“For the past three years, we have been responsible for the internal training program,” says Henk. “I have been involved with VAEX for years, and at some point, Ineke also became involved with VAEX in her role as a behavioral scientist,” Henk explains. “At that time, VAEX was looking for a suitable training program to support staff in their personal development. That’s why I started searching for appropriate training,” says Henk. “However, at the time, I couldn’t find a program that matched VAEX’s needs. And that’s how things got rolling,” Henk recalls.

VAEX trusted Ineke and me to develop a training program ourselves. And so it happened. “We combined our expertise and looked at how we could shape the program,” says Henk. Developing it took some time; after several months and many feedback sessions, the ‘Zicht’ training was finally created. We have now been delivering the training for three years, two programs have been completed, and the third is currently underway. Given the positive experiences with this training program, we are now also providing programs for other organizations.

‘It’s not an abstract training, but it’s not an accounting course either’
This program is all about personal development. Through this training program, your personal development accelerates. What you would normally learn in four or five years at a steady pace in terms of personal growth, we aim to achieve in one year with this training. By offering enough training and tools in a short period. “It’s not an abstract training, but it’s not an accounting course either,” says Henk.

From start to finish, every part is focused on personal development. From the assessment, to the personal development plan, to the role plays. The training program also includes a company-specific assignment, which allows participants to apply what they’ve learned in practice.

We kick off the training program with a launch day. A day full of activities where you have to work together and step out of your comfort zone. “When you’re out of your comfort zone, that’s when you really see who someone is,” says Ineke. “You see how someone relates to the group, or how they react to stress, for example. The kick-off day also creates interaction between participants. They have to work together and spend the day as a group. This allows us to observe the participants closely. What happens, who takes the lead and who doesn’t. For both us and the participants, it’s a valuable day,” says Ineke. “For us, because we immediately get a good impression of the participants and can observe how they handle certain situations. And for the participants, it’s a shared memory they can look back on throughout the program. A shared memory doesn’t have to be spectacular; it can be something small. The point is that it’s something you can always look back on together, and that creates a bond in the group.”

After the kick-off day comes an assessment. This part of the training focuses on self-awareness. After this assessment, you have more insight into your strengths and weaknesses. And you learn about yourself in collaboration with others. Step two is creating a personal development plan, with goals you’ll work on during the follow-up training. “Since these goals are personal and can differ per program, we tailor the training from this point on to the set goals,” says Henk.

‘Get to know yourself, but also the other’
How do you assess others, and how do they assess you? This is an important aspect of the training. To quickly get a sense of what type of person you’re dealing with and anticipate accordingly. “You don’t have to become a chameleon, but you can understand how the other person thinks,” says Henk. This can help you in conversations.

We practice this with clips from ‘Farmer Wants a Wife’ during the introduction round, but also through role plays. That way, you can assess within two or three minutes what kind of person you’re talking to. For example, are they dominant or more people-oriented? Because you become more self-aware at this stage of the training, you also know if a contradiction might arise and you can anticipate it.

‘Make your strengths stronger, not your weaknesses average’
When you focus on improving things you’re not good at or things that don’t suit you, you become average. “The idea of this program is to do what you’re good at and get even better at it,” says Ineke. It can be a real eye-opener that it’s better to excel at what you’re good at than to work on things that don’t suit you.

Training and education
“With this training program, we’re not training staff to become better VAEX employees,” says Henk. But by working on personal development, it ultimately has a positive effect on their work at VAEX. Self-awareness, communication, culture, and leadership are important elements of the training program. These aspects can have a very positive impact on daily work.

In addition, participants feel more connected to each other, thanks to the shared memory they have of this program. This can have a positive effect on communication within the organization.