Martin Olsthoorn: “Getting the best out of yourself”

“Everyone has potential, but with most people that potential lies in different areas. For example, together with my wife I once had the opportunity to take over my parents’ confectionary business, but I knew that my real potential lay elsewhere. We did consider it, but eventually decided not to do it. For the past eight years I’ve enjoyed doing an incredibly multifaceted job at ITDS. Just like my father, I find quality to be a very important element in my work, and, like my mother always insisted, the customer must also be satisfied.” The words of wisdom are those of Martin Olsthoorn, Director of Consultancy at ITDS.

Plenty of variety

Before his parents sold the business, Martin explained that he and his wife spent some time working in the shop, just to see whether they’d enjoy it. By the time they’d concluded they didn’t want to take over the business, Martin had entered the world of IT and, via Delta Lloyd, had started working at ITDS. “Actually, at the time, ITDS was in my top three of places to work and I’ve now been working here for eight-and-a-half years. I enjoy having so much variety in my work. Yesterday, for example, I was in Zwolle helping a client to drain data from old systems so it can be used in new ones. Tomorrow, I’ll be in our Polish office, in Warsaw, helping a new client to set up a completely new strategy.”

Horses for courses

“I think it’s important that people strive to get the best out of themselves; it’s a mindset that fits well within ITDS. I always ask people after they have worked here for a year what they remember most about their job interview. They’ll often tell me that in job interviews with other companies, almost without exception, it would be stressed upon them that the focus would be on development. But this invariably turned out to be an empty promise. At ITDS, however, promises are kept and people really do get the chance to develop themselves. It would be such a waste of talent to assign someone to highly analytical work if that person is much better suited to project management.” Martin concedes that it’s sometimes difficult, because people don’t always know where their qualities lie. “When this happens we figure it out together so they end up in a place where they belong, somewhere they’ll be energised by their work and derive the maximum pleasure from it. That’s when you get to go home at the end of the day feeling really satisfied.”