Meet Managing Consultant Maarten

Maarten van der Jagt can safely be considered a long-standing employee in the history of Grexx, having been with the company for eighteen years. In this interview, he reflects fondly on what seemed a somewhat uncertain adventure at the time.

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"I ended up in IT by chance and enjoyed it from the beginning. In 1998, I started in business process management and building workflows, for Staffware, later known as Tibco Software. Those were years of hard work, also internationally, and a lot of partying - also internationally. It was a great time. But after American owners took over, the company culture shifted, so I began considering other job opportunities. 

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I had heard about Grexx through word of mouth and felt an immediate click. That was at the beginning of 2006 and there were three of us at the time: Pieter did the sales, Ton built the platform and I started developing solutions for our first customers. Looking back now, I realize what a leap this was: Grexx was still in its early stages and I had three small children aged four, two and a few months old. Not exactly the perfect time to embark on any big adventures! But it felt good and there was mutual trust, so I thought, let’s do this."
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Background

"I attended Hoge School Alkmaar, known at the time as HTS, and studied mechanical engineering. It may not seem the most logical choice, but it’s one that’s proven very useful to me. My education at that time revolved around solving very complex problems in a short period of time and executing those solutions, always asking myself, will it work? Designing a machine is a process of trial and error: it must first work conceptually before being delivered to a deadline and within budget. I think that problem solving approach is a real characteristic of having learned at HTS: being taught to think realistically, not too theoretical, and to create practical solutions that work. To this day, I still make use of those learned skills and processes in my work. 

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As a managing consultant, I have a very broad function. When I meet with clients, it's essential for me to actively listen and show genuine interest in their business and processes. In order to effectively assist them, I must fully comprehend their environment. My role is an interesting one and takes me everywhere: from florists to finance and insurance companies. The most important thing is that I really understand what is going on within a business so that I can then come up with a plan before properly guiding the process towards a solution. Sometimes it's very technical, sometimes I'm building, other times it's a lot of project management. But it all involves communication, expectation management, supporting the developers, test work and supervising the go-live. And the most important question I learned back at HTS always remains: will it work?"
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Crowning glory: Xelfer

"Recently, I have been collaborating with Xelfer, a company that provides a profiling and reflection method that can be used by employers to find the right people, for career pathways, reintegration processes and so on - in all kinds of ways. It resembles the DISC method, which is what many professionals know as the ‘color profiles’. Xelfer is based on the RIASEC and MBTI tests, which allows clients to discover their strengths and weaknesses, who they are, what they want, what they can do and in which position they would fit best. 

With Xelfer, you can discover, for example, that as a forklift driver, you would probably also be a good drone pilot. Or that as a flight attendant, you may fit in well with funeral guidance. Their method is extensive and focuses on a client’s qualities, similar to the labour market transformation we are working on with Jobliebe.

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The collaboration with Xelfer has resulted in a technically complex application, where the UI and UX are very important. The tool should be able to be used by absolutely anyone, without guidance. We went for a somewhat playful look, user-friendly and absolutely foolproof, while the application 'under the hood' is quite complicated. That worked out well and I'm very proud of it. The app went live last year, kicking off with a career choice process at a secondary school. 150 students used the app and gained more insight into who they are and what suits them career-wise. Witnessing first-hand how our application helps individuals gain insight into themselves and their potential is truly satisfying."