Todd Bechtel: A Lookback on 2018

2018 has been another exceptional year for the Lovinklaan Foundation. We were able to commit us to achieving the goals set in our mission and vision for the year, and had the opportunity to also let many Arcadians participate in one or multiple of our programs.

One of our goals for 2018 was to intensify our relationship with relevant stakeholders, including the leadership teams of Arcadis. We’ve increased transparency about our conversations and decisions made during our quarterly board meetings, not only to the leadership team but also to all employees on a quarterly base. We’re engaging in ongoing conversations with the leadership team about the strategic direction for Arcadis and will continue making strategic choices that meet the foundation’s ambitions and goals for the coming years, while also looking to align with and contribute to the Arcadis business strategy.

Lovinklaan believes that no resource within our company is more essential than our people. The lifeblood of Arcadis comes down to our people, and how skilled and motivated they are. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to invest in our people. We aim to inspire employees, support the retention of talent, and help gain knowledge. That is why we are so proud to offer a variety of programs to all Arcadians, to give them the opportunity to grow in their professional, but also in their personal lives.

  • This year, as planned, we rolled out two new programs even further, named Expedition DNA and Roots of Arcadis. Both programs turn out to be found very useful and motivating. Over 6500 people have completed the first phase of Expedition DNA, and over 850 Arcadians engaged in ROA already.
  • Quest sent about 130 motivated Arcadians to Arcadis offices all over the world this year. Most Questees came from The Netherlands, USA, UK and India and the most popular countries to visit were The Netherlands, USA and India.
  • Global Shapers took place in Boston this year and gave 100 eager participants the opportunity to share knowledge with each other around the theme Future Cities.
  • The Global Share Plan was first administered by Equatex, but is now being supported by a new plan administrator, Global Shares, since October. This change made the Global Share Plan more accessible and easier to use.
  • Shelter, together with UN-habitat, allowed for 12 missions to developing countries to be completed. A great amount of volunteers each offered their expertise to help those in need.

Of course, each year we carefully evaluate each of the programs above. Some of those have been running for a long time, attract a lot of new participants and prove its value to the business time and time again. Such an example is the transfer program Quest. Andy Newcombe, Vice President, Product Stewardship Solutions in Arcadis US shared the significant value of Quest for the business and its people:

‘’A large number of our community of practice team members have completed Quests. These engagements have offered significant benefits to our community of practice both for the individuals and their career engagement and progression, but also for the commercial benefit of our practice. One of the biggest positive and tangible benefits to come out of one of our team Quests was a USA-UK exchange that resulted in the transfer of USA based quality system knowledge and experience, and the set-up of a similar quality program in the UK. This transfer of knowledge made possible through a Quest has resulted in more than $10MM of awarded work to date.’’

With continuously reviewing and updating our offer, we hope to improve the quality of life of all those working at Arcadis, which is in line with our vision.

In the coming year, we aim to involve even more Arcadians in our programs.
We look forward to another fruitful, inspiring year full of new experiences and connections.

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