Human Resources

Learning doesn't have to be dull

"After my Masters in Marketing I took on various roles in different companies, from sales to consultancy. Eventually, I thought I should give the financial sector a try. Not because I believed I would fit in so well, since I regarded myself as too 'soft' to thrive in a hard, corporate world. Fortunately, though, it worked out really well – nobody elbowed their way to the top or anything like that. In fact, if you ask for help and dare to be yourself, you’re appreciated for doing so."

Compliant and instructive

“I think up ways to communicate legislation and policy clearly and accessibly to all my colleagues worldwide. A legal expert draws up policies aimed solely at compliance: in other words, adhering to the law. My colleagues and I then explore how to translate this abstract and complex information into practical codes of conduct and enjoyable, instructive training. We’ve also standardised this approach so that ABN AMRO can respond to changing legislation increasingly quickly and easily, all over the world."

Plenty of scope for young talents

"Our talent programmes are another part of my job. Each year, we take on between 50 and 60 young talents for 18 months of training. They’re given the opportunity to develop in a particular role and attend a training programme. As well as acquiring job-specific skills, they learn soft skills such as presenting and dealing with resistance. I coordinate this training, support recruitment in hiring these young talents and maintain close contact with the pool manager."

"We try very hard to recruit openly and inclusively for our talent programmes. Young talents deserve to be given a chance, even if their educational background isn’t 100% relevant or they don’t know the right people. That’s why we’ve developed a specific interview format in which candidates are judged on content rather than on whether they ‘click’ with the interviewer or are smooth talkers."

The value of an open mind

"I try to encourage young talents – and my colleagues – to be open to others, career opportunities and new impressions. In my view, this is essential if you’re going to give your career a good start. But it’s important to keep on developing yourself in the rest of your working life too. To keep on challenging yourself and growing."

My instinct says no, but I still do it

"That's also what I do: make sure I find myself in situations I can't escape from so that I have to embrace them. For instance, I organised an event and gave a presentation to 200 managers. It was terrifying, but I told myself it would be instructive. Afterwards, I was thrilled I’d stuck with it. I wouldn’t want to do it again any time soon, but I learned so much that one time!" 

"Due to the size of the organisation, opportunities like these come along almost automatically at ABN AMRO; you’ve just got to dare to grasp them. There aren’t many companies in the Netherlands where you get the chance to make such a big impact, for example, in the area of sustainability or equal opportunities. While this doesn't of course make ABN AMRO unique, it certainly makes it special."

Make a difference #startwithus