Frans van Heesbeen has joined Boer & Croon as an Associate Partner. Frans is an HR executive with extensive experience within several (inter)national organisations. In doing so, he has always focused on change, culture and leadership. He has a proven track record in defining and implementing successful HR strategies and working with private equity.
After studying Dutch law, Frans ended up as an employment conditions specialist at a joint venture between Philips and AT&T. As Philips was going to withdraw as a shareholder, a lot had to be arranged in the HR field.
Frans: ‘I first thought of a career in the legal profession, but I soon decided against it. Because I did officer training in the navy during my military service, where I was involved in the (psychological) selection of conscripts, I came into the HR profession by chance. And it turned out to suit me. At that first job, I learned a lot about communication and cooperation.'
After a move to the General Employers' Association, where he advised companies on the conclusion of collective agreements and social plans, among other things, Frans was approached by KPMG, where he was responsible for employment conditions for several years, then became HR manager of the consulting branch and later ultimately responsible HR Manager for the entire KPMG organisation. After a short sabbatical, he was asked to become an HR executive at NXP Semiconductors (the former semiconductor division of Philips).
‘I came in there at a time when this company was doing very badly financially. So whereas at KPMG I always had the luxury of a decent financial scope to develop things, at NXP the focus was on reorganisation and cost control. Factories were closed and I had to lay people off. Unfortunately, that is also part of the job and when the time comes, I want to do it as soundly and fairly as possible. So making sure people get decent compensation and doing everything possible to find a place for those people. After that reorganisation, I became responsible - in addition to my HR role for Europe - for HR of global R&D. For career and talent development and workforce planning of the R&D people. That was an interesting period, but at one point I regularly had disagreements with the then-CEO about the policy to be pursued. I then decided to start working for myself as an interim manager.’
‘This was another very busy but tremendously exciting time. The company to be spun off - apart from its excellent staff - had almost nothing of its own. No IT infrastructure, no payroll, no own contracts with external suppliers, no company name, etc. But also no in-house staff in IT, Finance, Communications, Legal and incomplete departments in areas such as Supply Chain, Sourcing, HR, etc. We had to set all this up at the same time. This has resulted in a new leading company in RF Power.’
‘The government has to think very carefully about the importance that migrant workers have for our knowledge economy. At Ampleon, we employed something like 30 nationalities at one point. That was because we needed people with a very specific technical competence, of which there were too few to be found in the Netherlands. By rücksichtslos closing the borders to these people, you are potentially killing innovative sectors.’
Frans spent many years in high-level mountaineering and learned how to deal with people, especially in difficult situations, and how to mitigate risks. This experience recurs throughout his career: focus on the end goal, and know that you are responsible for your team, especially when things get a bit exciting. That is when you have to make the right decisions. The same goes for HR. You have to understand the business and know what it takes on the people side.
