Good Employership in The Netherlands
Jeroen Geelhoed & Ingrid Smolders
A fantastic event took place in Amsterdam Bright City on April 8th, organised by Great Place to Work. The evening program included the traditional awards ceremony for the best employers in the Netherlands. And for the third time in a row &samhoud is the #1 Great Place to Work in the Netherlands. Although of course we are extremely pleased with this, we especially gained a great deal of inspiration at the afternoon event during which the Manifest of Good Employership was produced. What happened there? And why?
Group
Together with around 60 people, using a pressure-cooker type approach, a manifest was drawn up that aims to inspire and help Dutch organizations to actually achieve good employership. And those 60 men and women, they were no ’softies’. It was a selected group of companies that have been praised for achieving and maintaining good employership, such as Vitae, Microsoft, NetApp, SAS and us. But they were also experts specialised in good employership or in certain aspects of it, for example Michiel Drijper of the community ‘Iedereen elke dag plezier’ (‘Fun for Everyone Every Day’), and Huub van Zwieten, author of various management books on ‘Man and Work’. And finally there were representatives of employers’ and employee organizations. In short, those who brought about the manifest are those who know what it is about. The outcome of this unique collaboration was a roaring manifest with recommendations that can be directly applied in Dutch organizations.
Gap
Now, was that needed? Absolutely! Prior to the event, Great Place to Work had carried out a major survey into good employership in the Netherlands. The outcomes of that survey showed a major gap. Whereas the best employers scored an average of 78% in the confidence index (‘a B-’), the score of the average Dutch organization was 58% (‘a C-’). That is quite a gap. If as a nation we want to win the battle, then as organizations we’ll need to ensure that the best people want to work for us and want to stay working for us. For the average Dutch organization there is still a lot of territory to be gained here. And that’s where Great Place to Work wanted to offer support – together with the above mentioned 60 people who know how to put good employership into practise. Support by drawing up an exciting, concise, and action-focused manifest with which Dutch organizations can start to work. The manifest was presented to Hans Kamps, crown-appointed member of the Social Economic Council.
Good Employership
The manifest includes a range of recommendations, ordered in the various areas that Great Place to Work uses when reviewing human resource policies in organizations, i.e. recruiting & welcoming, listening, speaking, inspiring, celebrating, caring, developing, thanking and sharing. We would like to share a number of important elements with you. To begin with, the importance of recruiting people based on their attitude was underlined. It is extremely important to not only look at people’s knowledge and skills, but particularly also their fit with the culture, with your organization’s core values. In this area you need to ensure unity. On the other hand, in your recruitment policy you need to ensure diversity and that people complement one another. The combination of, on the one hand, unity in values and attitudes and, on the other hand, diversity in the composition of an organisation brings great rewards.
Another aspect that was mentioned is the importance of inspiration. In order to create inspiration within organizations, living out your vision on a daily basis is a must. In addition, it is important to ensure that co-workers get to know one another better, so that they can inspire one another. And it is important to bring the outside world into your organization (customers, suppliers and other groups in your environment). This results in inspiration that is needed to create fun in the workplace and at the same time contributes to achieving better results.
These are only a few examples and the manifest includes many more of such examples. Of course it would take too long to tell the whole story in this blog. But the manifest as a whole does deserve to be considered. That is why you can download the full Manifest Good Employership (the text of the Manifest is in Dutch). In short, if you are already a very good employer, consider which aspects you can still improve or strengthen. If you are not yet a very good employer, then you can use the outcome of the collaboration between 60 professional experts to your advantage.
By the way, while we’re talking about creating Great Places to Work…. As mentioned &samhoud has become the #1 for the third time in a row. We would like to share how we achieved this. You can therefore expect a publication from us in which we will divulge what we did to make it to the #1 position. Watch this space.
Working Mothers At &samhoud Follow The School Holidays
One benefit of working in education is the holiday schedule of about 9 to 10 weeks every year. At the consultancy firm &samhoud working mothers with young children will also stick to the school holidays from now on. This is the outcome of discussions held between Managing Partner Ingrid Smolders, herself mother of two children, and her fellow consultants who are also mums.
“At &samhoud we recruit highly gifted staff, people who fit the vision of our consultancy firm” according to Smolders. “Their quality is that they can achieve breakthroughs by inspiring and connecting people. They are management consultants and in this profession you often work long and intensive days. This applies to everyone, so also to women who have small children at home. I think it’s important that these women also continue to develop. After all, they are excellent consultants as well. We had agreed before that mothers working at &samhoud are provided with an ultra lightweight laptop. Because how often do working mothers seemingly carry all their worldly belongings when their children need to be taken to or picked up from school or nursery.
Together with the group of mothers working at &samhoud Smolders took a closer look at the existing needs. Mothers at &samhoud who have young children all work part-time. But in practice it seems that they fit a full-time working week into their working days, so 40 hours or even more than that.
Smolders: “Next to their work they also want to have spare time and when I suggested that they should then take some annual leave, they looked surprised at first. They had not considered taking annual leave regularly to be an option. By comparing their actual working hours with their contractual working hours we came to a simple conclusion. The overtime can easily be compensated by time off – in fact the same days that the children are not in school. So we established that mothers at &samhoud will follow their children’s holiday schedule from now on. It’s a case of planning hours and projects well internally. Besides, it saves a lot of hassle of having to organise child care during the holidays for when you need to go to work.”
The arrangement for working mothers fully fits in &samhoud’s culture where the work-life balance is always being considered. “Everyone loses out when motivation for work is lost because things can no longer be organized at home” according to Ingrid Smolders. “As the employer you need to also consider your staff’s living conditions outside the office walls. Every person is different. For example, for young fathers we introduced paternity leave three years ago. The father stays at home for the first two months after the birth, fully paid.”
“Taking a personal approach with your people leads not only to individual applications of working conditions, it also contributes to your co-workers’ self-awareness” notes Smolders. “We discovered that working mothers at &samhoud struggle to claim things for themselves. That mental sting has now been removed. So from an employer’s point of view we do everything we can to enable the combination of motherhood and hard work, but we also encourage these women by being proactive in asking them about these matters and in researching and using opportunities ourselves. This empowers them a great deal.”
“You know that on every front working mothers need to take on a lot. With this arrangement we meet their needs appropriately” Smolders concludes. “The beauty of it is that everyone is enthousiastic, and that generates energy.”
It Takes Two To Tango! Female leadership seen from an entrepreneurial point of view
By Salem Samhoud
Feminisation will no doubt be one of the words used most in 2010. In my view feminisation means not only that more women should be involved at the top of organizations, but also that men should further develop their feminine side. I say this as an entrepreneur, and not because it is socially desirable. From an entrepreneurial perspective Female Leadership is a necessity.
An entrepreneur wants to see short-term results, an entrepreneur wants to distinguish themselves from competitors and an entrepreneur anticipates future trends in order to ensure that his or her company survives in the future too. Female Leadership is the attribute that perfectly centres on each of these three entrepreneurial starting points. In fact, all the evidence points to the fact that the attributes of Female Leadership are essential for the future survival of a company. In my view, Female Leadership applies both to women and men. Men will also need to further improve their female leadership qualities and take ownership of feminisation. I’ll come back to that later. First the women.
The Effectiveness Of Women At The Top Has Already Been Proven
McKinsey&Company published two reports, in 2007 and 2008 – Women Matter and Women Matter2. Both offer very interesting links in terms of the entrepreneurial perspective of Female Leadership. It turns out that organisations with a minimum of three women in top management are more effective in each of the nine dimensions that determine the quality of an organisation than organisations without women in its top management. Yes that’s right, there is a higher score for every dimension: working environment and values, vision, planning and control, leadership, external orientation, motivation, competencies, accountability and innovation.
These higher scores result in better financial results. Organisations with at least three women in their top management have a larger operating profit, a higher return on investment and a steeper growth of their share price.
The interesting aspect is that the research focused on the minimum number of women required in top management in order to achieve such good results. We are talking here of a ratio of three women to a total of ten people in top management. With two women the positive result has already largely disappeared.
So there is currently a marked difference between companies with more women at the top and companies with no or too few women at the top. Will this trend continue in future? Let’s focus on the most important trends included in the McKinsey reports.
Trends In The Next Five Years
Out of all the macro-economic, social, long-term and business trends, three are most important:
- The speed of technological innovation increases.
- The availability of knowledge increases and consequently the ability to utilise this knowledge.
- The search for talent extends across borders more and is becoming more competitive.
In order to adjust to the speed of technological innovation, organisations need to dare to let go of their existing business model and focus on evolution, creativity and innovation.
Therefore, leaders in organizations need to have attributes such as ‘intellectual stimulus’ (stimulating creativity, questioning assumptions and daring to take risks) and ‘participative decision making’ (building a decisive team spirit).
In order to be able to make use of the increasing availability of knowledge, organisations need to be able to effect knowledge sharing. This can be done by merging company processes and by working in multidisciplinary teams. Organisational leaders then particularly need to have the skills that make ‘participative decision making’ possible.
After all, in the ‘war for talent’ it’s about ensuring a strong value proposition for organisations. Leadership qualities that make this possible are ‘inspiration’ (convincingly set out a clear vision) and ‘managing and rewarding expectations’.
Women Are On Trend
When considering the most important trends for organisations in the next five years and linking to that the leadership qualities necessary to respond effectively to these trends, then we can say with confidence that leaders need to especially have the following attributes:
- intellectual stimulus
- participative decision making
- inspiration
- management and reward of expectations
McKinsey also studied the leadership attributes mainly deployed by men and those mainly deployed by women.
As far as the attribute ‘intellectual stimulus’ is concerned, there is no difference between men and women. In the case of the other three, however, women deploy these much more often. Participative decision making, inspiration and management and reward of expectations – women are fully on trend!
Feminisation – For Men Too!
I conclude from the McKinsey reports that the issues are irreversible. Undoubtedly more women will reach the top of organizations thanks to their leadership qualities. However, there is another, inevitable, development. And that is the feminisation of males. My experience has shown that the emphasis will be much more on inspiration and spirituality, and a sense of responsibility to ensure continuity. Particularly the latter is the prerogative of women, who always care for continuity in the family and in work. They multi-task and are very passionate. Men will also need to take on much more responsibility for the whole and demonstrate that through their behaviour. The younger generation appears to be doing that much more already. Feminisation is evolutionary and therefore unstoppable. What is the current generation of males to do though?
Men Are Show Brands, Women Are Nerd Brands
&samhoud is contacted by hundreds of women who are tired of the juggernauts and who are now searching for the right way to develop their abilities and turn their ambitions into reality. They tell us poignant stories of how men deal with women. I’m afraid that this will continue for some time to come. A number of men will become more and more dissatisfied. Such as the ones from the old boys’ networks. They will fight the fact that women, or female attributes, will colour the future. An article in the Volkskrant (Dutch national newspaper) of Saturday February 27th 2010 entitled ‘Women Need To Stay True To Themselves’ is a telling example. In this article women are given (probably) well-meant advice from four male top leaders, none of whom seem to realise their distant approach. “Women don’t realize that you earn more respect by sticking your neck out” according to a board chairman who for years has wondered why women drop out on their way to the top. “Women tend to name their weak points publically, whereas men emphasise their strong points. This is simply counter-productive. Leave that talk at the kitchen table or with your girlfriends”, is what one city mayor stated.
This is the arrogance of the older generation and once again confirms that men are show brands and that women are nerd brands. Show brands perform badly but have a good image. Nerd brands perform well but have a bad image. Both sexes will need to transform into a valued form of authenticity. Or, continuing the comparison, a real brand. As far as women are concerned we have seen that feminisation helps to improve their image a great deal. Men will need to improve their performance, and particularly in the area of female leadership qualities. Otherwise they will also lose their image after a period of time.
It Takes Two To Tango
Organisaties are on the brink of a major cultural shift. Of course it’s important that more women take their place at organizational top levels. It is equally important that men in organisations go through a transformation too, without losing their specific attributes. Connection between what is needed in organisations implies many more connections between male and female attributes and allowing space for one another. You need each other: it takes two to tango.
Cultural transformation, however, requires more than merely attracting women. It also requires a change process that is initiated from within the organization itself with the full support of its top management. That type of process is far reaching, but has as its major benefit that organizations can achieve sustained transformation that leads to favourable operating results.
You Are Who You Will Become
Organisations with a focused policy are tomorrow’s winners. Don’t resist but expand your horizon and take responsibility for your family, company and society. The future of your company’s operating result benefits from more Female Leadership. The past is in the past and it’s the future that matters. And have faith in the fact that you are who you will be!
Final step in Cultural Change: bye bye consultant!
By Barbara de Greeff and Floris de Bruin
‘Nothing lasts forever, except change’ (Heraclitos, greek philosopher)
The Dutch Ministry of Transport and Water Management and consultancy firm &samhoud co-produced a change concept that enables organisations to take the last step in a change process successfully. On their own! The name of this concept is ‘Leaders as Teachers’; managers from within the organisation take the lead in Anchoring the new organisational culture. Not only do they adopt knowledge and competences from their consultants, they also take over the consultants role of process supervisor.
Succesful change
Changing organisations effectively is very difficult: 70% to 80% of change processes fail. Fortunately there are several change processes that did succeed. In our experience successful change processes follow four specific phases that interconnect with each other like a chain:
The last link in the chain, Activation and Anchoring, usually is the biggest hiccup: will change be transformed into individual attitude and behaviour? We actually see a lot of organisations that don’t make this final transformation. The most common argument is that there is too much resistance to change among the employees. However, our experience is that resistance is not the main cause of failure. It’s the right approach that marks the road to success.
Leaders as Teachers
In the past two years we have developed, together with one of our main clients, the Dutch Ministry of Transport and Water Management, a concept that enables organisations to take the last step in a change process successfully. On their own, without the help of external consultants. In essence this concept consists of putting in place empowered leaders from within the organisation who take up the role of process supervisor. They anchor the change process from the inside. Real leaders are the driving force for organisational change. We call this concept ‘Leaders as Teachers’(LaT).
Target groups Leaders as Tachers
The Leaders as Teachers concept aims at two target groups:
1. All managers in the organisation
2. A selection of these managers who are process supervisors throughout the entire organisation
All managers in the organisation
Real change demands inspiration, discipline and learning abilities. Managers must feel both the support and the inspiration to be the figureheads of the change process for their division in the organisation. At the same time they have to be aware of their own contribution to the change process and how they are being managed in that task.
All of this is accomplished by gathering several times a year and learn: about change management, about best practices, about the vision and strategy of the organisation. And they also learn why change is necessary. They are facilitated with a change toolbox, intervision and coaching.
Leaders as process supervisors
A special team of managers go a few steps further. They fulfil the role of process supervisor in which they inspire, discipline and teach other managers and employees. These process supervisors follow a specialized course that teaches them to perform in front of groups of colleagues. The course combines theory and practice and is built up in three parts: show, participate and do it yourself.
A small Program Team supports the ‘Leaders as Teachers’ and monitors the consistency of the different learning activities. Besides the team is responsible for designing and preparing the entire programme of interventions that must lead to the desired change. This responsibility acquires regular consultations with the board of the organisation.
Leaders as Teachers in practice: the Dutch Ministry of Transport and Water Management
In 2003, the Dutch Ministry of Transport and Water management started an ambitious renewal program. During the first years, very good progress was made by bringing a clear structure to the organisation (for instance, the legal structure was changed into a public agency) and by starting to work more public-oriented.
The change programme lead to several tangible results such as an increase of public satisfaction and employee satisfaction, realizing the legal status of public agency, do more work with less people and last but not least the Director General being elected the ‘Government Manager of 2008’.
However, this success and the long duration of the change process also have a negative impact; the sense of urgency begins to decline. Besides, the desired individual attitude and behaviour fell short of expectations.
So, in 2008 a very important step was taken. The focus of the organisation was shifted from ‘sense of urgency’ to ‘sense of excitement’.
Introduction Leaders as Teachers
As a result of this change of focus, the Ministry of Transport and Water Management and consultancy firm &samhoud co-designed the concept ‘Leaders as Teachers’. A group of inspired managers from within the organisation were selected to participate in the programme. During a course with master classes, coaching and practice they were prepared for a new role and task. Since the beginning of 2009 they play a leading part in several internal management courses.
The management courses are very important means to realize change. We distinguish two types of courses:
- Horizontal courses. These courses focus on exchanging experiences regarding the daily practice of ‘how to implement change’. Horizontal courses also treat the application of new methods and they treat new concepts. The fundament of this programme is the Agenda 2010, in other words the vision and strategy of the organisation.
- Vertical courses. These courses focus on both tangible improvements of the process and substantive organisational issues. Managers and employees from specific production processes solve problems together. Unlike horizontal courses, the vertical courses focus on the entire production chain within an organisation.
In the past year the new process supervisors have co-designed and managed 25 new courses. These courses have also been vehicles to pass on a part of their new competences to all managers who, in their turn, are better equipped to facilitate learning and developing in the workplace.
Results for the Ministry of Transport and Water Management
The ‘Leaders as Teachers’ concept has brought a new impulse to the change process. Participants largely appreciate that their own leaders put extra time and effort in helping them to change. Besides, the internal process supervisors understand the organisation very well. They connect the organisational processes easily with daily practice. In this phase of the change process that is a very effective combination.
From their point of view the process supervisors indicate that their leadership skills grow fast. They learn to pay more attention to group dynamics and to differtent learning paths of other people. But they have also learned a lot about themselves which is utterly important since their personality is the most important instrument in process supervising.
Bye bye consultant
This case shows that intensive cooperation between the Ministry of Transport and Water Management and consultancy firm &samhoud has resulted in highly effective co-productions that always focused on one main goal: renewal of the Ministry. Bare in mind that &samhoud has been involved in the change process from the very beginning and that letting go of each other has become harder an harder because of the deep connection that has grown over the years.
But, the very last step of the change process is taken by the organisation itself. As a result of this approach, internal commitment and knowledge have grown which have great impact on the entire organisational culture. And the consultant steps out of the process gradually and in a very natural way. By focusing on the ‘sense of excitement’ in this phase it has given the organisation the right push to finish the change process on its own.
Connect People, Planet and Profit!
Sustainability is key for modern organisations. It’s packed in the triad People, Planet, Profit. A holistic view on organisations has never been the key asset of Anglo Saxon CEOs and managers. Therefore, when a concept like this triad is being introduced, people always tend to prioritize: which of the three P’s comes first? A very comfortable question for decision makers because it gives them the recognizable opportunity to be competitive. So, when the government stimulates responsibility for the environment and on top Al Gore comes by and preaches Planet, then the dice are cast. Profit and Planet fight for the number one position while People fall behind.
Favouring Planet over People is the topic of an article in De Volkskrant of January 30, 2010. The article describes companies like AkzoNobel, TNT and DSM who do very well on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, but who do very poor on working conditions. This comes to the surface painfully now the worldwide financial crisis forces companies to make choices. And as expected, number three in the ranking of the three P’s is sacrificed. People are being squeezed or fired.
The way to get most out of people is to handle the management principle of Fun & Performance. Fun at work leads to more profit and it will extrapolate the environmental responsibility of organisations. When all employees are connected to the organisation and its policy, they become the engine for growth. Combining Fun and Performance results in realizing goals. By neglecting employees their trust will decline. And when trust becomes an issue then it undermines sustainability. See how for instance distrust has disrupted the world wide financial system.
The same article tells us that investing in people costs a lot of money. However, Fun & Performance teaches us that investing in people isn’t a money issue but a time issue. The highest valued indicator for employees is ‘recognition and appreciation’. In other words taking care of people. Cherish your people because they add value. Value for money.
Recognizing that employees are the biggest source of adding value means that People, Planet and Profit shouldn’t compete with each other. They are one. When will we finally start understanding that our real challenge is the future?
The only way to build a brighter future is connection. The three P’s have to be connected, people within organisations have to be connected, organisations have to be connected. Humanity and nature have to be connected. But first of all, people have to be connected to themselves.
A holistic point of view is necessary to deal with all the challenges we face. It’s not People or Planet or Profit. It’s People and Planet and Profit. &!
De pot verwijt de ketel, vertrouwen is op alle fronten zoek!
De politiek en media richten hun pijlen op de financiële sector. Commissie De Wit legt momenteel misstanden bloot. Maar uit onderzoek blijkt dat politiek en media nog minder vertrouwen genieten dan de financiële sector. Wanneer wordt voor hen een onderzoekscommissie ingesteld? Oproep aan iedereen die suggesties heeft voor zo’n commissie!
De gevolgen van de kredietcrisis wegen zwaar op de dagelijkse gang van zaken van vele huishoudens, bedrijven en instellingen. Dankzij de Commissie De Wit komt veel van het onrecht dat Nederlanders is aangedaan boven tafel. Belangrijkste verwijt: het beschamen van het vertrouwen dat mensen stelden in hun financiële dienstverlener. De politiek slijpt de messen, de media doen gretig verslag en de burgers? Die halen massaal de broekriem aan. Het vertrouwen in banken en verzekeraars is inderdaad flink gedaald. Recent onderzoek onder klanten van banken en verzekeraars toont een beeld van een paard dat wegrent, met op zijn rug de voorraad vertrouwen. Maar hetzelfde onderzoek toont aan dat het paard niet alleen bepakt is met het vertrouwen van banken en verzekeraars, maar ook met het vertrouwen van burgers in politiek en media.
Laten we de cijfers er eens bij halen. Uit een onderzoek onder 2000 klanten van banken en verzekeraars, uitgevoerd in december 2009 in opdracht van adviesbureau &samhoud, blijkt dat 65% van hen vertrouwen heeft in eigen bank of verzekeraar. 36% van de respondenten heeft vertrouwen in de Nederlandse economie. 43% heeft vertrouwen in overheidsinstellingen die een dienst verlenen aan burgers. Slechts 15% van de respondenten heeft vertrouwen in de financiële sector in het algemeen. Resultaten die uitnodigen om de financiële wereld eens flink aan de tand te voelen. Het onderzoek heeft echter nog een staartje. Nadere bestudering laat zien dat de media slechts 14% van het vertrouwen van de 2000 respondenten geniet. De politiek scoort nog lager: 13%.
Waar alle ogen gericht zijn op financiële dienstverleners, blijkt uit dit onderzoek dat er veel meer instanties en instellingen zijn die onze onderzoekende blikken verdienen. Naast de financiële reuzen zijn met name de politiek en de media een groot gedeelte van het vertrouwen van hun publiek verloren. En laat het nu net deze instituten zijn die veelvuldig mening en oordeel uitvergroten. Maar zijn zij niet net zo afhankelijk van het in hun gestelde vertrouwen? Hun wijzende vingers richting banken en verzekeraars kunnen we gerust categoriseren onder de noemer ‘de pot verwijt de ketel’. Wordt het niet eens tijd dat, na de ketel, nu ook de pot eens wordt gehoord door een onderzoekscommissie, laten we zeggen de Commissie Vertrouwenscrisis?
Relatief gezien hebben mensen nog altijd een behoorlijk vertrouwen in hun eigen bank of verzekeraar. En de financiële sector in het algemeen doet het weliswaar slecht, maar politiek en media respectievelijk beleidsbepalers en gezichtsbepalers, scoren nog slechter. Zoals de waard is vertrouwt hij zijn gasten. Balkenende begon zo voortvarend met het vragen van aandacht voor normen en waarden, maar hij heeft het niet afgemaakt. Zijn geloofwaardigheid kalft af, van banaliteiten als het niet sneeuwvrij maken van zijn stoep in Capelle aan de IJssel tot zijn onhandige reactie op het rapport van de Commissie Davids.
Vertrouwen is momenteel ver te zoeken. Iedereen wijst naar elkaar. Slechts 1 op de 2 mensen heeft vertrouwen in de ander. Zolang mensen blijven wijzen en niet naar zichzelf durven te kijken, zal de vertrouwenscrisis blijven bestaan. Hoeveel mensen hebben vertrouwen in zichzelf? Uit de bankwereld zijn inmiddels enkele excuses gekomen. Er rolt hier en daar zelfs een kop. Maar nogmaals, wat gebeurt er met de politiek en de media? Zij zijn net zo goed afhankelijk van het vertrouwen van respectievelijk de burger en de kijker.
Het gekrakeel moet stoppen, de wijzende vingers moeten naar beneden, partijen die met polariseren menen grote winst te behalen in de ontstane commotie, moeten hun verantwoordelijkheid nemen. Als politiek en media het vertrouwen terug willen, zullen ze aan zichzelf moeten werken. Ze zullen zich meer moeten verbinden: met zichzelf, dat vergroot het zelfinzicht, en met anderen. Alleen van daaruit kan vertrouwen groeien. Laten we daar met politiek, media, overheden, financiële dienstverleners en burgers onze energie in steken: Together we build a brighter future!
Oproep!
Een onderzoekscommissie die het vertrouwen in Politiek en Media nader gaat onderzoeken.
Wie zou daar in plaats kunnen nemen? Hebt u suggesties? Laat het ons weten en reageer!
Proces Wilders: 80 man politie, 50 journalisten en 30 toeschouwers!
Door Jip Samhoud (20), ondernemer en oud Jeugdpremier
Op woensdag 3 februari 2010 moest Geert Wilders voor de rechter verschijnen. Binnen twintig minuten zat het er al weer op en had de rechter een besluit genomen. Wilders reed weg met piepende banden na een verklaring te hebben afgelegd die we inmiddels van hem kennen: dat de rechtelijke macht een dictatuur is. Het legertje verslaggevers bleef gretig pennend en filmend achter.
Waar zijn we nou helemaal mee bezig? Laten we het eens van een nuchtere kant bekijken. Voor een rechtszitting die niet meer dan twintig minuten duurde, waarbij alleen de reachter aan het woord was geweest en waarvan de uitkomst ook in een e-mailtje gezet had kunnen worden, waren nodig: 5 auto’s om Geert Wilders veilig te vervoeren, een politiehelikopter, 3 ME-busjes, zo’n 80 politiemensen, ongeveer 50 journalisten, waarvan twee NOS-crews, elk compleet opgetuigd met zendauto, cameraploeg en verslaggever.
Dat alles om bovenop het nieuws te zitten? Welk nieuws? De reactie van Geert Wilders was namelijk voorspelbaar: de rechtelijke macht is volgens hem een dictatuur, net als hij dat vindt van de media terwijl hij zichzelf juist ziet als de grootste democraat van het land.
De NOS had een hoop geld kunnen besparen voor de publieke omroep door te volstaan met recente archiefbeelden van verklaringen door Wilders. Het zou bovendien een passend antwoord zijn in het kat en muisspel dat Wilders speelt ten aanzien van de media. Want het debat gaat hij maar niet aan, kijk bijvoorbeeld naar zijn afzegging voor het door Radio 1 georganiseerde lijsttrekkersdebat voor de aanstaande gemeenteraadsverkiezingen.
Ik was trouwens vergeten te noemen dat er ook nog een groepje van ongeveer 30 toeschouwers aanwezig was buiten de rechtszaal. Ze vielen ook niet echt op, moet ik zeggen. Ze werden compleet omringd door een troepenmacht van politie en journalisten. Zou deze rechtszaak nou leven bij burgers?
Samen met een paar collega’s was ik daar om blauwe voetballen van verbinding uit te delen. Ons doel is om mensen op te roepen zich te verbinden; juist op deze plek waar de vrijheid van meningsuiting ter discussie staat en polarisatie dreigt. Al ballend raakte ik aan de praat met een journalist die ons initiatief erg goed vond. Hij zei er echter bij dat dit niet de plek en omstandigheid was om onze boodschap te verkondigen. ‘Dit is het slagveld, hier woedt een oorlog. Zoek een ander podium zodat de aandacht op jou gevestigd wordt’, zei hij. Moest ik dit zien als een uitspraak van een ietwat gedeformeerde journalist die de nadruk wil leggen op sensatie? Om me heen kijkend naar al die politiemensen, die ME-busjes en die helikopter, had het tafereel inderdaad iets weg van een warzone. En die groep ‘embedded’ journalisten paste ook helemaal in het beeld van moderne oorlogvoering.
In hoeverre is dit nou ‘spek en bonen oorlog’? Het lijkt wel of Geert Wilders precies krijgt wat hij wil: onrust, wantrouwen en polarisatie. Dat kan toch niet de bedoeling zijn?
Vorige week was ik in Johannesburg en Soweto en bezocht er onder andere het Apartheidmuseum. Over geweld gesproken. Die mensen in Zuid-Afrika zijn tientallen jaren wettelijk benadeeld geweest en om het tij te keren hebben ze hun leven gewaagd voor gelijke rechten. Dat was pas oorlog. Nu, na 16 jaar zonder Apartheid, zijn de sporen nog niet uitgewist. De schoonheid van de natuur, de diversiteit van culturen en de opbrengsten van goud en diamanten worden nog altijd overschaduwd door de verschillen tussen mensen. Hier in Amsterdam, voor het Gerechtsgebouw, besefte ik dat het juist goed was om mensen op te roepen zich te verbinden. Onze vrijheid van meningsuiting moet absoluut worden beschermd, maar de verantwoordelijkheid van meningsuiting ook. Daar moet het proces over gaan.
Apartheid is een wereldberoemd Nederlands woord. Het wordt tijd dat we een nieuw woord introduceren. Dat woord is Verbinding. Wie doet er mee?
First impressions of South Africa
Last week &samhoud visited Johannesburg and Soweto. You have been able to read about our experiences. Here is the first result of the work our cameracrew did. Enjoy the first impressions of South Africa:
South Africa – In connection we trust
On Tuesday afternoon, the 26th of January 2010, a big gathering takes place on a football field in Soweto. On the pitch the final of a Dreamfields football tournament has just ended. The winning team is about to collect their prize. Salem Samhoud takes the microphone: ‘Dear children, Thank you very much for sharing this day with us. I just have a short message for you. Over the years I have become pretty successful by following a clear vision, discipline and by working hard. I believe in a brighter future for everyone. I strive after that. I wish you all a lot of success and happiness as well. And to achieve that please cherish your dreams, be disciplined and keep your feet firmly on the ground.’
After these words the winning team steps forward. But looking at the big group of spectators around them, it becomes clear that this whole crowd is a winning team. Today.
Progress High School is part of this winning team. There, children and teachers opened their hearts and minds for more education and sports. The teachers also expressed their dreams and vision in paintings, which added up to a beautiful dreamwall in the school.
The Ipelegeng Community Center is part of this winning team. The future for them has become more colourful because of a fresh lick of paint on the walls. These new walls symbolise the beginning of a more independent future for the community center that is now ready to welcome the visitors of the 2010 World Football Championship.
John Perlman’s organization Dreamfields is part of this winning team. John organized a tournament for children of 8 primary schools from Pimville, Soweto.
Matchboxology is part of this winning team. They contributed their knowledge and experience on business in South Africa. Furthermore they invited several famous ex-professional football players who work now in a programme called ‘Footballers 4 Life’ that aims at instructing children to resist the negative influences in South African society.
Meropa is part of this winning team. Their help in matters of public relations contributed to the awareness of this event.
Phaphama is part of this winning team. Their organization helped us to connect to the community of Pimville, Soweto. Phaphama taught us a lot about the South African spirit. And they organized our ‘homestays’.
The homestay families are part of this winning team. Not only did they invite us in their homes, they also fed us and shared their thoughts with us. And they offered us a place to sleep. This afternoon, on the playing fields, they cook meals for everybody.
And then &samhoud is part of this winning team. This trip back to the roots of our company was also a journey to our own personal roots. Consciousness, connection, knowledge, ratio and emotion go hand in hand and it forms us once more.
If this winning team today provides everybody with only a little bit of hope, than undoubtedly there will be a winning team tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. That’s what South Africa needs and what this country deserves, being a connected winning team.
South Africa: about aids and societal trust
In South Africa, each day 1,000 people die of Aids and 1,900 people are infected with HIV. That is what Hugo Tempelman tells us. Hugo is a doctor who moved to South Africa in 1990. An interesting detail is that Salem and Hugo were classmates back in secondary school. Hugo runs an Aids clinic with 290 employees. Working with patients is his contribution to a better society. His message is: to build a country you must look at the children and focus on two topics: their health and their education.
In Hugo’s opinion each patient is a failure and every dead patient is unnecessary. He explains: ‘If you’re tested negative, you don’t have a ticket for tomorrow, only knowledge about the past. If you’re tested positive, than you do have a ticket for tomorrow. Only it’s not such a good one. However, you can be treated. That means taking medicine for the rest of your life, day in and day out. Then HIV is stabilized. It sounds like music, but the problem is lack of discipline to stick to the treatment. Besides people often live too far away from the clinic to attend an appointment. He concluded that 20 kilometres is the maximum radius for a successful treatment.
Hugo’s specialty is to reach people with his Rural Advancement Programme. He has built his own logistics. By doing so he has even improved parts of the existing system in South Africa so that the government decided to use his method. He is pretty successful. But the problem is so huge. In South Africa, 1 out of 5 is infected with HIV. In his clinic 70% of the patients are tested positive. 1 out of 4 pregnant women he sees, have Aids. The stories are heartbreaking.
Because of diseases like Aids the average age in South Africa has dropped from 68 to 37. One wonders what this demographical shift does to a country. Of course you need children to build a country, but you also need a strong middle aged group to guide a country. Unfortunately the government in South Africa who decides about national Aids policy, lacks specialists who can design a good programme. Former prime minister Mbeke denied the Aids problem entirely. He declared that there was no relation between HIV and Aids. That lead to a fall back in governmental aids policy.
Besides demography, there is another theme that must have it’s effect on South African society. So many people are infected. The chance to come across HIV is big. People keep on sleeping with each other unprotected, knowing that they are taking a life threatening risk.
What effect does this all have on trust. Both individual trust and societal trust. Trust is a basic need to build a country.
Compared to the problems that South Africa faces, the problems in Holland are marginal. Let us not lose our own trust and let us connect to other countries, them we van help each other.
