Akerendam

With its headquarters in the Dutch city of Hilversum, Akerendam was founded in 1989 by Robert Visser. “Akerendam started as ‘Akerendam Assessment Centers’ based on the vision that participants in an assessment deserve genuine and personal attention,” explains Van Haren. “Additionally, that the methodologies must be substantiated by hard psychology. In other words, no vague models or statements that cannot be substantiated. At the time, these two pillars were far from self-evident in our field.”

Co-creation
Thanks to the personal involvement and drive of the psychologists, Akerendam quickly assumed a role as ‘in-house psychologist’ for many customers. “This goes beyond conducting assessment centers. In a short time, we developed ourselves as a partner in talent and organizational development. Think, for example, of culture and leadership programs, in co-creation with customers.”

As a result, Akerendam was soon able to serve multiple customers from various industries. Following this growth, Rolf van der Meer joined as co-owner. In 2021, Ruben Kooy, Toos Stegers, Frank Ruijg, and Coenraad van Haren took over the reins. Today, in addition to assessment centers, development centers, coaching, workshops, and training are also provided.

Forward-looking orientation 
Regarding Akerendam’s policy towards the future, Van Haren says: “Given the dynamics of the world, it is important for most organizations to remain innovative. Additionally, it is important to be a learning organization where personal leadership and initiative come from everyone. In the midst of complexity and speed, themes such as teamwork, personal resilience, and focus as an organization or team are becoming increasingly important.”

Van Haren also notices this in the requests they receive. “Our knowledge and product development are likewise focused on this. Knowledge and tools to let people take the helm themselves; ‘me as a leader’, to engage in effective and genuine interaction with others; ‘me and the other’, and, of course, to build and maintain an effective team; ‘me and the team’.” 

Partnership
The Fritom Group had already been cooperating with Akerendam for some time in 2004, when René Dale was appointed CEO. Dale has expanded and intensified this partnership for Oldenburger|Fritom. When asked how Akerendam has experienced the partnership with Oldenburger|Fritom so far, Van Haren replies: “We prefer to work with organizations like Oldenburger|Fritom, with a solid and value-driven ambition and a strong vision and mission, where the management also gets involved. Even when things get tense or when it concerns them personally.”

According to Van Haren, Oldenburger|Fritom stands out in this regard. “Oldenburger|Fritom has a clear direction in which customers and people take center stage, driven by a commitment to improving every day. In doing so, Oldenburger|Fritom works in close co-creation with customers, just like Akerendam. This means that innovation is driven by customer requests. We see this reflected in our cooperation as well. In this context, we are given the opportunity to engage in sharp dialogue, with the intention of taking the organization a step further together.”