Erwin Hasselt, manager of Feenstra Service Center, has been named Manager of the Year for a year. He succeeds Kim Knape, who won last year.

 

To this day, Erwin Hasselt does not know who nominated him for the CCMA Manager of the Year election, part of the CCMA AwardsYou get an email from the CCMA sometime in April: 'You've been nominated, let us know if you'd like to participate in this election.' After that, you have to work on an assignment pretty quickly, describing yourself and your vision of leadership, among other things. You can, of course, also say you won't participate, but that's not my nature. It felt like an honor.

Reflecting on your development

Following the nomination, the finalists were announced in May; they met in June for an introductory lunch. A podcast was recorded, including a discussion of the company's vision on leadership, and an interview was published in August of this year in fellow trade magazine Customerfirst. One of the final steps in the selection process was a workplace visit by the jury. "The steps that come with being in the finals force you to reflect on your development for a while longer," says Hasselt.

Hasselt is naturally proud and honored to win the Manager of the Year title. But he immediately adds: "It's a wonderful accolade, but it's not the end of the road. There are still plenty of opportunities to improve every day."

Started with a headset

Hasselt began his customer service career in 2007 wearing a headset. He did so at NUON, Vattenfall's predecessor. That on-the-job experience is crucial to him. "It gives you a firsthand understanding of what the job truly entails. It's a top-level sport. You're completely focused on the customer conversation, but you also have to juggle multiple balls."

He still remembers the printed A4 sheets on the wall of the contact center, detailing employee performance. "Every week, we'd all stand in front of the wall, sometimes even looking at a table with data going from top to bottom. That era is truly long gone."

The same applies to the manager who used to be more distant from the team. "I feel part of the group," says Hasselt. "Although I have a different role and different responsibilities, you have to work together. I often sit at a workstation. As a result, people readily approach me with questions."

Leadership starts with self-reflection

Leadership is a key element in the CCMA Manager of the Year award. Hasselt believes leadership starts with self-reflection and the courage to be vulnerable. “Daring to acknowledge that sometimes things might not have gone perfectly. It means being open to accepting feedback from colleagues and taking a look at yourself, so you can approach things differently in the future. But what I've truly benefited from most, and what I actually apply, is situational leadership. Employees, as well as teams, differ in their respective positions. Sometimes it's good to let go, sometimes it's good to be a bit more proactive. I also appreciate having a lot of freedom; I'm always looking for change and improvement. But I can't assume everyone feels the same way all the time.”

Many roads lead to Rome

Leading your own colleagues is often the first step in leadership. After that, you're given the task of leading managers. Hasselt reflects: "Initially, I mainly thought, 'If you do it the same way I did, it will work fine'—or conversely, 'That's not how you should do it.' But part of leadership is also realizing that not everyone is the same. You not only need different people on your team, but there are also different roads to Rome. Talking with your team leaders about the goal and how you want to achieve it as a team is part of the solution, but not dictating how they should do it."

Three times thirty days

"Wisdom comes with age," says Hasselt. "I've learned all sorts of things over the past few years. For example, you can't change the whole world in a new place, even if you're itching to get started. It's good to watch and listen for three periods of thirty days. Or consider 'being right,' which isn't the same as 'getting right.' How do you ensure you don't push back when you encounter resistance? Instead of boxing, it comes down to dancing together, which ultimately leads to movement. That sounds easy, but I really had to learn this: how do you put that into practice? At the same time, I know that learning from others is good, but copying isn't, although the temptation was strong to think, 'That person is effective, I should do that too.' Remaining authentic is important."

Digitalization of customer contact

In the coming period, and Hasselt recognizes this as well, actual contact between customers and customer service representatives will increasingly involve complex issues. "At Feenstra, we definitely still have opportunities to further digitize certain customer interactions or to prevent customers from having to call us. I do value speed and pragmatism; I enjoy experimenting with new technology. If it works, we continue with it. If it doesn't, we adjust the plans or explore how things can work. But I also think it's good and healthy to have a certain balance. Sometimes I'm the driving force, sometimes it's good to be held back a bit."

I recently took on a second role. That meant I had to redistribute my attention. Customer service was running smoothly, but as soon as you let go of something, you realize it won't always stay that way. The challenge is to ensure you have good drivers in the team, so I'm not always needed to get things moving. Finding that new balance is another learning experience.

AI and FOMO

In the customer contact sector, it's easy to get the feeling you're lagging behind in terms of innovation. "That's something you can easily pick up on if you read everything or hear about AI at conferences. It's now clear to me, even after all sorts of conversations, that the differences are truly significant: not everyone is working on it, and not everything is delivering results."

However, Feenstra is now also ready to start working with AI solutions, such as automated summarizing and agent assist, and with solutions that can ensure that more can be resolved over the phone, so that a technician has to visit the customer less often.

Making an impact

What are Hasselt's ambitions? He's eager to make an impact—on the customer, the employee, and the organization as a whole. "I don't want to just be busy dotting the i's and crossing the t's or minding the store. I need the space to do things completely differently and demonstrate that it works better. But for now, there's still plenty of impact to be made within Feenstra."

 

CCMA (Call Center/Customer Contact) Manager of the Year Winners

2007: Hans Nieuwenweg (now: Location Manager Customer Service Vattenfall BtC)

2008: Hans van der Plas (now: looking for a new challenge)

2009: Ruud Meijer (now: service manager Lalesse Logistics Solutions)

2010: Soraya Zijl (now: Managing Director, Global Talent & Chief DEI Officer Liberty Global)

2011: Danielle Morph (now: Chief Value Officer at VANAD Engage)

2013: Albert Bosma (now: unit manager CIZ)

2014: Frank Rademaker (now: customer contact and support manager PFZW)

2015: Wim van Limpt (now: independent consultant)

2016: Caroline Bouwmeester (now: HR lead commerce & technology, Albert Heijn)

2017: Martin Father (now: senior manager operations/customer care Havensteder)

2018: Rob Krijgsman (now: front office director, PGGM)

2019: Miriam van den Berg (now: Vice President Customer Service SMB, Worldline)

2021: Cynthia Mak (now: owner of The Caring Company)

2022: Deliane Schimmel (now: Head of Customer Contact & Service at ABN AMRO Mortgage Group)

2023: René Kloppenburg (now VP Customer Process, KPN)

2024: Kim Kistemaker-Knape (now Strategic Capacity Planning, ASML)

2025: Erwin Hasselt (now: manager Feenstra Service Center)

(Ziptone/Erik Bouwer)

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