2daysmood Interview Series with Monique Britstra

Monique Britstra is HR Manager of Timing Uitzendbureau – one of the leading employment agencies in the Netherlands. What characterizes Monique is a genuine drive to make a positive difference in the life of employees in her organization. Both professionally and privately. And with her vast experience in HR, extensive knowledge of business processes and up-to-date knowledge of her professional environment, you can count on Monique to add value every step of the way.

 

Happiness at work. Is it possible? Is it valuable? How do people in your organization look at happiness on the work floor?

Happiness at work is very important! Timing is an organization where successes are celebrated. We believe that employees should be put into a position where they can apply their talents to the maximum of their ability. Because we believe that when employees can do what they’re good at, they’re more productive and get into a positive flow. Besides that we believe it’s important to consider the complete environment of the employee. How are they doing – everything considered? We care about everyone that works here and we want people to be happy, not only at work. So when an employee raises issues in their private life, we try to help them all the same. For example, when an employee has financial problems, we offer them the service of an independent budget coach to help them out.

 

Different generations have different expectations from their employers. What is the most significant difference you see between the expectation of the younger generations compared to the older ones?

I’d start by saying that it depends how you look at it. You often see harsh reviews of sharp differences between generations, but I find that most of the time it is rather dependent on the individual. Nonetheless, some differences are noticeable. The younger generation is more likely to assume everything is available and adjustable to their needs. More often expect a laptop, mobile phone, transportation and don’t seem to be less aware of the cost to the employer. On the other hand, the younger generation seems to respond worse to practical expectations from their employer. Personal ambitions and development seem to be top priority for them. It’s also noticeable that a company that simply makes profit is unattractive to them – social and environmental impact are important.

 

Employee Engagement is a term that is widely used, but oftentimes interpreted differently. In your opinion, what should we be talking about when we discuss Employee Engagement?

In my opinion it should be about engagement to the organization they work for. They should feel at home at their work and should feel empowered in their job. Employees want to know that they matter to the success of the organization. And in that sense, want to feel that they are the organization and feel proud to work where they do. If I could give one advice for improving engagement, it would be to involve employees in setting out the direction of the company. Followed by providing a framework for action and letting them define the actions within the framework.

 

HR Technology is evolving rapidly. Which HR Tech do you expect to have the biggest impact on your organization in 2017?

I believe the biggest impact will be in automated matching between vacancies and candidates. The algorithms that do so are getting more and more accurate and are therefore starting to add more and more value. Besides that, I see a lot of potential in automated resource planning. There too, the accuracy and added value of automated solutions is rapidly improving.

 

Interested to find out more about Monique Britstra? Please visit the website of Timing Uitzendbureau, find her on LinkedIn or have a look at a recent research(dutch).