Life at SAP – with Lidewij van den Eerenbeemt
One of the best ways to show what Life is like at SAP is to share our employee stories to provide insight into their experiences and what being successful means to us at the company. I am Heather Walker, and I work on the Global Employer Branding team. Over the last few months I have had the opportunity to speak with 50 colleagues across our Europe, Middle East and Africa region to help share their stories. Here is an interview I did with Lidewij van den Eerenbeemt.
Lidewij is a HR Business Partner from the Netherlands who had the opportunity with SAP to work in different locations. We spoke to her about her SAP journey.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to become a professional field-hockey player
What did you study at college/university?
Human Resources
What has been your SAP journey?
I started in January 2006 as a Local HR Services Consultant in the Netherlands and then was promoted to HR Business Partner in 2008.
I moved to France in 2010 to work as a HR Business Partner and in 2014 became a Total Rewards Partner for the Netherlands, Belux and the Nordics. In May 2016 I moved to the UK for a year as a HR Business Partner and in May 2017 was contacted by the then HR Director of the Netherlands about returning home to a role as HR Business Partner to our sales organisation.
What advice would you give to people also looking for a career in HR?
Within HR, an ongoing requirement is that you must be able to deal with the daily challenges that arise. You may have to resolve something as simple as an employee being paid the wrong amount. Or it could be a much more difficult issue such as a complicated dismissal case. Whether the issue is something simple or more complex, a good Human Resources professional must be able to resolve all types of issues, calmly and fairly. They cannot survive without excellent communication skills.
Besides this, HR Analytics plays a more important role for now and the future. HR analytics is touted as having the potential to bring great value to managers and leaders’ decision making on human and organization capital by supplementing intuition and experience with evidence.
What does your career at SAP mean to you?
SAP offers opportunities for me to develop my skills and grow inside the company. There are tons of opportunities to work across geographies, you only need to grasp it! You have the opportunity to work with talented people in a fast-changing landscape, while providing a safe environment where you can be yourself.
What does success look like to you?
When I can go home at night and know we matched a great candidate to a crucial job, I know I have succeed for the day. Success means I made a difference that day, in a conversation, a meeting, or a tough negotiation – that I know I added value in that situation.
If you could go back in time and give your 18-year-old-self one piece of career advice what would it be?
Use every job as an opportunity to learn something new and keep an open mind; you may find that this opens new doors to new opportunities. Don’t be afraid to take on a new project or challenge, step out of your comfort zone and just do it!
To see more Life at SAP stories or learn about open jobs at SAP join #LifeatSAP social community channels on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Weibo and WeChat or visit the career site.
