René has a background as a machine builder but has been working for P5COM for seven years now. He’s grown to become a specialist in nursing homes and homes for the elderly as well as homecare. And to this day it still makes him happy whenever he’s able to help people do their job better.
We make better healthcare possible. Such as by teaching healthcare organizations how to be smarter with spending.
‘As a management consultant, I support P5COM’s clients. With what? At the risk of being too blunt, I’d say: we make healthcare better. Such as by teaching healthcare organizations how to be smarter with spending. In the distant past, the sky was pretty much the limit in this sector. There was money for everything. But that was some time ago; nowadays you have to use the available funds as efficiently as possible. We help them out. I mainly focus on the primary processes. There’s usually a lot to improve in that area, without taking away from the care provided. What’s more: the care actually benefits when you get the basis right.’
I can make a large and immediate impact in many areas.
‘What’s great about my job is that I can make a large and immediate impact in many areas. As a management consultant, the challenges I have to resolve are somewhat more complex than those faced by regular consultants. And I manage my colleagues in solving parts of the problem. Coming in as external consultants means we can make a faster impact. We don’t have to be very concerned with the client’s daily worries. At the same time, the big challenge is of course making sure that change sticks. And that, in fact, is all about the daily routine.’
‘In addition, the organization needs to get the basis right. Sometimes I’m called in to solve problem A but then along the way it turns out that the only way to do that is to tackle B and C. So I get my teeth into those too. That means I often stay at an organization longer than planned. That’s okay as long as we make sure they really get the basis right. That energizes me. Not because we help them cut costs but because we help people do their job better, every day, today and tomorrow. Seeing that take root on the shop floor – yep, that makes me really happy.’
Two things really decided me. The first is that I’d genuinely be able to help companies and organizations, and the second is that I’d be doing something for society.
‘The idea was actually not to become a consultant. I studied Industrial Engineering and Management, and half of my class became consultants straight out of college. I didn’t. I went to work for ASML, building machines. Later I also worked for other machine builders, where I held different management and board positions. Until P5COM called. They wanted to talk to me about coming to work for them as a consultant. And that conversation was so amazing that I made the switch after all.’
‘Two things really decided me. The first is that I’d genuinely be able to help companies and organizations, and the second is that I’d be doing something for society. I had no experience in healthcare, but they promised they’d have me up to speed in no time. And the second reason was the group of people. I had some preconceived ideas about consultants, but my new colleagues didn’t fit that image at all. It was quite a varied group, but everyone was really smart, down-to-earth, and extremely driven. And above all: wild about the practical approach. That appealed to me; I wanted people around me who I could really bounce my ideas off. That turned out to be the perfect match. And it’s still the same today.’
That idea of helping each other is deeply ingrained throughout the organization.
‘Another thing that makes P5COM so special to me is their facilitative support. I’ve been inside a lot of organizations, and I’d never seen a company do that so well. Everything was ready for me to get going even before my first day of work. We have a management assistent who arranges absolutely everything. Just like we as consultants always take extra steps at a client, she does that internally. That’s what enables us to do our job so well.’
‘That idea of helping each other is deeply ingrained throughout the organization. Even if I’ve been working at a client for a while on my own, I still regularly see my colleagues, such as at training sessions and on special days when we update each other on our work. We simply communicate with each other a lot – especially if someone needs help. I myself think it’s really cool to help others, especially because I relied heavily on the support of more senior colleagues at the beginning. They said I could always call them, and everyone was very committed to helping. Since then I’ve grown to become a specialist in nursing homes and homes for the elderly as well as homecare. And now a ‘day with René’ is often scheduled for certain projects in that specialty that I’m not involved in. I come and help, as a kind of oracle.’’
Managing Consultant
