In the section "on the floor at..." we interview ANVA colleagues about their roles, work and responsibilities inside and outside ANVA's doors. This time we meet Ricardo Piqué.
That sounds good. And privately?
"I live in Apeldoorn, love vacations and traveling."
Oh, wonderful. And where are you going now that the summer season is starting up again?
"My first next trip is planned for the end of this year and it's going to Las Vegas. My brother is getting married there and I get to go along as best man. Very cool! Next year I'm going to Cuba on the advice of Cees Hupkes, one of my colleagues in the department."
How cool! Enne ... what do you do outside of traveling? In other words, what have you been working on as HR lead over the past few months?
"The HR department as it stands now consists of a recruiter, HR assistant and myself as HR lead. In the first months, I focused mainly on getting well acquainted with the organization and all my colleagues. What does ANVA actually do? What does the product entail? Who are all the people and what kind of tasks do they perform on a daily basis? Do they have any concerns? To what extent are the HR processes in place? HR in the broadest sense is concerned with supporting employees and managers. In my view, this does not just mean paying salaries every month. Precisely feeling comfortable and having a safe working environment is very important to me. Considering the size of the company where I worked before, you would think that I would soon know my colleagues at ANVA. Yet I still regularly see a new face. I do my best to get to know everyone. That works out well though, ANVA is a very warm organization."
A warm bath, in other words. Great! What are you going to focus on in the coming period?
"I have been asked to take up and work on a number of very concrete issues. For example, as ANVA we now have about 40 vacancies that need to be filled. In addition, as Max recently announced, we are facing a number of innovations. From HR it is then my job to support that as best as possible for both employee and manager."
What does that mean in concrete terms?
"There are a number of positions that will be filled differently or will not return because of the upcoming change. Of course, we do very much want to keep the employees who are affected. These are people with a tremendous amount of expertise of both ANVA and the industry. In consultation with them, we have sought a suitable alternative."
So you don't focus on the recruitment side of HR, but mainly on the internal side. Is that right?
"Yes and no. As an HR department, we are (currently) too small to achieve our ultimate goal. We have ambitious plans, but also a lot of vacancies and administrative tasks. In recent weeks I have therefore been working on an overarching HR plan, to clarify how we can work toward our ultimate goal. In it, I focus mainly on the experience of our employees. In my view, that is where we can make a difference. Under that you can include a lot of topics, for which we are in the process of gradually expanding the HR department."
With the goal of retaining your own people, it seems to me?
"The job market has gone completely haywire. You can get a job anywhere as a job seeker, so the big question for HR departments is indeed: why with us? And: how do we make sure employees feel the answer to that question through and through."
Those are important questions to answer. Does that make your heart beat faster too?
"My heart beats when I am in contact with people. By this I mean the person behind the professional. I get happy when my role allows me to ensure that ANVA runs smoothly as an organization and that everyone is in the right place. Only then can someone go flat out. I am 30 years old and one of the younger people in ANVA. I like a bit more activity, without it being too much of course. That is what I am trying to do now. My ultimate goal is to give everyone a reason to smile every day. Nice challenge, but I think it will be fantastic if I succeed."
Fun in the workplace.
"Exactly! I think feeling safe and having fun is essential. The moment you feel comfortable, that will happen faster. "
So what does ANVA gain from this?
"At the bottom of the financial line, not directly anything. I really do this for the employees. And so there are a few more great initiatives that we are going to start to show that we are committed and so focus on the person behind the professional. We give you the space to be who you are allowed to be. In addition, I would like to give more attention to the ANVA Academy in the coming period. I would like to give all ANVA employees access to an online training library so that they can continue to develop. Each can then develop in the direction he or she wants."
And for you, what are tasks that are part of it, but that you find less fun to do?
"Over the past few months, a number of colleagues have found a nice job with another organization. As a people person, I still find that difficult. Of course everyone is free to do so, but I never like the so-called 'exit interview'. Yet I often get feedback from such conversations that I can use. Giving employees a warm welcome is one thing, but retaining them is even more important."
Absolutely, especially in this market. And Ricardo, tell me, what are you most proud of so far?
"I am very enthusiastic about the HR department itself and certainly also about the enthusiasm within ANVA. I find the interaction between employees and ANVA as an organization very warm and nice. I am therefore very happy that I dared to make the choice to move from a very large global player to a very different market and size of company. The warm bath you mentioned ensures that as a newcomer you can start flying immediately. You don't have to search for your place in a department or team, but get to know everyone quickly. This allows you to focus on the tasks that go with your position."
And the biggest milestone or greatest success so far. Do you have those in mind as well?
"We have quite a few vacancies, also in the area of Cobol programming. This is an older programming language, which makes it even more difficult to find new employees for it. To still recruit new employees, we set up the ANVA Cobol University, where we train lateral entrants in Cobol. That project has quickly taken wings and ensures that we can start the first class of the University no later than October 1. That's really fantastic!"
By extension, what do you hope to accomplish in the coming months?
"I would like to fill as many vacancies as possible, both at the HR level and ANVA wide. The more strength in the HR department, the more strength there will eventually be for ANVA as well. That may sound a bit selfish, but as far as I am concerned it is a crucial improvement step to achieve organization-wide success in the longer term."
Why do you think people should choose ANVA?
"The warm bath appealed to me personally tremendously. I haven't experienced that before. Secondly, ANVA is a market leader in a very specific market. That means a lot is possible as an organization. You will not easily get 'no' for an answer within ANVA. There are really nice and also tangible professional challenges. Moreover, there are opportunities for growth: upwards and sideways. ANVA already has many fine examples of this."
What are you looking forward to?
"I hope to be able to do my part in bringing about the ambitions of ANVA employees in the coming years. If that succeeds, that would be fantastic! It's a big challenge, but I'm incredibly looking forward to it."
