Bouke van der Zee

 

“In my opinion, AkzoNobel is a real do-it-yourself company. If you
don’t restrain yourself, the possibilities are endless. I’m not talking about pre-defined career paths either, because the company encourages you to create your own opportunities. I chose AkzoNobel because it produces tangible products. Just like modern society, it acts with a global outlook and allows you room to focus on what you as a person are good at, working together with other people doing what they are good at. I started as a process engineer, working on optimizing production using my engineering knowledge and expertise. From the start, my main interest was bringing disciplines together solving problems in the best possible way. Showing my interest in project and production management, I was offered the chance to lead a global production standardization project. Now, I am head of the Process & QC department in Production at Sassenheim in the Netherlands. Despite the pressure to resolve urgent short-term problems, I always strive to create room to work on structural improvements for myself and my people. Remember, don’t take the current situation for granted, but ask the question: what needs to happen to make a major improvement possible? Don’t just accept that change can’t happen.”