What I enjoy most is the freedom I have to create my own mini company within Vanderlande. I’m responsible for parts production, with goals and targets, and also my people – with their skills and development – the budget, etc. I align with my manager about what we want to achieve together, but how I realise these targets is up to me.
For example, I wanted to create a layer of supervisors, between myself and the staff reporting to me. Tommy shared this vision, and we created a new structure when I was promoted to Group Leader in April 2021.
This achievement at Vanderlande allows me to focus on the right areas. If you have 50 people reporting to you, your attention is divided in so many directions. With three supervisors, there is a more equal focus for all your members in the team. And the feedback from the shop floor has been very positive.
It’s important to me that I’m not too far from the shop floor, I enjoy being in contact with those who are using their hands and making our equipment. I love the manufacturing sector – I like that feeling, every morning, when I step inside the factory and smell the steel. I also like that on one side of the factory, we start the process with sheet metal and on the other, we have complete assembled equipment that is ready to send to the customer.
While targets are an important part of my job, they feature in my free time as well – I’m a keen runner and cyclist, and regularly set myself goals to achieve in my sporting endeavours. I’m a member of these sports clubs at Vanderlande too – the company invests in such pursuits and takes care of its employees. Not everything is work-related!
Vanderlande is a young organisation and there are many possibilities to grow. Through the general leadership training in the Vanderlande Academy, I have learned more about myself as well as how to lead a team made up of different individuals – this has helped to make my team stronger.
Although Vanderlande is a large company, it still has a family feeling. It’s not easy to keep this culture with so many employees, but we have managed to do so. And whenever I see my parents, the Vanderlande name is often mentioned, so it’s still a big part of my family’s life too.
If you would like to join me and my team working in the challenging and rewarding environment of manufacturing, please take a look at our vacancies.