The Northern Times’ contributor Thomas Ansell recently sat down with five heads of talent programmes at knowledge institutes in Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe to find out how these initiatives are helping to internationalize the north.
This time, we’re with Joyce Walstra from the Oranjewoud Export Academy in Oranjewoud.
This time, we’re with Joyce Walstra from the Oranjewoud Export Academy in Oranjewoud.
Facts and figures:
Knowledge institution: Oranjewoud Export Academy
Participating school(s): Anyone with a tertiary education can apply
Project manager: Joyce Walstra
Website
The Northern Times: How would you describe your talent programme and its approach?
Joyce Walstra: The Oranjewoud Export Academy is open to all graduates from the Northern three provinces, and is specifically designed to help those who would like to work in exporting; for example as an Export Manager. We noticed that lots of SME’s in the North have issues with finding younger people for Export Manger-like positions, but the programme is demand-driven, by the companies we work with. Since the companies pay for the education and training that we provide, it is a long-term investment in a companies future. We also try to highlight the ‘hidden champions’ within the North, it has a very fertile business climate, and a host of innovative companies that have enormous expansion potential.
We run a selection process twice-yearly, which involves students ‘pitching’ to us for inclusion on the programme. Once accepted, students get six ‘masterclasses’, and then they are matched to a company. We have a ‘matching day’ which is supposed to be a more relaxed way for our students and companies to get to know each other. It (hopefully) sets the bases for a long-term relationship; after the matching day, companies decide which student(s) they want to invite for more in-depth interviews and – in the end – which student to offer the traineeship.
TNT: How do you match students to the companies?
Walstra: Prior to becoming part of the programme, we do an ‘export impact scan’ for each company, considering its needs and also assessing its corporate character. When it comes to selecting students, character is more important than qualification. Since we attempt to tailor choices to a company, it is important for a wide range of applicants. An example of this is the sometime requirement for a native speaker of whichever language is mainly spoken in a market that a company is trying to export to; a Chinese-speaking graduate recently joined us and worked with a VR company, looking to export to mainland China.
TNT: How does the programme work with the business community?
Walstra: Essentially, there are two massive advantages to working with our programme- aside from being able to take on a savvy, learned exporter. In cost terms, our process is time-saving for companies because they can choose from a pool of already selected talents that meet requirements in terms of character. The second advantage is that we find companies are willing to change their culture, or perhaps operations, to accommodate an Export Academy graduate, which helps them renew and not fall behind competition in an international marketplace.
TNT: How can the North be more international?
Walstra: By being open and welcoming to both International people and companies, but also to those locally-based people and entities that wish to be international themselves. For example, in Friesland the amount of exports totals around 7% of GRP, but in the Netherlands as a whole it around 14% GDP. By being open, the region can raise its overall output, and so more money becomes available for self-improvement.
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