Stop doing what you’ve always done
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got. Is this my personal motto? I don’t know. What I do know is that I love growth, and progress, and always re-examining how things can be done better. Processes fascinate me; this was the case when I was studying engineering and still applies to this day. After all, a good process is a powerful way to achieve your goals, particularly when you look at the total system during the design of your process.
The pioneering phase is over
I have been responsible for business operations at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus ever since I became the Director of Services at the campus in August. It’s a really great challenge. Our campus has grown so fast in such a short period of time and this is the result of the efforts made by a driven group of enthusiastic pioneers. The pioneering phase is now over, so it’s time for stability, for new structures and processes. You get the idea. For me, it feels like being in the right place at the right time. I hope to prove I’m the right man for the job!
Staying ahead
A young organization often means chaos and growing pains. Everyone gets involved, rolls up their sleeves and does what they can. As you grow, the need for structure and efficiency grows too. This is actually normal; in fact, it’s even necessary. If you fail to do this, you’ll lag behind reality. My task is to ensure the business processes are aligned with the organization. In this sense, I prefer to stay slightly ahead of the game.
From supply-oriented to demand-oriented
One example is my observation that as a campus, we tend to work in a very supply-oriented manner. We offer all of our residents the same package of products and services in their leases. I would like to change this. We could study how we can keep the lease separate from the services so that we can provide every campus resident with a tailor-made offer. The lease includes the costs that apply to everyone, such as building maintenance, security and fire prevention. Tenants could then order other services as needed or appropriate. These services could also be extremely varied, from catering to consultancy. This begs another question, namely whether we should offer all of the services as a campus organization, or if there are other parties that are much better at this. We need to try to look beyond the borders of our campus more often. What goes on out there? What do our current tenants think? What are their needs? How can we charge fair costs? To answer these questions, we need to know our products and level of service, be able to describe them, make them measurable and know what they cost.
Students
You won’t see many students walking around the Operations department. I have to wonder why this is since we can put together really interesting assignments for students. Students can help us develop new services. I believe it would be a major asset to have students in economics, facility management or law programs start participating in this ecosystem. There is so much interest from these students in this regard as I discovered in a few interesting conversations I had. I believe in the cross-pollination that can grow between students and my team.
Team effort
Making things possible is my greatest driving factor. As COO, I am responsible for the coffee but also for the management of the pilot plants. Everything has to be just right; collectively, all of these factors determine the quality at our campus. In order to ensure everything runs smoothly and that we can continue to innovate our service organization, we need to develop clear processes. Everyone must have a clear picture of their role. Only then can we deliver the team effort expected of us. Together we must make sure that we don’t continue to do what we’ve always done.
Hugo Hendriks has been the COO of Brightlands Chemelot Campus since August 2019. Prior to this, he was the Director of Facilities Management at the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven. Hugo is married and the father of four children between the ages of 15 and 23. As a process management specialist, he has written textbooks and is still active as a professor and developer of teaching materials. This is actually his biggest hobby. Since he started in his position at Brightlands, he works out at the campus.
