Marieke Kersten and Victor Wollaert: The Value of Learning

EBBF: Partnering junior consultants with senior consultants is clever enough. But this isn’t just any consulting business. What makes your company special and what makes you so enthusiastic about it?

Marieke: For one, JongeHonden has a very specific organizational structure and business model which is not primarily focused on making lots of money as quickly as possible, but rather on enabling young people to discover working life and those aspects in it which they like most. Where does their personal strength lie? What can they bring to the table? How can they enjoy work by doing what they like and are good at? We want to give them a lot of freedom and responsibility, both in running and organizing their external projects, but also by actively taking part in running and improving our own business and the overall concept of JongeHonden. So one thing is the learning and personal growth. On the one hand, the junior is enabled to learn a lot in a short period of time by working side by side with seniors and the seniors get their projects done faster and better. At the same time seniors often get inspired and energized by working with a young, motivated and resourceful junior. So we try to establish a partnership between junior and senior consultants. They learn from each other. This partnership is very important, and there is a sense of equality in that, a respect for what you bring to the table. Partnership in itself is an important aspect. Partnership between junior and senior, between JH employees, entrepreneurs and freelancers, and also between a man and a woman with Victor and me. Fostering these partnerships and learning processes is of huge importance to me.

We also try to lower the threshold for the jonge honden to explore the possibilities of entrepreneurship and over the last year and a half about 11 (out of now some 30 plus people working at JongeHonden) have become entrepreneurs. Some work within JongeHonden and some others are outside but are still working closely with us, some of them even sharing our office space.

Also, the organizational structure. The juniors are assigned for a maximum of four days a week (32 hours) to projects for external clients and one day a week, usually Friday, they work together with us on running the business: doing there own administration, writing invoices and quotations, helping to find new clients, refreshing the website, doing marketing—whatever you can think of that is involved in running a company. Victor and I as entrepreneurs assume the final risk and responsibility but everyone who is working with us shares a part of this. As a result, everybody learns to work on a team and gains insight into how an organization functions.

Victor: Learning is more important than making money. If you look at this from an outside perspective, it might seem crazy. Surely there could be other ways to organize JH much more effectively—in terms of money making. But we’ve deliberately chosen to do it this way, to let everyone work on all organizational processes. And what we see is a high learning curve. Everyone has maximum responsibility for the company. As bosses we create a framework in which jonge honden can function, we try to coach them, but they have responsibility for their career at JH. And their participation is limited to three years. After that, we kick you out. We are ‘Young dogs’, and we should stay young.

Marieke: For us this is important. We believe in key values; we believe that there is a huge potential in young people. They may not have any area of expertise yet, but they have proven their entrepreneurial minds and spirit, that they are socially engaged, and are eager to learn and to be outspoken, and positive. These are the qualities we value, because they have to want to take part in JH and want to build it together, as we function together as a team. Nothing is static, which implies a huge challenge. Thirty-five people who are strong-headed and outspoken—it’s not easy to find an easy and smooth way to do this. Consultation is therefore very important in order to find solutions that work for everyone. In many ways we try to organize ourselves so that people can learn on different levels.

Victor: To add to what Marieke said, the two of us are also in the middle of a big learning experience. It is not easy to coach and manage people who are essentially your peers! This is a challenge for us as well. We strive to be open for comments and not to be afraid to show your vulnerability. We don’t know the answer to every question. As entrepreneurs we found with JongeHonden a place where we can make mistakes as well…

The company as a whole must be able to reinvent itself every once in a while. When new colleagues arrive and find certain things organized in a strange way, they say: ‘why can’t we do things in a different or better way?’ If this person has a good idea, then he or she can do the job. As a result JH is totally different from what it was 2 or 3 years ago. And it will be different from what we are now in 2 years. In my opinion this shows the openness and flexibility of JongeHonden to respond to internal and external developments. Within boundaries (the continuity of the firm), JongeHonden can adapt itself to the people working in the organization, so that it best fits their needs and aspirations, as well as to those of the market.

I had an experience working in the cultural sector before JongeHonden where I wasn’t allowed to develop myself, where work only wore me out, and I said to myself, ‘This can’t go on. I won’t make it to 65 like this.’ I and others learn now how much fun it is to work at a job which gives you energy. I hope we let people who work at JH experience this a little bit. They discover a little more the direction they want to go in, what gives them energy and is fulfilling.

EBBF: What is it that brings this joy to work? What have you found that makes a difference between JH and what you were doing before?

Marieke: It really motivates us to see each ‘jonge hond’ grow as a person. They often come in with confidence, with a sense of who they are and who they want to be. But they are looking for what they want to do in life, what kind of expertise they want, and JH can give them a powerful experience. You can tell who have worked with us for six months, because you can see that they have become more aware of their own capacities and strengths at work, and are more able to make decisions in regards to their careers, finding a work environment and field where they fit in.

What you can see in society nowadays is that it is common for people to end up in jobs where they are unhappy. They make a decision for some reason, like in high school, but their inner part and their values are not aligned with that decision. People who work with JH know themselves better, and realize how work can energize you, you can have a sense of meaning, feel energized by your work, instead of feeling worn out, because you are at the right place. It is a first step in your career. I love to see that in others and in myself. It is a huge gift to experience joy and meaning at work, especially since work is such a big part of our lives.

For Victor and I, JongeHonden is a wonderful, exciting and challenging way to develop our own personal skills, implement our values and also contribute to the development of young people like us so that they stay close to themselves, reflect, connect to others, learn to find a balance and most of all enjoy work. Also our partnership in running a business together has turned out to work brilliantly. We are much alike in our core values and approach to work, but also bring a complementary part to the table. Together, and from each other, we learn a lot and meanwhile have a lot of fun too. What more could you want!

EBBF: You mention that the company isn't just about profit, but that it is intent on "enabling young people to discover working life and those aspects which they like most". I'm wondering if you can identify other fundamental values or spiritual principles that underlie your work.

Marieke: [Having come from a Bahá’i background], one major value for me is the interconnectedness of all living things. When you recognize this, the result is a sense of service to your organization and to the people around you. You strive for unity and equality. The things you do shouldn’t have a negative effect on the environment or anything. You look for means to be constructive. For me, being able to work from this outlook, results in meaningful work. For starters, by not fragmenting your work and personal lives. Also, by bringing to the surface those things that motivate you. For me giving meaning to work, experiencing it, became essential. And I believe learning is a way to get to know oneself better. For me this is what I found at JH. I could work at different types of organizations, see how they work, observe whether people were motivated or not, how management treated the employees, all of these aspects. I was able to gain additional insight into life. This is still a motivating force for how I lead my life, focusing on how we work, and on the type of projects we do. I look for ways in which people can grow.

Victor: I do not come from a Bahá’i background, so I do not have this luggage or experience or knowledge like Marieke. But having worked together with Marieke for over a year and a half, we’ve become good friends, and I can say that I very much feel that I share her same values.

A very important thing I have learned last year, is how important it is for somebody to work from your own strengths, to do the things that are close to your heart, to be who you want to be as a person. I want other people to have the same feeling. In our work we meet so many people who are not happy with what they do, who leave their selves at home when they go to work. I want people to become aware of all the things they can do. That you can add value, only if you stay true to your self. This is the most important lesson I learned last year and it is something that I want others to experience too—to help people grow in this sense.

Marieke: Yes, this is an investment in all our collective future. It is an investment in how we deal with work, how we deal with ourselves, how we deal with how we work. You can’t put a figure on it. No monetary value will do. Obviously, we do need to make a living; we aren’t naïve about that. But investing in our own learning is a top value for us.

Victor: We will be kicked out in a few years. The value created will soon belong to someone else. You work your ass off, working 60 hours a week for several years in a row. Then you leave it for others. But it is all about learning. There are many other places where you can earn a couple of 100 euros more a month and get a car, for example. But ‘jonge honden’ choose to work with us. That is great, something to be proud of I think. It shows we have a strong and warm culture. And we’re proud to have something which money can’t buy.