Leendert Klink has been working as Van Hessen’s Global HR Director since the end of 2017. Based in Van Hessen’s headquarters, he and his team coordinate and streamline the worldwide Human Resources efforts. Leendert is married to Marjolein and together they have three daughters aged, 28, 25, and 20, respectively.

In what way does Van Hessen distinguish itself from other companies when it comes to passion?

Passion can be found in other companies as well. In the past, I’ve worked in construction. When I would accompany the construction workers in reviewing their project, they would say: “That is my bridge,” or “This is my apartment building.” They own their projects. This is what you see at Van Hessen as well. People in our company can talk enthusiastically about our products. They know all the ins and outs: what works and what doesn’t. Or what the special properties are of certain organs in the bowel package. It’s on their mind when they get up in the morning and when they go to bed at the end of the day. The remarkable thing at Van Hessen, however, is that here we don’t have bridges or apartment buildings to fill people’s heart with pride. Our products are not exactly sexy. And yet, our people are excited about the product, about how the bowel package gets processed and how the supply chain is structured. This excitement among the employees who work with the bowel package finds its way into the rest of the organization.

The passion for our products can be felt across the entire company. We all go to work because we enjoy it and because we want to become better at processing the bowel package. We also notice that the new generation in the company wishes to make its mark. This enthusiasm contributes substantially to the quality of our product. Are we unique in this regard? I’m not saying that. But we belong to the top. There are many things we do right because clients notice the added value that Van Hessen brings. Without passion, it’s impossible to get there.

Why is passion such an essential value for Van Hessen? Why can’t it be exchanged for a comparable value?

Entrepreneurs who begin a new company begin with excitement. They get their production process organized. Products are manufactured and sold. At Van Hessen, the company is itself already the product. Van Hessen is entirely dependent on the quality of its products. And that quality can only be reached when every segment of the production process is fine-tuned. You can’t do this when the employees are not driven to excel. Passion therefore needs to be fostered. For this reason, we have a traineeship, in which we send trainees across the world for two years. This is so they gain knowledge about all aspects of the supply chain. The aim is also to help them to get over some of the less sexy aspects of working with the bowel package and grow love for the product. Rather than being average, we strive to be a special place where people enjoy their work and inspire others with that same excitement.

Hearing you say this, one might conclude that Van Hessen is looking for people who are very career minded. Is that search for passion in contrast with the values of many Millennials (people born between 1985 and 2000) for whom time off and selfrealization are essential?

There is always tension between the old and the new, one generation and the next. Change is of all times. My children consider me an old man. They are in the process of entering the big world of finding a job, making money, and building a career. And you notice the differences. In the past, we recruited people in a certain demographic segment of our choice. Nowadays, it’s the people looking for jobs who have the options available to them, and all you can do as a company is to stand out. But I also believe that we must move with the times and learn to integrate things into our company that we’re not used to.

If we don’t adapt, we can’t survive. Of course, we will have to impart our passion and way of working to the people who join the company, but we cannot continue the recruiting methods of some twenty years ago. For that reason, you see recruitment being transformed at Van Hessen. We have become more digital than ever before. After the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented a permanent work from home policy. Our lease cars are (where possible) electric. The old guard considers this extraordinary, but for millennials this is a precondition. So, change is critical. Only then will employees feel at home, which is important if you want to instill the passion in people that is so characteristic of Van Hessen.

Is it difficult then to find people with passion and the right drive?

It is generally difficult to recruit people. This is not strange when you realize that there is less than 3% unemployment in a country like the Netherlands. It is a structural problem not limited to Europe. In the USA and China, it is also difficult to find employees. You must make a tremendous effort to stand out and to be considered special by your audience in the job market. In the past, you simply placed a job ad. At one point this became digital. Soon after, we began using job sites. Today, there are countries where we mostly recruit via social media. You don’t use job ads in those places. On social media, we are continually attempting to interest certain target audiences for what we do. People who respond to that are added to a wide group of potentially interested individuals. We then approach them with a personalized message. Meanwhile, we check their background to see whether they might be a good fit. You also look at people’s personal attitudes and what they might be thinking about the meat industry. Only then, when the contact is warm, you begin the application process. This is how we do it in Europe and North America.

Elsewhere, we do it differently. In Asia, newer technological developments allow for even newer ways to recruit people. Other countries have more traditional methods. In some places, we post little cards in the local supermarket. Wherever we are, we adapt to the local situation. But the thought that we only want people who want to convince us of their choice for us – as someone recently nostalgically reminisced – has been transformed into: we first must find the applicants and persuade them.

What, then, are the requirements that you have for new employees at Van Hessen? What are you looking for? And what does Van Hessen offer new employees regarding work-life balance, inclusivity, salary, and career?

We, of course, look at education and experience. Since there is no education for the meat processing industry for bowel packages, we look at experience in similar functions, as well as special skills and interests. We also use current Van Hessen employees as a benchmark since we are a special company with special people. Does the new employee fit into our environment? We offer good secondary terms of employment in line with what’s customary today and pay close attention to the demands of the job market. These conditions are different in every situation. It is always geared to our ability to find people.

We’re serious about inclusivity and diversity. We’re very intentional about not setting standards in terms of faith, background, or sexuality. We strive to do this globally even though the reality can be tough. I think, for instance, of countries where people think very differently about certain matters. Some countries or cultures have different opinions on matters of inclusivity. This is an area we’re working on.

You mentioned the requirements Van Hessen has and how difficult it is these days to find people. How do you make sure people develop the passion that is so characteristic of Van Hessen?

On the one hand, Van Hessen needs to adapt to the circumstances that millennials consider normal. On the other hand, Van Hessen has proven itself as a company, while an entire generation of millennials still has a lot to prove to the world. And this they want to do. When they join Van Hessen, they either pick this up or they don’t. When they do, they become part of the process. They change together with Van Hessen and adapt to the company culture. We, too, change on behalf of the new generation, as that generation simultaneously changes with Van Hessen. Our core values are the foundation of our company culture, and that culture is being lived out by the entire company.

In our company there are a few key individuals who are bearers of our culture in a special way. They have that love for our product and are driven to be the best. Their attitude is infectious. Being around them, new employees pick  up their passion. The transfer of this passion is a sociological phenomenon. People want to belong and at one point make their mark. How do they accomplish that? Simply by being driven as well, and by developing that same  passion. We stimulate this process through our managers, who kindle this enthusiasm. Also, in our traineeship, every trainee has a mentor and a tutor. We offer situational leadership and create space for a trainee to try things out, to make mistakes, to ask plenty of questions and thus forge their own path in the organization.

What does the future of recruiting look like?

Not everyone likes to work in a gutroom. Admittedly, it is not the most attractive work. Especially in Europe and North America, we have numerous workers from foreign countries. Yet, migration labor can only be a temporary solution. We work with a two-pronged strategy for this issue. On the one hand, there are still groups of migrants for whom the work can be attractive. For instance, for people from areas where the working environment is not good or where wages are relatively low. This part of the strategy is for the short term. The second strategy, intended for the long term, consists of mechanization, automation, and robotization. This way, more work will be done with fewer people. In the long term, the employees in the gutroom will become less production associates and more operators.

Aside from recruiting for the gutroom we are also working on succession planning. Within Van Hessen, we have identified crucial functions of which we know who will fulfill them in case of an unexpected departure. This way you guarantee continuity and anchor knowledge within the organization. This is how Van Hessen’s passion is preserved.

Employee Survey

This year we conducted a global survey of our employees to measure how satisfied they are with working at Van Hessen. Read more at LinkedIn.