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On the road with Daphne: in conversation with Gerrit Malipaard about this family business, the familiar atmosphere and the first batch of employees.
I, Daphne Bock, have been working at MTS Euro Products for six months now. What struck me in the first months about this company is that everyone is very helpful, and that there is such a pleasant atmosphere in the workplace. Through my work as a content creator, I come into contact daily with colleagues from different departments, and I notice that many employees have enjoyed working for this company for a longer period of time. This month's theme: Working at MTS has made me curious about how this growing company can continue to maintain this atmosphere. I join founder Gerrit Malipaard in his car as he heads to the contract extension meeting with Feyenoord. I asked him questions about this family business, the familiar atmosphere and the first batch of employees.
MTS Euro Products was founded in 1991 as Malipaard Trading Service. Can you tell me a bit more about your first batch of employees?
In January 1991, I started my cleaning cloth business in the business premises where my mother sold Christmas hampers. The first batch consisted of Rob van der Walle, Caroline van Heijst and Ronald von Franquemont. Robert Walraven joined a little later. Everyone in this group is still employed or involved with MTS Euro Products. Robert Walraven is now retired but still serves in an advisory capacity for our purchasing department.
These first employees probably have a strong bond?
Certainly, I have a very strong bond with all of them. It is very special that they are still working for us after 30 years and that they play an important role in the growth of MTS Euro Products. Caroline was gone for a while but then came back, which is really nice to see.
At the moment, there are specific functions and many different departments. How was the work divided in the initial period? Did you have specific functions as you do now?
At the time, Caroline was in sales and was responsible for order processing. Rob was more on the sales side, and I handled both sales and procurement. Robert and Ronald managed the warehouse together.
When did you notice that the workload was getting too big and that you needed to hire more people?
That actually happened pretty quickly. After 2 years, the workload had increased a lot and we started taking on more and more new people to get the work done. And that hasn't stopped to this day. We are still growing every day and currently have more than 100 employees. Permanent workers, temporary workers, part-timers. I expect that we will certainly be growing even more in a few years.
Definitely a great milestone. After those first 2 years, did you already hire new employees for more specific departments and functions?
Yes, we needed extra people in the warehouse. A driver was also hired. Later, Mike van den Heuvel and Ronald Buchinhoren joined. They have both been working for MTS Euro Products for about 25 years now. And there are many more employees within the company who have been working here for a long time. I am very grateful for that.
What about the job interviews? Did you do those yourself?
Yes, I did all of them myself back then. Today, with more than 100 colleagues, I outsource this task. I always try to get a good idea of the people who are going to be hired in the last interview of the application procedure, but generally speaking, the people responsible for the department in question are the ones who conduct the application procedure.
What was it like to hand over the application process after a while?
It was difficult to make the choice and to hand over this task, but we had simply become too big. The most important thing is that skilled, pleasant employees come to work for the company. This is not only good for MTS Euro Products, but also enhances the working atmosphere that people share. I have full confidence that the employees in charge of hiring are hiring the right people, and I always try to be involved somewhere in the process.
A good working atmosphere is really important. I have noticed that there is a nice working atmosphere here, and it sounds like this was the case from the start. How do you maintain that atmosphere with such a rapidly growing number of employees?
As you get bigger, that can get harder and harder. I believe that everyone within MTS Euro Products is important, every link in the entire company. I can't go without our CCO Sander Ekhart, but I also cannot go without our forklift driver. Everyone should feel valued and appreciated for the work they do and also be given the opportunity to grow. I think that this mentality and such possibilities for growth promote a healthy working atmosphere. Everyone should feel that they really matter and belong to our team. You can't get anything done on your own. We have to hold on to that feeling, even as we get bigger.
Do you think it is very important to offer career opportunities within MTS Euro Products to your employees?
Yes, that's very important. A stickerer can become a forklift driver, a logistics employee will get the chance to get a truck driver's license. If you have an ambition to move from the logistics center to, for example, our sales office, we will sit down together to look at the possibilities. That's how it should be, I think, offering people opportunities to keep learning and doing what they enjoy, all within the company. This way, you are able to retain good employees.
All functions and departments have grown and changed considerably in recent years, including your work, probably. What activities did you enjoy doing in the past but have now had to outsource?
Procurement and going on procurement trips. That is now handled by our procurement department and by our commercial director Sander Ekhart. Sander can't be successful if he doesn't get to do the shopping himself. After all, his position really is a commercial one. Both procurement and sales, I really enjoyed those back then.
Which activities did you like less and are you secretly happy to outsource?
Administrative stuff. Even to this day, handing in receipts is something I dread.
Your tasks have also changed over the years. What are you currently working on?
Actually, I mostly oversee the entire company from a kind of bird's eye view. I used to always make decisions alone, then with Sander Ekhart (CCO), and now also with Mostafa Ikajouen (CFO). The Logistics Director position is currently vacant. We currently have a good management team, in which I have had to teach myself not to make decisions alone, but in consultation with the others. We now really function as a team and have weekly management meetings. An MT has also recently been established. Now that decisions are made more in consultation, I can step away a little bit.
In addition, I am keeping myself busy with the construction of our new logistics center and I am involved in acquisitions and mergers. We have a list of a number of companies that we would like to acquire. I also sometimes accompany Sander to meet with important clients, and maintain contact with sales. Those are my duties at the moment. These days, I am able to take some more time to do fun things in my personal life.
MTS Euro Products is a supplier of high-quality hygiene products, and health has everything to do with that. Especially during the past year in which Covid-19 was among us. How is MTS Euro Products contributing to the health of employees?
As for many companies, this recent period has been completely uncharted territory. Hygiene has been an essential part of ensuring everyone stays healthy so that we can continue to supply our customers. With working from home, digital meetings, shifts and working according to all the rules of the RIVM, we have been able to ensure that our colleagues could continue to do their work in a healthy and safe way.
Even after Covid-19, health will continue to be an important topic. Everyone is becoming increasingly aware that with the right nutrition and enough exercise, you can create good health. Which in turn results in better focus during work. How will MTS Euro Products motivate employees to live a healthy lifestyle?
Our new location will be equipped with a gym. Here we can all work on our own health and fitness. A new company restaurant with catering to ensure proper nutrition will also be built here. We will move more and eat healthier. We currently have a partnership with FIT Industries in Maassluis, where many of our employees go to burn their calories and work on their fitness. We also sometimes organize healthy initiatives internally. A while ago we held a 'stop smoking' campaign with 14 colleagues, where we rewarded the fact that they stopped smoking with a nice present. This way, we are working with our employees on a healthier lifestyle.
Let's talk a little more about our new logistics center. Soon all of the employees will be under one roof again. That's bound to feel good. What do you think the advantages of this are?
Yes, I am very happy with this. The new company building is a real breath of fresh air for me. Finally, after 20 years, to have everyone under one roof again! The synergy, the team spirit, cost savings, you name it. Trucks no longer have to get to all of these different warehouses. Despite getting a bigger building, the lines of communication will be 10 times shorter. In the beginning, it will take some getting used to and everyone will need to find their way.
It's going to be an exciting few weeks. The planning, when are we going to move? And the warehouse set-up, where is everything going to be? We intend to make the switch in a single weekend, so our people will have to work hard and keep communicating clearly. And our normal business operations must of course be able to continue. A special moving team has been set up to ensure that everything runs smoothly. This team is tasked with ensuring proper planning. We also experienced a move 7 years ago, so luckily many people still remember the script from that time. I have every confidence that this will turn out well and I am very much looking forward to it.
With the new building and the growth that MTS Euro Products is experiencing... Are there any positions that you feel are still missing or that you expect to be added in the coming years?
We would very much like to expand by adding a new location, and that would require a lot of new employees. In addition, we will continue to grow as we do every year. I think we will find out quite naturally, as we go along, how many and in which parts within the company we need extra people or positions.
You could certainly conclude that employees are an important factor in the success of MTS Euro Products. There are many reasons why so many of the employees stick with the company for a long time. The positions of the past and the number of employees have changed considerably, and in terms of the future, this trend is expected to continue. After a lovely talk, Gerrit and I drive into the parking lot at De Kuip, and I've already begun thinking about the images I'm going to shoot for my vlog. In addition to the pleasant working atmosphere and colleagues, that is also one of the fun factors of my job at MTS Euro Products: very wide-ranging activities!
