26 April 2022
Just as I go to call Myriam de Vries on Saturday morning for the interview, she sends me an app message saying she won't be able to make it. She asks if we can move the interview to the early the afternoon. As it turns out, she is climbing Table Mountain. An absolute must if you are staying in Cape Town.
Working at home from abroad
'During the coronavirus pandemic, we were not allowed to work at the office. Not having my colleagues around me and working from home every day really affected me. I was convinced that there was another solution and so I explored alternatives. ABN AMRO offers its employees the opportunity to work abroad on a temporary basis. Eventually, I ended up with a company that enables you to work online from another country. They arrange accommodation, a flexible workplace and add a bit of personal development to the mix as well. That is how I ended up in Cape Town, sharing an office with seven other Dutch people working for companies such as Bol.com, KLM and Rabobank. In addition to work, we also engage in peer supervision and coaching together so that we can learn from each other's skills. I experience this approach to working from home as a fantastic form of enrichment and opportunity to broaden my knowledge. It's great that ABN AMRO supports this initiative.'
Wellbeing
Myriam is People Development Consultant at ABN AMRO. After completing the Strategic Human Resource Management course at Utrecht University, she began her career at ABN AMRO 7 years ago. 'Our team is responsible for performance management within the organisation, creating a link with our colleagues' wellbeing. That involves empowering people as best we can so that they feel motivated and are able to develop. We are constantly looking for tools and methods to help colleagues with issues of meaning and mental, social emotional and physical energy.
When people feel comfortable in their own skin and have job satisfaction and energy to do the work that they do, they perform well. But you need more than just a fitness centre at the office in order to achieve that. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has meant that we now take a different view of wellbeing and we realise that we need to work on our energy levels throughout the day – both our physical and mental energy levels. We have developed a programme that addresses this called Hello Wellbeing, which went live in January this year. Through the Hello Wellbeing platform, we offer short training courses that you can do during working hours. There is also an awareness campaign that you need to take your moments of rest during the working day. This is the first step towards making wellbeing part of our culture. Physical and mental health is not a choice – it's a must.'
Broadening your horizons
'Change is the only constant at the bank. I get a lot of my energy from change as it enables me to do something for the company and what we stand for. It gives you the freedom to realise ideas and plans. Management sets the course, but as a content expert, I am given enough room to interpret that as I wish. It creates a great dynamic and emphasises your responsibility and sense of ownership. But that's not to say that everything runs smoothly here at all times. I am currently working on a survey about coaching within the bank. The initial results of this survey show that the offering meets the needs of employees effectively. However, too few of our colleagues are actually using the available resources. The interesting thing now is to investigate why. Is it the craziness of the day that takes over, does the manager prevent it or is a cultural change required?
I am working on this project with a group of colleagues. It gives me the opportunity to broaden my horizons and expand my network within the bank. This is another example of how an organisation can encourage development in a simple way.'
