Let Go of Assumptions, Ensure Objectivity

Van Hattum en Blankevoort designs and constructs tunnels, bridges, waterworks, parking garages, and viaducts of exceptional quality. Although the name may not be widely known, we drive, walk, or cycle daily on one of Van Hattum en Blankevoort's projects.

The company has been around for 190 years, is part of Volker Wessels, and employs about 400 people. Corretta and Jan have long noticed that the role of the project leader is becoming increasingly important. This role combines technology, finance, planning, process, and result management. There is growing awareness that good leadership has a decisive impact on the quality and success of projects. According to Corretta, this was the key insight to start leadership development. But where do you begin? Where does this development start? "The core question we asked ourselves was: how well do we know our people, and how well do they know themselves? This means letting go of assumptions and seeking an objective view. That’s why we started with development-oriented leadership assessments," says Jan Jalving. Corretta ten Have adds that there is an earlier step: "First, we, together with GITP, carefully examined which competencies have the greatest impact on successfully fulfilling the role." These were leadership, self-reflection and self-management, result orientation, and conflict management.

The results from the leadership assessments were graphically mapped in a Talent Map, which clearly shows at the group level where the development areas are and what the project leaders' absolute strengths are. Combined with personality and motivations, this naturally outlined the development trajectory. According to Jan Jalving, leadership assessments combined with the Talent Map provide the necessary behavioral insights, leading to a better understanding of what others need or can offer to be successful as project leaders. This applies not only individually but also within teams. "The results often confirmed existing perceptions for us and the project leaders, but there were also some surprising outcomes that guided the further development trajectory."

Take the Time

The development-oriented leadership assessments were seen as a 'gift,' an opportunity for professionals to structurally improve themselves. "Together with GITP, we invested a lot of time upfront in communicating with the project leaders. We involved them in our plan, the setup, and where we want to go together. Having conversations, giving genuine attention, explaining, asking questions, and addressing difficult topics—all of these are things most managers know, but if you don’t do them, do them too quickly, or aren’t sincere, an assessment won’t feel safe for people, and you can’t expect much in terms of development results. We put a lot of effort into ensuring social safety, which now allows everyone to talk openly about this development trajectory, both one-on-one and in teams. Safety and trust provide a kickstart for the further development trajectory."

The Management Team Leads the Way

According to Corretta, it's also a matter of not letting go. She emphasizes that, as part of a management or leadership team, you must constantly demonstrate and convey how important you consider the development of your people.

“An MT leads the way. They must fully embrace, promote, and embody leadership development; otherwise, you quickly come across as insincere. It's not just another item to check off your to-do list. For this reason, HR remains involved throughout the entire process.”

The leadership development program primarily involves coaching and intervision based on a number of fixed themes, which are derived from the key competencies to be developed. In this process, project leaders, their direct supervisors, the coach, and HR work closely together. “From HR, we are closely involved because this program works in two directions: as the project leaders develop, their management must also evolve. They will directly encounter these changes, need to respond to them, and manage them, which means that upper management must also develop. We guide and facilitate this dialogue between senior and middle management.”

The coaching and intervision took place in 2021 and lasted for a significant part of the year. When asked when this program will be considered a success, Jan Jalving provides a clear and straightforward answer: “We are a project-based organization, and our projects carry high risks and small margins. If we see that risks are better managed and projects perform better in terms of process and results, that is a direct outcome of this leadership development program.” This directly links the value of HR to the business. Corretta, as an HR professional, welcomes this vision. She notes that HR is increasingly challenged to make its contribution to organizational strategy or results tangible. Her advice: “Don’t get stuck on HR objectives; link HR as directly as possible to the business, as there are many different ways to achieve this.”