It was the summer of 2018 when I first heard about ITQ. Thanks to my former colleague Klaartje I got in touch with Danielle. In one of her freelance jobs, Danielle worked for a.s.r., together with Robert Hellings, who now is head of ITQ.
During my very first meeting I fell for ITQ. A summer sweetheart? Well, not really. We’re almost two years later and still just as happy. I rediscovered my passion for the profession at an employer where you can and may be yourself and dare to dream. I know a lot of companies, with all good intentions that entail, that make statements like: ‘it’s all about the people, we put people first…’ but ultimately, I see employers act otherwise.
And this is different at ITQ. The human approach is kind of self-evident. We follow our ambitions with the ITQer and therefor our culture as the starting point in everything we do.
Completely fitting in this approach, Robert soon asked me the question: ‘Ilona, we have a beautiful culture, but it is more of a feeling and not explicit. Would you, together with a number of ITQers, describe our culture?’
No sooner said than done. One of my first tasks for ITQ was immediately a tough and challenging one, but most of all it was a fun thing to do. An experience I would like to share with you, but that is for a next time. For now this intro is sufficient, because today I would like to share a nice conversation with you, a conversation about our culture with Arjan Bodde and Frank Nijman, two members of the culture working group.
