Daphne Taekema has been with Improven for exactly 1 year this month. The 'Young Improvener' tells how she has experienced the first 12 months.
In November last year, Daphne Taekema, with a master's degree in Culture, Organisation and Management under her belt, joined Improven. Her ambition? To develop into an organisational consultant with a focus on change management. During her studies, Daphne already did an internship at two corporates (ABN Amro and Heineken), in the field of change management, and from that experience she knew that this was the field in which she wanted to specialise further.
At Improven, she follows a two-year training programme and also works on challenging assignments from the consultancy. "I started as a Project Management Officer at Buurtteams Amsterdam. During this challenging assignment, together with all HR advisers, I supervised the transition of healthcare professionals from their current employer to the seven Buurtteams."
In her second assignment, Daphne is currently working on an improvement programme at DUS-I. "This is a branch of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport that deals with providing grants to institutions. I deal with the TASO and TVS scheme on a daily basis."
The TASO scheme ('gemoetkoming amateur sports organisations COVID-19') is meant for amateur sports organisations that have suffered loss of turnover due to the measures against the further spread of COVID-19. The TVS scheme ('gemoetkoming Verhuurders Sportaccommodaties') is designed to waive the rent of a sports facility if the facility could not be used by amateur sports organisations due to the coronagraph measures.
Daphne: "This scheme was set up in corona time to assist sports clubs and accommodations with their losses due to the lockdown. Due to the high speed of the project, the team grew quickly and needed more structure."
Her project team is mainly concerned with improving the throughput of applications and benefits. "Through flowcharts and the creation of a job map, I have mapped the lines of communication and identified bottlenecks. I also ensure that the process of granting is completed correctly and on time. I oversee all processes and provide the right tools, such as work instructions, working documents and FAQs."
"The great thing about this project is that I get the freedom to put my ideas and improvements into practice. Every week we sit together with the whole team to discuss barriers and solve them together. Knowing that your work is topical and really helps organisations in times of need makes this project even more fun."