Officially, Han Marinusse's business card says he is logistics director at wholesaler Langerak de Jong, but the days when he could focus purely on the logistics part of the business are over. Meanwhile, he is also responsible for personnel management and therefore needs to be aware of the associated laws and regulations.
Langerak de Jong supplies coffee, tea and other related products to schools, companies and institutions. In 2000, Han started as logistics manager and over the years climbed to logistics director. The company has grown tremendously over the past 15 years from around 25 employees to 80 today.
Fun
As logistics director, Han has to make sure there is a good team of people ready to satisfy customers. His responsibilities include mechanics, drivers, warehouse staff and buyers. "Actually, everyone involved in the process that starts after the sale falls under the logistics process and therefore under my responsibility. In my job, I am very much involved with numbers, but therefore also with employees. It is important to know whether they are enjoying themselves at Langerak de Jong. My own experience is that if I myself go to work at a time with an unpleasant feeling, others have the same feeling at that time. Incidentally, I have fortunately only had that a few times in the 19 years I have been working here. But if that feeling is there, then all of us have to work on it, because it is not good."
Involve
Langerak de Jong's warehouse deals with a diverse workforce in terms of education level and age. Around 15 people work there every day, both full-time and part-time. "Both young and old people work in the warehouse, and there is even someone working who has been retired for some time," Han says. "I think it's important to give employees a sense of belonging to the company, and one way to do that is to offer them an employment contract. Especially if someone is doing structural work. We therefore only use temporary workers when the need really arises."
Trends
Although the shortage of workers in logistics is mounting and it is increasingly difficult to find people, Han has few problems filling vacancies at the moment, although he does expect finding drivers, for example, to become more difficult. "We are already trying to anticipate this by taking on apprentice drivers and training them after which they often join us. This is also because we assign these people to work for which they have been trained and do not assign them to all kinds of other jobs. By responding so early to changes in the labour market, we manage to fill gaps in the workforce."
Involved in human resources
As logistics director, Han is not only responsible for the logistics ins and outs, but therefore also for human resources management. "I now do all hr-related matters for Langerak and de Jong. That came about because I had most of the employees under me and then we decided that from now on I would also take care of all the other departments." Without reluctance, by the way, Han states. "It's interesting and fun to do, because you have a lot to do with the shop floor and therefore immediately know what the content is about. If employees have questions, I can therefore help them well. We do still have HR staff supporting me, though."
"In many cases, I am involved in the recruitment and selection of employees. Especially when it comes to positions that are cross-departmental, such as the position of operator. That is basically a logistics employee, but he also visits customers together with someone from the commercial department. It is important that such a person can count on broad support in all those departments."
Wab nightmare
Yet there is also a downside, Han notes. In recent years, he has increasingly had to deal with changing laws and regulations, such as the new Labour Market Balance Act (wab). "More and more responsibilities are falling on the employer. Sometimes I do wonder where that ends. Think, for example, of the regulations around leaving employment or the wab. Especially when staff leave employment, it is difficult to keep abreast of changes in their situation, while sometimes it still affects the employer. Arranging all these small matters together is actually quite a lot, and I'd rather be busy with the logistics process and serving the customer optimally."
News café at Logistica
This article is a contribution from evofenedex To run a smart logistics organisation, recruiting and retaining good staff is essential. This is not always easy due to the changing labour market and new laws and regulations. evofenedex would like to update you on how companies can prepare for this during the News Café at Logistica, from 5 to 7 November in the Jaarbeurs, Utrecht. Meet fellow professionals and experts and benefit from tips and tools to make your company's personnel policy and logistics process future-proof.
