'Reach solutions together'
'You take many elements of top-level sport into business and vice versa. This combination has contributed a lot to my personal development. In both, you need perseverance, discipline and a focus on results.' Eva den Hartog, senior manager Transformation & Programme Management.
Eva den Hartog started as a senior manager in April 2022. After studying Strategic Human Resource Management at Utrecht University, Eva worked as a Business Manager at ABN AMRO. Here, among other things, she supervised a major reorganisation and optimised the complaints process. After this, she moved on to Deloitte, where her responsibilities included programme and transformation management, strategic projects, start-up set-up and market development.
Common thread
'At Deloitte, I experienced the consultancy profession in all its aspects. My work was very diverse. I had an account manager role, developed a target operating model, was involved in a development programme and committed to the Deloitte Impact Foundation. In addition, I am one of the co-founders of Devence, an organisation that helps start-ups and scale-ups build their risk profile in areas such as data security. All in all, I'm more of a generalist than a specialist.'
'Nevertheless, there is a common thread in the wide variety of assignments I have done. Many issues I have been involved in have an HR component. If you are working on the strategic redesign or transformation of an organisation, there is always something about people & development involved.'
Teamsport
Eva has always combined her work with top-class sport: she played hockey as captain of Huizen's Ladies 1 (premier league) until the birth of her son, now 1 year old. 'Hockey is a team sport, so it's all about achieving results together. At the same time, you also learn to deal with setbacks and make choices.'
'At Boer & Croon, we also work on our solutions as a team. There is a culture where you constantly ask your colleagues questions and help each other to perform better as a team. It's great fun to see us gaining more and more knowledge this way. We don't just give advice, the emphasis is on implementation. That is an important reason why I chose Boer & Croon. I was looking for a job where I could also implement my advice at the customer's site. I therefore really feel part of the client's organisation.'
Good solutions take time
'The moment a customer calls, there is often something going on that requires a quick solution. You then feel the pressure to deliver this immediately, while you know that a real solution will take more time. Often, you can already achieve a lot by quickly providing structure or a process proposal. Most importantly, I invest a lot of time in getting to know the people who will have to carry my implementation. You need to have a good understanding of how an organisation works. Consider the basic elements: is there a shareholder structure, how is the executive team structured, what is the revenue model and what are the developments in the relevant industry? When I make a programme design or plan, I explicitly involve people from the organisation. Then it is important to know who has the competences to lead such a project.'
Eva likes to dedicate herself to SchuldenlabNL, a foundation striving for a debt-free Netherlands. She also coaches a top sports team from a committee and helps top athletes with their transition to a job or helps them combine their sport with work.