As one in a team of eight colleagues at the Placement Office, I ensure our students get placed at internships all over the world. In 2019 I was asked to join the renovation project team as a secretary. It was a nice challenge that I took on with great pleasure!
Nice to have, need to have
I was one of the first on the project team, and gradually more enthusiastic individuals joined. In the end, we formed a core team of twenty members, who worked together intensively for two years to achieve the renovation. The decision to renovate the Hotelschool rather than rent a location or relocate was pre-determined in the orientation phase. What I enjoyed most is that I got involved from that moment on, in the investigative stage. We could immediately start meeting the architects, installation advisors, and the internal organisation as a project team. We put together a list with 'must have', 'need to have' and 'nice to have' items, which formed the basis for various renovation scenarios.
Future state vision for work spaces
It takes guts
Eventually, scenario 2 was the winner: a thorough renovation in line with the school's strategy. To me, the most impressive thing about it was the guts just to move the entrance somewhere else; how do you come up with that! At the beginning of 2020, we started working with the contractor. We were just making good progress, and then Covid-19 hit. The consequences for the education sector were enormous, but the renovation plans didn’t suffer as badly. Everything could proceed in more or less the same way, without the logistics of housing about one hundred and fifty employees and five hundred students in temporary accommodation because that was already arranged.
It takes guts moving the entrance somewhere else
New word of the day?
After meetings with the construction team and project team, I often felt like I was out of my depth. There were so many construction terms, technicalities and the language used in tender processes was new to me. We had some hilarious moments. This term HWA, for example, was used too often. (Literally: Heaven Water Drainage) and I had never heard of it. My colleagues often joked: “So? What's today’s new word?" In a very relaxed atmosphere, I learned a lot from everyone in that regard. I was often searching new terminology online while putting together the meeting notes. I can honestly say that I already miss the fun and the meetings!
Placement office
It’s incredible how a renovation can transform a stuffy building into one that is open and light. It was always stiflingly hot in the old building in the summer heat and freezing cold in the winter, and now the climate control is perfectly regulated. I’m looking forward to our new location on the first floor. The Placement Office is now easily accessible for students. We can meet and hold consultations with students in the connectivity zone or retreat to a meeting room if privacy is required. The employee zone is where we can quietly get to work. This placement granny, as I jokingly call myself, is very happy with the new Campus. We’ve all worked really hard, and I think the result is terrific. I’m already looking forward to my new workplace after the summer. And of course, I’m looking forward to seeing all our students, who can hopefully enjoy internships both here and abroad again!
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