HSO offered me the opportunity to work in an international company

‘Before I joined HSO, I worked at one of the top-3 IT-consultancy firms. In such a large organization, your network is critical to be successful and to deliver results. Of course, at HSO I had to start all over again, building a network of colleagues that I could rely on. I expected that to be quite difficult. But this appeared far easier than I expected and that’s a great thing about HSO: people are very willing to help and to jump in when necessary.’

‘I see myself as a kind of orchestra director: it’s my responsibility to get the right people do the right things at the right moment. I manage large projects, in which we design a template, align and standardize business processes, build the solution in one country or operation, followed by a roll-out to the other operations. My role is to guard and manage the complete programme and to be a sounding board for the customer, considering the interests of the various stakeholders and potential risks and concerns.’

‘My job can be quite challenging indeed, but that’s what I like about it. There are always a lot of stakeholders involved, so it’s important to manage their expectations. ERP-projects often entail organizational changes with a lot of impact, so coaching and supporting the people involved is very important.

In IT-projects, we plan and monitor our projects and progress carefully. However, we are never able to foresee everything, so sometimes the outcome is different than we expected. A process can be delayed, or things take more effort. In such situations it’s my job to adequately handle these unexpected obstacles, manage expectations and to guard my team, who are often more than willing to run the extra mile.’

‘In my experience, in projects with an international team, where you all work on location, away from home, there is a different kind of team spirit. You work together, you often eat and socialize together after work hours. It’s intense, but also very motivating. I also like the travelling aspect. I must admit that my work-life balance is better than it used to be. When travelling in Europe, I am mostly away for not more than two to three days. When flying to the US I usually leave on a Sunday, to get the most out of the working week.’