​De Verkeersonderneming about their long-term cooperation with Henk Kolenbrander

‘Henk quickly senses that something isn’t quite right and continues to ask questions’

‘Henk connects people. He creates trust. And at the same time, he doesn’t hesitate to point out issues and make them a topic of discussion. He often does this at an early stage, which leaves time for necessary adjustments.’ These conclusions are drawn by Gerard Eijkelenboom, his customer at De Verkeersonderneming [The Transport Company], which works on a better accessibility of the Rotterdam-The Hague region on behalf of the government and the commercial sector. They have been hiring Henk Kolenbrander for years, which wasn’t self-evident form the start.

Gerard Eijkelenboom: ‘The first job Henk did for us involved chemical transports, a world in which Henk is very much at home, so that seemed ideal. However, even though he put in a lot of effort, we didn’t make much progress there. For De Verkeersonderneming this led to two conclusions: chemistry is a very difficult market for us, and we want to continue working with Henk.’

Henk is now managing the Logistics team. What do you notice there?
‘He makes clear and explicit agreements. He is approachable. And if he senses that “something isn’t quite right” he continues to ask questions. He does this at an early stage, in other words at the stage when something might get off track or a misunderstanding might arise. Stepping in this early leaves time for necessary adjustments. He is very good at this.’

How are you able to evaluate his qualities in so much detail?
‘I often join meetings between him and his team. Henk does of course lead those meetings, but I do see and hear what is happening. And throughout the year I also have direct contact with his team members, which means I have input from all sides.’

What has been a major challenge lately?
‘The coronavirus, which had a major impact on all of us. Even though the team could not be together physically, Henk still managed to maintain the team spirit.
But there were other effects too. The team’s targets are expressed in terms of “rush hour avoidance”. Especially during the first lockdown, all of a sudden there were no longer any rush hours, so we started to actively approach companies. Some of them said: “I have other things to worry about now”, which was understandable. Others, however, said: “I have nothing else to do right now, so I can finally deal with this issue.”
Our team had to respond properly to those very different answers. In such a situation Henk is very valuable. Structuring, organising and connecting, that’s what he does. He motivates the team and holds them accountable, which enables both himself and his team to meet their targets.’

Henk is currently quite busy for De Verkeersonderneming. Is that just for the Logistics team?
‘We had a sudden gap at the Data team, so he is now also managing them, which means he is temporarily working for us four days a week.’