Frank Simons is the Vice President Human Resources at Allseas in Delft, the Netherlands. He started his HR career in 1995 at Fugro, before moving to businesses such as IBM, Burger King Corporation and Technip.

In your opinion, what is it like being the International Vice President of HR at Allseas?

First of all, it is an exciting time, I am really enjoying it still every day. As you know, we have faced some changes in the last year with COVID and the changes in the market, so there is never a dull moment. Facing all those challenges and adapting to all those changes makes my life as an HR professional very interesting.

The last 12 months, in particular, have been quite interesting, because of the many challenges in regards to the current economic climate. Initially we were forced to let some people go, but then, after six months, the world changed.

So, we are now in hiring mode and we have big challenges in relation to retaining our staff, and - at the same time - welcoming new staff; that makes it quite difficult to adapt when you’re faced with losing people and now welcoming people.

It’s a big change in a very short period of time, so you have to adapt quickly to a new environment and your business climate, which makes it a challenge - also for the team to adapt to those changes. It requires a change in your mindset and an ability to adapt to the changes around you, both externally and internally.

What does your organisation do to drive its sustainability agenda?

We invest quite a lot in reducing the amount of water in our ships to avoid waste. We have a small ship called the Catchy, which removes plastic from the rivers. In our business, we also remove oilrigs from the oceans, which we are not operating in anymore, so we do quite a lot - it’s high on the agenda.

We’re also looking to invest more and participate in other opportunities, such as wind. It’s quite important for us, because we would like to contribute to a new environment, especially in the current market with the energy transition. We would like to play a major role in this area.

In your opinion, what makes the Netherlands a good place to live?

First of all, it’s quite international, because we have the International Court of Justice located here in The Hague and we have many nationalities. Almost everyone speaks very good English. It’s safe, it’s quite interesting country from a cultural perspective, it’s a country with many histories, life is easy, and it has very good public transportation.

The economic climate is quite strong, and we have many open vacancies in all areas - mostly technical - but there are many opportunities.

In general, it’s a very good social climate. From a social security perspective, the government takes good care of you in case of illness or disability. There are many great universities like in Amsterdam and Maastricht. Overall, it’s a very nice country to live in.

What have you learnt as a leader over the past 12 months of being at Allseas?

What I have learnt is that even though the market is changing at a fast speed, you have to write plans to adapt to it. Don’t get in a panic, just take it as it comes, take a step back to adjust your policies, your processes, and strategy. I think that’s something I’ve learnt over the 12 months in such a crazy climate with COVID and the business going down and then picking up.

I think it’s very important that you stay calm to be able to adjust your strategies and policies, and also be a bit flexible, not only with myself, but for the whole team, in adapting to the new environment.  Adapt your terms and conditions with a remote working policy to secure the people still able to adapt to this new environment.

To reiterate, I think one of the things that I have learnt in the last 12 months is the need to be calm, take a step back and readjust your strategy, because the environment will require you to do so.

You also need to ensure, as an employer, that you invest in the leadership skills of your leaders, because managing a team in the office is not the same as managing people working from home. One of the things we have learnt as a company is that you do really need make these investments to allow your leaders to adapt to the new environment, as well.

How did you plan out your career development path?

I never had the idea of wanting to get to this level or that level - it was in my mind somewhere far away, but living abroad, working abroad, and eventually becoming a VP was never that strong on my to-do list.

I always took the approach of just doing a good job and, if I was appreciated, I would be notified and then be invited for something else, which always happened in my career. I was never ambition-driven. If the right people surround you, and you are fair and honest, and have the dedication, it will happen to you anyway.  

But again my career path was not ambition-driven. I thought, let’s see what’s happening, do a good job and see what happens. That approach as always helped me a lot.

If you weren’t in your current position or you weren’t working in HR, what other career path do you think you may have taken?

I started my career as a nurse when I was at university. I always enjoyed helping other people, feeding them, putting them on the toilet, washing them… But, after a certain point in time, I really wanted to do something that would help my life financially. I needed to pursue another career. I would say, in general, if that wasn’t the case, I would maybe still be working as a nurse.

Who is the most inspiring person in business for you and why?

That is very easy to answer, because I am not reporting to him anymore - it would be the founder of Allseas. His name is Edward Heerema and he founded this company almost 40 years ago. He had a vision, he had an idea and he built the biggest construction vessel in the world. The way he founded and grew this company - taking into account the technology to be innovative - is very impressive.

Two months ago he stepped aside as President and became Chairman of the company, but I really admire what he did. Driven by entrepreneurship and pioneering spirit, he built a global company from scratch without much money in his bank account.

He did it by always treating people with dignity and respect, and surrounding himself with the right staff, so I really have a lot of respect for him. He has been the gamechanger in the industry, as well..

I would love to know how you feel digital transformation will change the role of HR?

I think it really started a few years ago. There is a stronger need for efficiency and to sit down with business leaders to provide them with relevant data. You need to provide them with the right data to discuss and to support the business decisions.

From an efficiency point of view, I think there is room for improvement in optimising all the data we have held on different systems. We need to be able to provide data in a clear overview using a one-to-one system. With this, we can work more efficiently and cut down on the amount of paperwork we have, which I think is quite outdated in line with the current digitalised environment we have today. Overall, I think digitalisation will help us improve our HR processes and become more efficient.

However, we shouldn’t forget the people element. This is because I see many companies focus a lot on digitalisation and also - particularly in the HR profession - I think we shouldn’t underestimate that it is still a people business that we are working for and with; we need to secure the right balance.

There is room for efficiency and there is room for adaption. It is very important for the people who spend a lot of time with managers to supply them with the right data to support important business decisions. But, it is still a people-orientated business working in HR. In the people element, working remotely and the integration of face-to-face is still critical to carry out the job successfully. We are not robots, you know.