Helma Rutten-Reniers, HR Manager

In this series of interviews, this time our HR Manager, Helma Rutten-Reniers:

"Sustainable employability has always been important, but even more so this year"

Helma, you might want to introduce yourself first

I am married and have a two and a half year old daughter. I've been working in HR for 17 years now. I followed Management, Economics and Law at the Hogeschool 's-Hertogenbosch with an internship in London. I liked the UK and that is why I chose to do my MSc in Human Resource Management (HRM) in Cardiff (Wales). After that, I worked in HR for two companies in Wales for four years. However, when my sister had children in the Netherlands, something changed emotionally and I decided to move back to the Netherlands.

So restore balance in work and life?

Yes, in the past year it has become very clear how important this balance actually is and that it is different for everyone. I graduated in the subject "Work-Life Balance". The effect of work patterns on that balance and the influence you can exert on it, are of great interest to me. People are often more satisfied if they can influence how, where and when they carry out their work. At the time, this meant for me in 2009 that I exchanged the United Kingdom as a workplace for the Netherlands.

How did you end up in the moving world?

Once back in the Netherlands, I found a great job at De Rooy Logistics, a transport company in the automotive industry. I was able to set up the entire HR department and policy there in eight years. The last two years of this I have experienced up close what a business takeover does to people. That was instructive for me, the realization that I am and will remain an employee and had chosen my employer for a reason. When the former CEO of the acquired company retired, this was the perfect time for me to change. So when I saw the HR Manager vacancy of De Haan Relocations in August 2017, after all, also a logistics service provider, I applied for it.
The best thing about movers is their social and communication skills, they can work very well in one team. Many of them have been with De Haan for a long time and that speaks for itself.

You are now the HR Manager of De Haan. What responsibilities are covered by that?

I am ultimately responsible for the establishment and development of the personnel policy. I guarantee compliance with labor regulations and legislation. In addition, I am responsible for recruitment and selection, drawing up job profiles, absenteeism management, training policy and salary administration. In other words: inflow, through flow and outflow.

Which relevant external developments do you identify in your field?

Mid 2021, more than a year in the pandemic situation, consultation and forms of cooperation are the focus. Organizing performance appraisals differently, for example, is nothing new, but has now gone into higher gear for us. Continuous communication will, in my opinion, become the replacement for performance appraisals.

De Haan is known for keeping former employees closely involved with the company. In your opinion, is the HR strategy implemented differently in a family business than in a non-family business?

If, like us, you have a workforce with relatively many long-term employment contracts, and relatively few drop-outs, then that is something to be proud of and cherish as an HR manager. That also means that there is a culture underlying this that you have to be careful with. With us, the person comes first. I believe that this is not only human, but also business, because after all we want people to work for us in a responsible way. So our HR strategy is aimed, among other things, at facilitating this in a responsible and sustainable way, so that people can - hopefully - continue to work with us until their retirement or move on to a more suitable position outside our company.

Where do the challenges lie in your position?

The best thing about my field is organizational science. I find it very interesting how an organization actually works. People can be complicated, but that's only interesting and fun. Without people there is no organization. So cherish and at the same time create clarity and indicate frameworks.u
As an HR Manager, I am an employer and employee at the same time, these two roles in one designation are sometimes difficult. HR must be able to stand with one foot outside the organization in order to monitor the organizational goal from a helicopter view. I personally find that place within the organization the best.

What are the consequences of the special year 2020 on De Haan's HR policy?

Last year we implemented a completely new policy: the home working policy. Working from home was already possible before 2020, but only to a limited extent. I think it didn't feel like an option for most employees. The new policy is based on trust with the parameter that someone performs his or her work properly. So trust and output. Including the confidence that someone indicates when help is needed. The latter in particular, where optimal communication is crucial, is a learning point and challenge for all. This must be properly monitored. The homeworking policy required collaboration with our IT manager for the indispensable technical part of this policy.

I think we are doing well as a team of a service organization at the moment. We see good employee practices in our employees and we are proud of that! In the future, once the pandemic is over, the work from home policy will therefore be the basis for a transition to a hybrid system of working from home and working in the office.

What will be the emphasis in the HR policy in 2021?

Sustainable employability has always been important, but even more so this year. For example, we encourage our employees to take enough rest during the working day, to stay in consultation and to exercise enough. After all, health and job satisfaction are an important theme within sustainable employability. Especially since many of our employees do physical work.
Reintegration is a good example of this. Nobody likes to be sick, we assume that everyone wants to work again. Sometimes you have to protect people from themselves so as not to overburden too soon and make them promise to take a step back if things don't work out. And that is precisely what is difficult. I realize that, but it is necessary for sustainable employability in the long term.

Finally, do you have a tip?

Regardless of your situation, when looking for work, think about what you want rather than just saying "I am looking for work" or "I want to work". As a job seeker, be clear about what you are looking for, what you are not looking for and in what form. In this way, the work found does not become a short-term solution, but a suitable long-term solution for you.