Zilveren Kruis and Motopp.

Hans Lenting and Hans Voorthuijzen of Zilveren Kruis share their experiences of working with a Motopper.

A Collaboration Full of Drive (or vice versa)

Motopper Mustafa began his work experience placement at Zilveren Kruis, the largest health insurer in the Netherlands, as a Mendix creator this year. This collaboration came about after Motopp proposed to place one of their graduated and certified developers at Zilveren Kruis. This article describes how Hans and Hans experienced this.

Hans Voorthuijzen, who heads the Information Management Architecture and Analysis department at Zilveren Kruis, explains that diversity and social responsibility are important to their organisation. Although they were not initially looking for extra capacity, they decided to take up the challenge of including Mustafa in their team. At the time, the director in charge had said, “don’t whine, just do it. The proposal was in line with their ideals as a healthcare provider and commitment to society, which made them dismiss practical objections.

Mustafa was eventually chosen to join Hans Lenting and his team of Mendix colleagues. Hans Lenting is a Mendix Business Engineer and together they develop applications for Zilveren Kruis. Mustafa’s motivation and drive to help and learn stood out and made him a valuable addition.

Together with Mustafa, I attended a Motopp meeting with the group that will start working for a client after him. “The drive to want to help, to want to give something back; you can see that throughout that group; they are hugely engaged in wanting to do good.”

— Hans Lenting

For Hans Lenting, that drive is a decisive factor when hiring new employees. ‘We said beforehand that, even if it is a work experience placement, we will proceed in the same way as with any other random colleague,’ says Hans. ‘What can someone do, what does he want and what work do we have lying around. And then you also just have to give someone a chance, otherwise you don’t know where his challenges lie.’ It turned out to be a good move. When motivation matches the opportunities offered, a person is empowered.

Mustafa’s independence stood out, which fits well with the Mendix team. For example, he took responsibility for his own Dutch language training and showed determination to master the language, which is essential for effective communication in the team. ‘With us, communication is in Dutch. If I notice that I cannot make myself clear, I switch to English. Furthermore, we have to be vigilant that we start in Dutch because you are easily tempted to switch to English. That is also Mustafa’s biggest learning point at the moment, to make himself well understood,’ says Hans.

The fact that Mustafa is a statusholder is not considered the most important aspect of his identity within Zilveren Kruis. They consider him a valuable team member, regardless of his background. “Personally, we don’t ask about the reason he left his home country, we don’t think that’s very appropriate. The fact that a status holder is working in the Mendix team is not something we find it necessary to name separately,” says Hans Voorthuijzen. Sometimes Mustafa starts talking about it himself. Hans only experiences that as interesting; there is a lot to learn from how things work elsewhere.

For Hans and Hans, working with Motopp has been a good experience. ‘It is that we have no vacancies right now, otherwise we would definitely consider employing Mustafa permanently,’ says Hans Voorthuijzen. In the future, they are therefore open to doing so again at Zilveren Kruis. ‘If given the space, I would prefer to create a second work experience position for someone else, in order to give more people like Mustafa a good entry into the labour market.’ That the companies fit well together, Zilveren kruis, Mendix and Motopp, made this a great combination for Hans. ‘I’m also kind of proud that we do this together, that you can make a positive contribution to society in this way.’ For Hans, that feeling that with the company you work for you can help people further, grow, is important. ‘It’s just the edge that makes a day extra beautiful.’

Mustafa’s future also looks promising, with interest from other parties looking to approach him for his Mendix skills.