"If you look in the literature for innovative companies, the keyword is often 'trust', accompanied of course by a vision and drive to be able to make an impact in the world. You can find all that in Vencomatic Group. Of course money has to be earnt, but you notice that we want to achieve something. That these goals are so strongly alive and tangible, is something you rarely see."
Dennis Hoeks is Product Manager at Vencomatic Group, he came in 15 years ago through an open application: "I was looking for another job, a friend who worked here advised me to do an open application. There wasn't really a vacancy for Mechanical Engineer, but they still wanted to give me a chance. And that turned out well."
What education did you follow?
"I studied Mechanical Engineering at the HTS, but I recently completed a part-time Master in Management and Innovation course alongside my full-time job. The company gave me all the space I needed for this, it was part of my personal development plan and was also strongly encouraged. It all fell exactly into place, because I was ready for the next step."
"At the time, I started as a Mechanical Engineer in the Engineering department, but it soon became clear that I was doing a lot of R&D work so I moved on to that department. Via various other positions, I ended up in the Product Management department, where I have been working for almost two years now."
What is the best part of being a Product Manager?
"I especially like the fact that I am constantly presented with challenges, but that I also have a lot of freedom to tackle them and put my own spin on them. You get a lot of trust, which I like. By doing a lot of research and talking with colleagues, you develop a vision of which way to go. But then you also have to have the balls to make choices, in consultation with colleagues of course."
"I like to take decisions quickly, which is also appreciated here. You have to start ‘driving’ immediately and make adjustments later if necessary, not wait until you know for sure. So it's discovery instead of systematic roll-out, which suits me best. I have always had that freedom here: 'Just come up with a solution'. You are also encouraged to grow in that, and to help others grow. I like to help others excel, even if they might grow beyond me in the process."
What responsibilities are part of your job?
"My duties are very diverse, I am currently also temporarily supporting the Purchase department, as we are currently facing several challenges there in both availability of materials and availability of capacity to deal with this."
"In the Product Management department, I am mainly working on the features we want to add to our products and software: seeing if we are doing the right developments and if we can help customers better. Sometimes you can achieve a lot with a small improvement. And I continuously want to challenge people, we often think it can't be done but then I try to look at it differently and challenge underlying assumptions. So looking for opportunities instead of limitations, I think that's the basis for success."
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