Working together on the basis of equality

In the Bloemendalerpolder, on the north side of Weesp, the new residential area Weespersluis is under construction. Spread over the three subareas Lanenrijk, Vechtrijk and Waterrijk, a healthy mix of terraced and corner houses, semi-detached houses, houses suitable for life-long living and villas is being built. There will also be various apartments for starters and people who are growing up. The project will provide many jobs on the edge of the Randstad. Moreover, developers Adriaan Van Erk Ontwikkeling and BPD Ontwikkeling, together with contractor Adriaan van Erk Bouw, are giving Weespersluis a solid answer to the housing shortage in this area.

In balance

Within project Weespersluis, Adriaan van Erk Bouw is building approximately 1,600 homes. In the project, the pace of development and realization has been stepped up considerably, in order to meet the market demand as well as the call to accelerate construction in our country in general. In doing so, development for each target group has been broad-based. 80-90 percent of the homes in project Weespersluis were purchased by residents from the Amsterdam region, who were looking for a family home. The starter homes, apartments and rooms they left behind were thus made available to a new generation of starters and students, bringing about a nice flow. Whereas in principle many luxury homes were developed in Weespersluis, there is now more variety. Apartment complexes with starter homes have also been realized. Next year, the construction of two buildings containing apartments above a shopping center will start, which will also balance out the ratio of people moving on and starters in this neighborhood.

Quality stamp

The Adriaan van Erk Group has been adding value to area acquisition, development and construction for more than half a century and in its own unique way. Besides Adriaan van Erk Development, Adriaan van Erk Timmerfabriek and Adriaan van Erk Materielienst, the group consists of three construction companies, namely Adriaan van Erk Bouw, Rehorst Bouw and Slavenburg Bouw, each with their own specialties. As Head of Production, Pascal Remmerswaal is responsible for all projects of these construction companies; from work preparation to realization and aftercare. "We have always built within the Randstad," he emphasizes. "Weespersluis is on the edge of this area and if we were to approach this project as usual, our personnel would have to make a disproportionate amount of commuting kilometers and travel hours. This is not only irresponsible from a health and safety and environmental perspective, but also unnecessary. Around our headquarters in Bergambacht we have more than enough assignments. That is why we looked at the staffing in Weesp from a different angle. In principle, all staff positions, management positions and support positions are filled with our own personnel as much as possible. This is why we started this project with our own people, so that we could clearly put our quality stamp on the project. We then found replenishment in the flexible shell in the Weesp region, who we inducted into the project site and incorporated into our unique identity."

For executive work such as masonry, carpentry, painting and installation work, Adriaan van Erk Bouw works as usual with a solid core of subcontractors, suppliers and annual contract parties, with whom it has a long-standing relationship of trust. "Originally, we are a family business. We value fixed relationships, clear agreements and good mutual cooperation. Also when it comes to personnel recruitment."

Staffing plans; from coarse to fine

In these times it is difficult to find enough good staff, Remmerswaal said. "That is why we have changed our strategy in this area a bit. We have looked at how we can profile ourselves better, for example through a new website and expressions on projects. As a result, we now remain less under the radar. We have also intensified our cooperation with the universities of applied sciences and we work together with a permanent core of professional personnel and project agencies, such as Velox. Behind the scenes, we work with strategic overall plans, on which projects and personnel needs are based for a number of years.
ahead are insightful. To maintain an overview, we use a cut-out of this for our work schedules, looking two years ahead. This planning is intensively monitored. The broad outlines are also shared with our recruiting partners a year in advance, with the final planning communicated six months ahead. This is how we try to work from coarse to fine."

According to Remmerswaal, how long it takes to fill staffing needs depends greatly on the positions. "In particular, performers often do not indicate that they will become available for the market again until relatively shortly before their contracts expire." This is precisely when short lines of communication and initiatives such as the Velox Professional Calendar are essential. This calendar provides insight into all professionals who will become available within now and six months, filtering by region, field, job level and more.

The best professionals in every place

Instead of large numbers of profiles being "thrown over the fence," Adriaan van Erk Bouw values the "best professionals" and "perfect matches. "In order to give this optimum substance, we invited our regular strategic partners to the office for an extensive complete introduction. We also hold regular evaluations so that our partners know about our company, our vision, the way we work and what we consider important. As much as possible, introductory meetings are held at the project sites so that we can respond quickly. We also proceeded in this way in the Weespersluis project. Two Velox executives are currently working on this project, to the full satisfaction of all parties involved. In addition, one Velox colleague works at our office, who is jointly responsible for work preparation."

"In the past - with the acquisition of Slavenburg Bouw - we also worked with complete external project teams. Here, however, we missed the affinity with our family business, our culture and our (quality) standards," Remmerswaal said. "This is why we opted for a modified policy, in which each construction team - on the basis of equality - also includes its own personnel. This ensures that our ideas are propagated as well and widely as possible, and our projects also become real calling cards. Both for our company and for our people."