MAARTEN VAN BEEK, UT ALUMNUS OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, WORKS AS DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) AT ING. IN HIS EYES, HIS WORK IS ABOUT EXPERTISE. “WE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO DEVELOP THE EXPERTISE OF EVERYONE IN AN ORGANISATION,” SAYS VAN BEEK.
BY Hans van Eerden PHOTOGRAPHY ING
After finishing the organisational psychology programme, Maarten van Beek followed professor Joseph Kessels van Leiden to Twente. Kessels founded the Human Resource Development chair at the UT and dedicated himself to the research and design of learning environments. “He taught me how to develop a curriculum for adult education and how you can invest in people’s training in a way that also has a positive impact on the organisation. For Kessels, that involved theory, research and practice. It was great to see everything come together.”
Proof
“The field of human resources is developing. It is increasingly driven by analyses,” Van Beek notes. “We have to demonstrate that interventions, e.g. training programmes and rewards, bring out the best in employees. Kessels taught me how to prove that.” This forms the core of Van Beek’s career. Since 1999, he has held a variety of positions in the field of HR – from recruitment to talent management all over the globe at Unilever. He rose to the position of executive vice president HR at Mölnlycke Health Care. Since 2015, he works as HR director at ING Nederland. “I want to elevate this field to the next level and work with proof: measure how people’s expertise develops when you invest in them.”
Agile
The foundation for this proof was partially laid in Twente. “I valued the fact that the programme offers both an academical foundation and practical applicability. That combination is rare.” He still has ties to the UT. Van Beek collaborates with Celeste Wilderom, UT professor of Change Management and Organisational Behaviour. He hopes to obtain his doctoral degree with his research into the effectiveness of leadership in an agile context. “In the Netherlands, ING is the largest organisation to have adopted the agile method. Everyone works on client-oriented projects as part of an independent, multidisciplinary team. With this method, ING strives to be more efficient and flexible, innovate faster and be more appealing to its people by giving them much more freedom and responsibility than they would get in a more traditional organisation.” He continues: “There are not many studies concerning the leadership characteristics that are most effective in such an environment. It is one of my ambitions to identify what makes the agile method such a success at ING.”
Message
Van Beek’s doctoral research is “a long-term hobby.” Nevertheless, he could not wait to convey his message, so he started writing his own book. Its title will be hr-impact, de kracht van vakmanschap (HR impact, the power of expertise). In this book, he once again strives to bring theory and practice together. “I feel an obligation to help the new generation of HR managers develop themselves and their field.” Powered by that same drive, Van Beek holds positions at various other organisations, e.g. Cordaid (development cooperation), BASF (digital advisory board) and the Kessler Foundation (social care). “It is important to me that HR is represented in the supervisory boards of such organisations.” This characterises Maarten van Beek’s pioneering mindset and the enthusiasm with which he executes the HR profession.
