A new director for VORtech

Effective May 1st, Jeroen Gerrits will be the new director of VORtech. After 30 years, the current director Mark Roest is stepping down. In this joint interview, Mark and Jeroen discuss this change.

Mark, starting with you, what prompted you to step down as director?

There was a whole series of reasons why I felt this was a good time to hand over this responsibility. First, I think it’s good for the founder to step down once a company has matured. In that stage a company demands different things from a director than in the startup and scaleup phase. Now that a good candidate was ready to take over and the company is healthy and stable, I thought this was a good time for VORtech to get a new director.

Moreover, I felt like I’d been too busy with management tasks in recent years and hadn’t had enough time for entrepreneurship that energizes me most. I hope to have more time for that in the coming years.

And finally, I’ve taken on a few wonderful volunteer positions in recent years that I’d like to dedicate more energy to. These include my role on the strategy board of Computational Science NL and chairing of the Innovation Committee of the Dutch Mathematics Platform.

Jeroen, what motivated you to apply for the directorship?

About two years ago, Mark announced during the partner meeting that he planned to step down as director upon the 30th anniversary. During that same meeting, I indicated that I was interested in taking over that role. I did ask for some time to think about it, although I was already quite sure that I wanted to apply.

VORtech is the first and only commercial employer I’ve worked for, and after more than 20 years, I’m still very happy there. The atmosphere is fantastic, we have very talented and knowledgeable colleagues, and we work on very interesting and challenging projects. What more could you ask for…?

Before I finally submitted my application, I gathered feedback about my intention to take over the role, during a lunch walk with each individual colleague. These were interesting conversations about my strengths and areas for improvement, but also about the future. Fortunately, I received a lot of support from my colleagues. With that support and my positive feeling about the company, it was ultimately an easy decision to apply. I’m happy that the partners unanimously granted me this role.

Mark, what advice would you give Jeroen for his new role?

Actually, very little. I believe he should define his role himself, and I have full confidence that he will do so in a very good way. Moreover, he has been involved with VORtech for a long time and holds the core values ​​of our company at heart.

If anything, I would urge him to remain true to himself. As a director, you represent the company both internally and externally. This means that you must take the views and interests of the company and its employees into account. But you can still show up as the person that you are. I think this personal aspect is a core value of VORtech.

And I want to wish him all the best. Major changes are coming to our field. This offers interesting new opportunities but also poses risks. How can we translate VORtechs strengths to the new circumstances? What role will our strengths—our software skills, consultancy skills, and engineering background—play in our future services? These are exciting challenges.

Jeroen, what exactly is the role of director at VORtech?

This question is timely, because I just gave an introductory presentation to colleagues about my upcoming role as general manager. I began the presentation by explaining that the director formally has the same rights and obligations as the other partners. That’s how VORtech is organized; we are a partner organization. The seven partners jointly determine the strategy and direction. The director has an equal say in this as the other partners.

That being said, as director, I feel an additional responsibility to ensure that the company culture, our norms, and values ​​remain intact and that we follow the agreed-upon course. Furthermore, I want to have a good overview of our processes, projects, and colleagues, so I can coordinate and make connections where necessary. Finally, I will, of course, represent the company, both within and outside VORtech. These tasks are not the exclusive domain of the director; all colleagues are encouraged to contribute.

Mark, what exactly will your new role be within VORtech?

I will essentially be a regular senior employee like we have more. I’ll definitely be working a bit less: the plan is three days a week. This year at least I’ll spend at least two days a week to bring the business development process within VORtech at a higher level. I’ll also be working for clients one day a week, primarily as a consultant or project manager. Something to do with innovation management would be particularly great. I’ll definitely no longer be involved in the daily management of VORtech; I’m happy to leave that to others.

A question for both of you: what will clients and employees notice about the change?

Mark: I think very little. People will see less of me, and the major contracts will have a different signature. Besides the role of director, I will also hand over the management of the accounts where I’m currently the account manager. That won’t necessarily be Jeroen; we’ll determine the best fit for each client. But I don’t expect any major changes in how VORtech interacts with clients and colleagues. Jeroen and I usually have very similar views on that.

Jeroen: I agree with Mark, but that’s no surprise given his last comment. I’ve been part of the VORtech team for a long time and have been involved in management for many years. I don’t expect any dramatic changes for our clients and colleagues, but I do expect some minor ones. For example, in recent years I’ve spent half my time working at offices of one of our client’s. I plan to be at the VORtech office more often. Furthermore, I’ve handed over account management for one of our largest clients and will be taking over some of Mark’s accounts. Finally, I’ll become team leader of our support staff.

Finally, how will the handover take place?

Mark: For our colleagues, we’ll have a moment with cake at the end of April for the formal handover event. We’ll also celebrate it during our internal anniversary celebration in early May.

For clients we’ll do the handover during our anniversary symposium on April 9th. We’re already receiving many registrations, including many people we know well. It’s wonderful to do this together with all these people.

Would you also like to attend the symposium and shake hand with Mark and Jeroen? Register via this link.