MEET THE FAMILY | Roderik Groenewoud
Who is Roderik?
A sporty 35 year old from Raamsdonksveer, the Netherlands. I love movies and series; As far as films are concerned, I have a wide taste from classic to blockbuster and I regularly go to the cinema. I also like to play games on my PlayStation4, sometimes online with friends and colleagues.
One of my biggest hobbies is playing tennis. Besides competition and training at least once a week, I give tennis lessons 2 evenings a week in Raamsdonksveer. I really enjoy teaching people. It is fantastic to see how people who are not so good at the beginning really progress and keep getting better!
I also like to run. Recreational, but my first race was the 5km Singelloop last year together with the Hanko team. One day I would like to run the New York Marathon (because my sister lives nearby) or at least the Rotterdam Marathon (where my parents come from). But first we are going for the 10 km at the Singelloop next year!
How did you end up at Hanko?
In the 3rd year of the Translation Academy in Maastricht, I discovered that the translator profession was not really something for me. I was missing human contact while translating; I especially enjoy having a lot of contact with customers and being commercially involved in a team. Therefore, after graduating 8 years ago, I started looking for a French-speaking sales-oriented position.
I first enjoyed working for 4.5 years at Exertis (IT distributor in Dordrecht). Looking for a new challenge I started in the car tire trade for about half a year, but that was not really my thing. Through a recruiter I was invited for a job interview at the Hanko office. I thought I had no affinity with the products, but through the recruiter I understood that Hanko was very interested to get to know me. The first conversation was very pleasant and I immediately felt at home. That feeling never went away!
Where does the love for the French language come from?
My parents used to go to a campsite in Spain. On our way to Spain we got a flat tire on a Sunday, therefore we ended up at a campsite through the garage near Montpellier. Because this campsite was not known with Dutch people, we met a lot of French people. We liked this so much that we came back every year. So every year I profounded the language in a playful way and I really wanted to do something with the language. That's why I went to study French at the Translation Academy after high school.
What is your position at Hanko?
I started as a sales assistant 2 years ago and have now developed into a full-fledged sales employee, specializing in the French-speaking market.
What makes you enjoy the job so much?
The hecticity, the variety, a lot of freedom and a lot of contact with customers. I like to dive into how we can help the customer as well as possible.
I am new to the industry and learn from my customers, colleagues and suppliers every day. There is so much to learn and discover; I just discovered the tip of the iceberg in the insulation industry!
What is your strongest asset?
I am very service oriented, the customer always comes first. In addition, I am quite accurate myself, which also helps to ensure that the customer gets the right delivery right away.
What does the Hanko family mean to you?
A small company with short lines and where you have direct contact with everyone in the company from the men in the warehouse to the director. Everyone has ownership and ensures that their part is done. It's a nice group of people with a passion for isolation.
The strength of Hanko is also that we can switch so quickly because of the short lines.
What does Dedication for Insulation mean for you?
You are fully committed to the isolation, dedicated to Hanko and the customer. How can we best serve our customers with technical issues?
The more you learn about a product, the more interesting it becomes. Very cool to see the end result, for example a tightly finished air duct which is made through a by Hanko supplied product.