Company
8
May
2025
7
minutes reading time
Our new dot on the horizon
10 years of NextGen - 10 years full of change in the world, market and in our company. Because in 2025 we will launch a new niche secondment business unit: Business IT. We speak to Managing Director Peter Huesken and Business Manager Rob van Luijk about their plans for the next 5 years and the power of ambitious business experts in IT issues.
10 years of NextGen Peter, of which you've been there since 2023. How do you like it?
'Every day I drag myself to work! No, no jokes: after 18 years in employment mediation I had made a conscious switch to a completely different branch. But then I met the founders Machiel and Frank in2022 and I knew again: what fun. What a beautiful world to work in'.
'The beauty of job placement is the complexity: you don't sell wheelbarrows, you sell the right match. You mediate in people. And you're working in so many different areas at the same time: how do you find talent? How do you find assignments? How do you make them like and like each other? NextGen has a beautiful mission and vision in that world. I had been working from the sidelines for a while, but didn't have to think long when they asked me for general manager.'
'If you want to break through the glass ceiling, you have to get the people in your organization to work differently. Internally a development through.'
What do you see happening in that world around NextGen?
'From 18 years in this industry, I know: this market is always moving. Sometimes the challenge is to get good people, other times you have enough good people but the challenge is to find nice assignments. For me, therefore, the biggest event of the past few years is not in the market, but in NextGen itself.'
'In 2023, we set a new dot on the horizon with everyone here. Not a pur sang revenue doubling dot. That doesn't suit us. But it does: we want to have at least 85 true NextGeners - ambitious talents - working for us. To make a difference in their careers and to make a difference in the organizations where they start work. A strategically important moment, but also one that touched and inspired me personally. To that end, we took a new direction and set up a strategy to professionalize the company.'
What is the biggest challenge on the way to achieving that ambition?
'If you keep doing what you were doing, you will run into a glass ceiling. If you want to get through that, you have to make the people in your organization work differently. Internally a development through. That's why we're doing training, education, tapping into a new market and working on a customer base with some larger strategic customers. For example, we have Abbott and Scania, where several NextGen people a year can go. That gives stability and pushes up the bottom end of your revenue - which allows us to expand our pool of interim professionals, for example, who also bring in new network!
'Companies still don't always understand what or who they need for a successful ERP implementation.'
What do you see changing in clients' issues?
'Of course, an awful lot is changing in the world. Every company is working on the future. Until recently, therefore, companies wanted a system that fit their processes incredibly well. A custom ERP system. But customization is almost no longer feasible. Technology changes too quickly. Increasingly, organizations are adapting their processes to a standard ERP system, instead of adapting a system to the organization. A switch we recently made ourselves at NextGen!
'In such an implementation and process transition, you need business IT knowledge. That's why we are setting up a new business unit within NextGen: Business IT. As a sister of Supply Chain and Operations. Because our talents understand very well which business systems you can use and what impact they have on your processes - and do they have a lot of affinity with IT? Then, through Rob, they can get to work on Business IT challenges and help organizations with process issues such as ERP implementations.'
Yes, Rob: congratulations on your start as Business Manager Business IT. How does it feel to get started?
'Super cool. I myself come from the supply chain and operations angle, and in 2018, as an interim at NextGen, I experienced what it is like to step directly into practice with the theory from my studies. Very soon, I also got a business IT assignment, even though it wasn't called that at the time. I visited many clients recently. Companies are already running up against certain limitations, but have not always realized what or who they actually need: a dedicated professional who takes on such a system implementation with an eye for process and quality. A process specialist instead of a technician.'
Where does your drive come from?
'I think because I experienced it myself: setting up processes, optimizing with IT. If that's your thing, it gives you a lot of energy. An ERP system goes to the heart of a company: you have to talk to all the stakeholders. This allows you to really make a kick start. You suddenly know so much about a company. Moreover, a Business IT question really challenges you on soft skills, because you have to get everyone on board.
"The speed with which consultants picked up and welcomed the added value of our talents really surprised us.
What are you most looking forward to?
'I look forward to giving many NextGen'ers a great challenge at the cutting edge of Business IT. And to let as many organizations as possible experience what process specialists can achieve in the IT department of the future. I am also curious to see how quickly companies move along in our vision: sometimes a company only understands that things have to be different when things go wrong or almost wrong. When the implementation of a system - a project worth tons - threatens to go wrong. We'd rather be there earlier, of course.'
Peter: "Yesterday we were at a client's office together. One of our NextGen'ers there is almost finished with his assignment and the company is on the eve of Business Central implementation. We asked the person in charge: how are you doing? So companies haven't always figured out for themselves who they need, but in the conversation that followed we saw the penny drop: they need to keep that NextGen'er. Who will align departmental processes with the ERP consultants and who will take real ownership of the project? An IT person alone won't get that done. NextGen people do, because of their technical business profile. That's who you want in such an implementation. With them in house, the chance of success is greater and the chance of rework is smaller.
How will you tackle those next year?
Rob: "Because of overlap in clients and talents, we quickly saw that Business IT falls under NextGen and stands alongside the other niche expertise. But how do we get that story across the stage? We're going to start small and make sure we can deliver the hard skills as quickly as possible. Like with Business Central training for our talents.'
Peter: "We will stay close to what we were already doing and ensure that our recruiters and sales people understand, experience and feel what Business IT adds. This way we can take that story to organizations and talents, so that everyone is more aware of which system an organization is using. To this end, we will certainly brush up on our own internal knowledge and experience and seek alliances with consultancy companies that can put us and our NextGen people to good use.'
Rob: "And you would expect consultants from implementation partners to think: these NextGen people are coming to take away our hours, but they also just benefit from people with knowledge and experience who can properly implement their solutions at a customer's site.
Peter: "Yes, the speed with which those consultants picked up and welcomed our added value really surprised us!
In 5 years, another great anniversary, where will NextGen be?
Rob: 'Then NextGen Business IT is an established name in the market. And not only we will be convinced, but also consultancy partners and companies with IT challenges."
Peter: "Yes, that established name in the market around business IT is a strong ambition. Looking ahead, we also have more than 85 NextGen employees working for us and ... we are the first secondment agency in our field with an in-house post-graduate degree! Something to be absolutely proud of.'
Related
View all updates
