Expert Volunteer Assignments
With Expert Volunteer Assignments, we invest in initiatives by making knowledge and expertise of Achmea employees available to organisations focussing on vulnerable people in society. With the deployment of professional Achmea employees, we increase the impact of these organisations. In addition, an Expert Volunteer Assignment offers opportunities for personal development for Achmea employees. Feedback from organisations where an assignment has taken place is largely very positive. Below are some enthusiastic stories from employees who have carried out an assignment in the past year.
Katja van Kooij carried out an assignment at Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT)
“Life enriching experience in Tanzania: a journey of growth and change.”
During her assignment, Katja (Claims Advisor Interpolis) set up an onboarding programme for new employees, taking into account the organisation's rules and regulations. She has established a clear vision and goals together with SAT's HR colleague, created a job description for an HR assistant and convinced managers that they too have HR obligations.
Although the intercultural aspect was challenging, Katja learned that patience is needed and progress is made step by step. She has also found that showing an interest in the private circumstances of others opens doors. Participation in this assignment has enriched Katja both personally and professionally.
Desiree Das deed een assignment bij Digital Education Africa Network (DEAN) in Kenia.
“A wonderful thing to experience!”
DEAN guides and supports schools in using ICT to improve education. They recently hired four new trainers. They were looking for someone to help with team building and communication. Team building and communication was not Desiree's core business. Nevertheless, Jan Vonk (the matchmaker) saw a match for Desiree for this assignment. In hindsight, that indeed turned out to be a good match.
Desiree (Special Affairs Tilburg) was able to teach the team a lot about communication. Communication within the team was mainly by email. But email, of course, is often not the right tool. Desiree practised communicating assertively with them. She was pleasantly surprised how the ladies in particular had a great deal of self-reflection. The only man in the group admitted quite honestly that it is difficult for Kenyan men to communicate their feelings. With her passion, enthusiasm and decisiveness, Desiree achieved a great result together with the team in Kenya, improving education for hundreds of children, further developing her own competences and gaining a wonderful experience.
The organisation DEAN said that team members are more aware of the assumptions they have and how this affects their work. Assumptions often lead to misunderstandings. During the training and coaching, participants learned that asking questions is very important to get the right information. The assignment also contributed to a better understanding between the Dutch and Kenyan teams, where cultural differences also regularly lead to misunderstandings. Communication between the Dutch and Kenyan teams is now more open.
Roàn Rolfes deed een assignment bij Maternity Africa in Tanzania.
“A Journey Full of Impact: Training and Connection in Tanzania.”
Maternity Africa is an organisation that provides maternity care before, during and after childbirth to vulnerable women and girls. Roàn Rolfes (Outsourcing Coordinator in the Non-Life division) participated in the "Train the Social Worker" assignment at Maternity Africa. Her choice of assignment was prompted by her experience as a personal injury lawyer and the need to apply effective communication techniques in an emotional context. In her position as Coordinator, she wanted to use her communication skills, empathy and ability to shift gears quickly during the assignment. Her goal was to give trainees new insights about the conscious and unconscious brain.
During her assignment, Roan learned a lot about the intercultural aspect. Realising the hierarchical culture in Tanzania, she adapted her training to create a field environment for the trainees. This realisation helped her understand the dynamics in her own training courses and how they were affected by hierarchy. She provided training on communication techniques.
Bart Jan Lijnkamp did an assignment at hospital CCBRT in Tanzania
“It is immensely useful to look at your own field from a different perspective, country, culture and organisation.”
Bart-Jan Lijnkamp works at CDV Facilities & Property Management and Document Logistics at Achmea. For his assignment, he travelled to Tanzania to apply his knowledge and expertise at a special hospital in Dar Es Salaam that provides (free) care especially to the most vulnerable in society. At CCBRT – a large hospital in Dar Es Salaam – Bart-Jan provided facilities strategy and organisational advice on setting up a Facilities organisation for hospital operations. He also provided training to the hospital's maintenance team on "predictive maintenance." He discussed the advice with the management and it was received positively. The first steps from the advice have been implemented and there is still regular (remote) contact between Bart-Jan and CCBRT on this.
People's pride, a positive outlook on life and a nice attitude about life is something Bart-Jan has really appreciated and learned a great deal from. "I found the intercultural aspect very informative and very impressive. This was my first time in an African country." With regard to personal and professional skills, Bart-Jan was able to convey his knowledge and expertise effectively.
Simone Blokhuis and Mathilde Staarman did an assignment together at SOS Children's Villages in Ghana.
SOS Children's Village Ghana is transforming into a data-driven marketing organisation. The need is there: in Ghana, 1 million children live on the streets. SOS Children's Villages accommodates 540 children in four villages, works on family strengthening programmes in which SOS supports families facing difficult circumstances and on projects such as "Youth employment" and "Preventing child labour in the Voltage region".
With the staff and management (15 people) of Alexander Mar Kekula (National Director), Simone (Customer Experience Manager Retail Customers Centraal Beheer) and Mathilde (Marketing Intelligence, Market Researcher, Data Consulting Centraal Beheer) worked on the customer journeys. "That was a stretch for them. Customer journey was still an unknown concept. It led to great discussions, good conversations and elaborate customer journeys." Simone and Mathilde have found that their knowledge and expertise have meant a great deal to SOS Children's Villages Ghana. After the assignment, talks took place between SOS Children's Villages Amsterdam, SOS Children's Villages Ghana and Achmea Foundation on a follow-up to this assignment. The assignment will be repeated in 2024.