“In today’s rapidly changing world, you can’t allow 3 years for someone to settle into a position on the Board”
“If you’d told me at the outset that we’d appoint our first director from the TIAS program in just 2 years, I’d have called that very ambitious. So I’m quite proud that we succeeded and that our colleagues are embracing the program.” Those are the words of Ronald Pruisscher, HR Manager at Goudappel Group. Along with the internal learning and development program Goudappel Campus, he chose the Executive Leadership & Management Program at TIAS to give managers at Goudappel who normally function at a senior management level the opportunity for further development, and to create an internal pool of potential candidates for the Board.
The issue
The immediate impetus for Goudappel to seek out a development program to prepare managers to join the Board was the impending end of the terms of the two current Board members. One member is leaving after 12 years of service, and they wanted to ensure proper continuity. One key factor here is that due to their flat organizational structure, a management position at Goudappel is comparable to a senior management position in a more hierarchical organization. In addition, as part of the bigger picture, HR wanted an internal talent pipeline, to gain better control over the recruitment of management and Board members. Ronald Pruisscher: “When your organization opts for an internal talent pipeline, you also want to have internal talent on hand when a vacancy opens up on the Board.”
Goudappel opts for an internal talent pipeline
To fill vacancies throughout its organization, Goudappel has opted for an internal talent pipeline for three reasons. Ronald: “First, we hire a lot of newcomers to the job market, such as students who did internships with us, or recent graduates. This creates an internal talent pool of new employees who we largely train ourselves. Because most of our employees have high technical degrees and are eager for career development, we created various career paths years ago. These career paths outline how an employee can grow in their adviser role from junior adviser to senior adviser, with further roles such as account manager, project manager, IT specialist and team manager.
Temporary management appointments
“Another factor,” Ronald adds, “is that at the management level, we work with temporary appointments, because employees who choose management roles want to stay involved in the content. That’s also partly necessary to ensure they can support their employees in their day-to-day. So, managers and directors are always appointed to 4-year terms. We then decide whether or not to continue, in mutual consultation. If a manager decides not to stay on as a team manager, you want to fill that position quickly so employees continue to get enough management attention.”
Governance: all employees are owners
Goudappel prefers internal promotions to the Board as well, to ensure that feel for the business and organizational culture that the role requires, and especially knowledge of how governance works at Goudappel. Ronald: “Our governance structure is a bit complicated for outsiders. At Goudappel, all employees are owners of the organization. This affects how we make decisions.”
“A proper grounding in strategic management has a massive impact on performance at that level.”
The Goudappel Campus
For the past 7 years, Goudappel has had its own learning and development platform for all employees throughout the organization: from advisers and researchers, to office support staff and management. Really the only thing missing was a development program at the strategic management level. The upcoming changes on the Board, and HR’s desire to have an internal pool to draw from for managers and directors, prompted the Goudappel Campus to arrange an in-house development program at this level as well.
Impact on performance
Ronald: “Our employees mostly have technical degrees and relatively little training in areas like sales, project management, finance and leadership. Yet these are precisely the skills you need on the Board. Another point is that in today’s rapidly changing world, your organization can’t allow 3 years for someone to settle into a position on the Board. By then, the world will have already changed again. Scientific studies also show that giving potential candidates a proper grounding in strategic management has a massive impact on performance at this level.”
The desired program
After a review of the literature and discussions with the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board, the Goudappel Campus identified six areas of competence for Goudappel directors, with specific goals for each area. These six areas are:
- Leadership and vision
- Financial analysis and control
- Strategic management
- Collaboration and making connections
- Sales and networking
- Management, governance and employee participation
They then set about finding an open development program that could meet these goals. Ronald: “We wanted a program where the total package lined up with our strategic management goals, but also one where our managers could take one module at a time, to continue their development in their current roles. Plus, we wanted our participants to get to know colleagues from other organizations.”
Why TIAS?
Out of 12 different programs, Goudappel chose the current Executive Leadership & Management Program at TIAS. “The TIAS program ticks all the boxes in terms of objectives, level of education, flexibility and duration,” explains Ronald. “One of the very best aspects of TIAS in my view is that it combines the latest scientific insights with current topics in this area, and offers space for participants to explore their own interests and needs.”
The Executive Leadership & Management Program
TIAS took the open question from Goudappel and translated it into the main transitions needed for employees to grow to the Board level. The current open Executive Leadership & Management Program, with a total of 21 lecture days and a duration of 1 to 2 years, was the right fit here.
The program is specially designed for people aspiring to Board positions, or who are already serving on the Board and want to develop themselves further. The space provided to meet peers from other organizations and discuss real-world cases ensures a combination of individual learning and learning from each other.
The program consists of three core modules:
- Strategic leadership (2 x 3 days)
- Organizational leadership (2 x 3 days)
- Personal leadership (3 x 2 days)
Plus one of the master classes (1 x 3 days):
- Management & Governance
- Management Teams & Leadership
- Networks & Alliances
- Strategic Foresight & Scenario Planning
- Shared Leadership for Complex Changes
- Personal Coaching
The TIAS Executive Leadership & Management Program has allowed Goudappel to work towards its collective goal of training participants to join the Board, while also providing space for the development needs of individual employees. In each module and master class, participants can bring in their own real-world cases to gain new tools and insights that they can apply directly to their day-to-day work after the lecture days. Participants can choose their own first module and take a time-out before starting the next one. The modules start every spring and autumn in Utrecht and/or Tilburg.
“Employees who have taken a module ask different questions, and are far more aware of everything at play in the organization.”
Results
Before the start of the program, all managers were invited to meet with the Board and HR to discuss their ambitions and the possibilities offered by the TIAS program. Ronald: “It’s not so much ‘if you take this program, you’ll became a director,’ but more so ‘what do you need now for your development?’ So far, 10 colleagues have taken one or more modules of the program. Two of these colleagues have completed the entire program, and another will finish this coming year. One of the managers that took the whole program, Luc Wismans, recently joined the Board as the Director of Technology & Innovation. That alone is naturally an amazing result after just a 2-year program.”
More conscious decisions
Since this appointment to the Board, Ronald has noticed that the strategy and planning sessions between Management and the Board work differently. “We’re having higher-level discussions. Employees who have taken a module ask different questions, and are far more aware of everything at play in the organization. Even on matters like major investments in our modeling software (Goudappel Next, red.), a project that has been running for 2 years now. Two years ago we became aware that we had to make major investments in that area. But for the question of ‘how will we actually make the investment?’, the answer sometimes felt like ‘let’s give it a try and see how it turns out’.’’ Things are certainly different now. We’re making conscious decisions. I think we’ve really grown in that regard. Last year saw lower results due to those major investments. This year’s results are better than forecast. It’s not the whole story, but I think more conscious decisions are a factor.”
Added bonuses
Ronald also notes that the Management & Governance Master Class has helped Goudappel managers perform better in projects, and better collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders in Goudappel projects. “That’s something I hadn’t expected.”
In addition, the TIAS program has strengthened external networks. “Our participants often stay in touch with fellow participants from other organizations who they get to know during the modules. They look at each other’s organizations and compare and contrast them, and sometimes decide to take more program modules together. We chose an open program for a reason, but I never thought these contacts would play such as major role in the development process.”
The next step
Goudappel was unable to find an internal candidate for general director in late 2023. Ronald: “My aim is to have someone in-house link up with the current general director over a year and a half. After this, the TIAS program should enable us to continue developing potential new directors. The broader objective here is for Goudappel to have a pool of potential candidates for the Board. That’s the process we started 2 years ago. The program also fits into the overall career path policy we’ve developed as an organization. I’m happy with it because it closes the loop. Managers realize that they can continue their development. And the TIAS program continues to raise awareness around this.”
“In every aspect, you see that it’s really a university program with cutting-edge insights.”
Rating
Looking back on their experiences with the Executive Leadership & Management Program, Ronald concludes that “TIAS delivers what they promise. They promise a program taught by world-class instructors with current scientific knowledge. And that’s what they deliver. In every aspect, you see that it’s really a university program with cutting-edge insights. I also hear this from our participants who are enthusiastic about that exact benefit. They also kept their promise that each module would be delivered by a diverse team of lecturers, to explain the different issues. That makes it a pleasure to work with TIAS.”
“The professionals at TIAS that we’ve been in contact with now know everything about Goudappel. They have a good answer for every problem or issue. Including for the participants. Participants report that they’ve received excellent support. For me, that’s a must. As managers, they’re all extremely busy, and they benefit from practical solutions that fit into their busy schedules. If a participant has a problem with the timing of a module for instance, we can adjust that in the schedule without too much fuss.”
