Our People: Coaching Business Manager Geertjan

Tell me Geertjan, who are you?

My name is Geertjan, since 2016 I work as a business manager at Akkodis. I worked for 10 years as a Business Consultant before taking a step towards a technical and commercial management role. Besides my family with two children, I like mountain biking, DIY and doing fun things with family/friends. While studying Industrial Engineering and my first job I learned (even) more about technology, project management and personnel management. Things that really appeal to me and that I see reflected in the position of Business Manager at Akkodis.

What appeals to me in the role of Business Manager?

‘I work with a very fun and energetic team consisting of techies, fellow managers and colleagues who support me with recruitment, administration and sales. Every day I am busy with expanding our large network of clients and engineers. We work together on beautiful technical projects within the industry for leading customers.’

What are the responsibilities of a business manager at Akkodis?

‘As a business manager you are involved in various aspects. You will ensure the expansion of the collaboration with existing customers and look for new customers that fit the service and engineers of Akkodis. You translate project requests from the customer to the internal organization and determine, together with your team, the best solution to achieve a good proposal and optimal support for the customer.

We support our customers at their location and/or carry out the projects internally in one of our engineering departments. As a business manager at Akkodis you will visit many different locations. Building long-term relationships with clients is what we stand for. In addition, personnel management is also very important. You will draw up a personal development plan with your colleague engineer and regularly discuss progress. It gives me a sense of satisfaction to see colleagues grow, both professionally and personally. For the arrival of new engineering colleagues, you conduct job interviews together with the recruiter and you then follow up the entire process to find and bind new talent.’

What qualities are important to you in the role of Business Manager?

‘I find the quality of entrepreneurship and perseverance very important. As a business manager you look for possible opportunities with (potential) clients where we can build further. In addition, you are a real team player and you will be working in a people-oriented organization. Together you go for the best result in which it is important that the team can develop itself further. This also involves expanding the team, which requires strategic thinking and cooperation with other business managers and departments.’

And what are the biggest challenges?

‘In this role, a lot of entrepreneurship is required. It is important that you know how to tackle things, which ultimately leads to success. You are responsible for your department, in which you make your own choices about how you are going to expand the department and what actions are needed to achieve this. For me, the combination of being people-oriented, technical and commercial appeals enormously. It's mainly about seeing opportunities and, together with a team, converting them into success and together ensuring satisfied customers and engineers.‘

Why would you recommend becoming a business manager at Akkodis?

‘If you look at the various offices, there is an approachable atmosphere, which you immediately notice in the cooperation. We do it together and we do it well, because we are a large organization we have a lot of expertise in house so we can serve our clients in different ways. In addition, a good balance between work and private life is very important. This is well managed and coached within Akkodis; we give our people the space and they get it too.’