QUARTERLY BOARD UPDATE: BOARD MEMBER MARCO FOO ON THE QUARTERLY BOARD MEETING IN SINGAPORE
The board of the Lovinklaan Foundation meets every quarter to discuss program developments and strategy. After the meeting one of the board members updates you on the outcomes. This time, it’s board member Marco Foo who shares his thoughts on the gathering held in Singapore in February. Marco is also the Executive Director at Arcadis Consultancy in China.
“We are going through very exceptional times. This is an uncertain and unusual situation, also with most of our colleagues working from home, countries where offices being closed for now. In February, we had a different kind of board meeting due to the Health & Safety measures that needed to be taken in light of the current global health crisis. Six members of the Lovinklaan board decided to not fly to Singapore for the Q1 meeting. Three of us did and thus were also able to meet with local ambitious, eager staff members, and the board was able to still discuss some of the topics on the agenda through online meeting tools.
Since then, we are witnessing that the virus is spreading even further across much of the world and that many more measures, also impacting the Lovinklaan programs, needed to be taken in order to keep everyone safe. Lovinklaan’s mission, to ensure the continuity of the enterprise but also to help Arcadians in their personal and professional development and their wellbeing, is also now extremely relevant. We see that everyone is trying to do their job in the best way possible and also takes into account safety and health measures like never before, as this is our number one priority at the moment.
We, as the Lovinklaan board, are delighted to be working with such ambitious and intelligent people, and we really hope that we will soon be able to resume all of Lovinklaan’s programs so that everyone working for Arcadis can continue to develop themselves on a professional and personal level. We are confident that in some time, we can look back with pride on how we have handled this crisis together, all in good health.”
Programs
During this board meeting, we focused on sustainability a lot, as the Lovinklaan board wants to contribute to the aim of Arcadis to operate carbon neutral, and is eager to make a commitment on making Lovinklaan, its board and its programs more sustainable. We have found that there are many great ideas to reach that goal, and we are investigating which ideas would be suitable for Lovinklaan, and which will work best for local offices. We are looking to involve Grant Sprick, our new Global Sustainability Director, for this, and are taking our hat off for him getting up to speed so quickly. We will further discuss this topic during our Q2 board meeting.
Strategic updates
We also used our time to prepare for the Annual Stakeholder Meeting (ANV), that is taking place in Amsterdam in May. We do not expect any surprising topics to come up during the meeting.
We have rounded up the Business Evaluation Audit results. Last autumn, several members of local and global management were interviewed about their view on and knowledge of Lovinklaan. Results were compared to those of the previous Business Audit three years ago, to evaluate whether Lovinklaan has gained visibility. The results were very insightful, and we noticed an immense improvement in the knowledge and understanding. Besides that, we also received a lot of useful feedback. Based on the audit, we are developing a response document to teach Arcadis employees and management even more about Lovinklaan.
Board updates
This board meeting was the first meeting for our new board member Nora Taylor from the UK/EMU region. With her appointment, three board members are relatively new, as Marco Foo and Giuliana Netto were appointed in the summer of 2019. These new additions allow for many new insights and interesting discussions.
The Lovinklaan board considered Lovinklaans ambitions for diversity and inclusion when conducting the selection of the newest board member. The Board considered factors such as region, business line, and gender when conducting our selection. With Nora taking over from Nick Bellew, we have a member representing the UK, and in addition, the board is now made up of four women and three men.
The Lovinklaan Foundation – the largest shareholder in Arcadis – is led by employees of Arcadis. The board currently consists of seven Arcadians from different divisions and countries around the globe. They balance their day-to-day workload with their responsibilities for the Foundation; contributing to the continuity of the enterprise and helping Arcadians grow and reach their full potential. In addition to work on Foundation programs and communications by e-mail and multiple Skype calls, the board meets face-to-face each quarter to discuss developments, make strategic decisions and meet local participants.