intimacy: customers are taken care of and, in addition to designing and building naval vessels, the offering of service and ILS is expanded.
  • Multi Market, Multi Project: the company will continue to operate internationally, in various markets and with various products, but will choose customers smarter.
  • Innovation: as an innovative company, Damen Naval will use innovation more broadly and strategically and give it a more prominent place in the organisation.
  • Data Driven: finally, the new organisation will work from one stable and uniform data reality.

Earlier this year, the project teams drew up an envisaged new main structure and in recent months, the teams have been working on the detailed design. Those proposals were presented and discussed on Thursday, 13 July. “Now the task is to merge these detailed drafts into a final proposal for the new organisation,” Roland explains. “Before we can share that new structure with all employees, we want to test it with the Works Council. That will happen in early September.”

“Once we have had the feedback from the OR, we can put the finishing touches on the design, and we can also share it with the rest of the company. Our objective is to launch our new organisation by 1 January 2024.” Roland Briene

That advisory request to the Works Council includes some key components such as:

  • Any organisational changes to the new structure
  • The expected impact on our staff strength and finances
  • How the implementation will take place

Roland: “Once we have had the feedback from the OR, we can put the finishing touches on the design, and we can also share it with the rest of the company. Our objective is to launch our new organisation by 1 January 2024.”

This week, a dedicated Time for Change button has been added to the Quick Links (the menu on the left) on Intranet. This is where all information about the process can be found, including all the internal announcements, a comprehensive FAQ and an initial outline of what the new organisational structure is expected to look like.

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