Home Tours in Rotterdam Central District

SAVILLS: “PROPERTY STARTS WITH PEOPLE”

Companies know all too well that attracting the right talent is a big challenge these days. How is Savills, as a well-established and still-growing company, tackling this? As one of the premier real estate advisors worldwide, Savills is committed to helping its people maximize their potential and creating scope for their talents to grow within the company. In honour of our special feature spotlighting Talent and Education, Recruitment & HR Advisor Annejet Remmelzwaal invited us over to talk about how Savills is attracting the right talent.

“I still go to work with a smile every day”, Annejet is proud to tell us. And that’s vital, according to the recruitment & HR advisor. “Not just for me, but for everyone I work with. Real estate is quite a small world: everybody knows everybody else. We’re fortunate that many of our juniors can advance within the company and so stay with us a long time. As a young organization, that’s something we always want to promote.”

MOTIVATION IS KEY

This chimes well with Savills’ motto: Property starts with people. “Real estate is mainly about bricks and mortar, but fundamentally of course it’s about the people behind the scenes. In our company, we foster their growth to the best extent.” Savills encourages everyone with a passion for real estate to send their CV, regardless of training. Savills covers the entire real estate life cycle with their services, from construction to exploitation, to renovation and transformation. This means there is room for talent with a technical background, commercial skills, data analysts, architects, property marketers – you name it! The company wants to stimulate knowledge-sharing across all layers and sectors, Annejet explains. “The key thing for us is an applicant’s motivation. We believe that knowledge gaps can be addressed through courses and training.”

LIFELONG LEARNING

As well as training for employees seeking to brush up and boost their knowledge, Savills offers all kinds of options for those looking to develop on other fronts as well, Annejet continues. “It only helps you get better at your job. We have introduced a variety of different programmes for staff who want to go that extra step and are ambitious to grow, for example, but there are also specific trainings.” From Excel to marketing, English or coaching courses – the sky’s the limit. “You’re never finished learning”, Annejet stresses, “and each level brings fresh challenges”. While juniors will find themselves grappling with different issues than someone in management, there is something to learn at every stage. “We believe in a healthy combination of learning by doing and varied training options.”

DIVERSITY

Annejet is also determined to break with the stigma attached to real estate and real estate professionals. “There tends to be a prevailing stereotype, but we are a young, open and motivated team, made up of people from all backgrounds and with diverging knowledge. Diverse teams perform best – countless studies prove it – and we are applying that in our company. Whatever your background, if you have the right mindset, we have the job for you.”

CURIOUS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SAVILLS AND WHAT THEY OFFER?

A company that is making waves in Rotterdam and well on its way to becoming a fixture of our urban streetscape, Mama Taxi’s Teslas crisscross town for professional clients. As its architect and founder, Zizi Fernandes says her mission is to empower women at a disadvantage on the labour market. “Our objective with Mama Taxi is to show that women can embark on new careers in a male-dominated world.” In tribute to her grandmother, the women of Mama Taxi demonstrate that the power of falling lies in how you bounce back.

Zizi’s roots in Guinea-Bissau, a small country in West Africa, have always been a cherished and defining part of her life. After arriving in the Netherlands at the age of seven, she determinedly worked her way up to a Master’s degree in Business Administration, graduating from Erasmus University Rotterdam. “Rotterdam is truly my city. I have always lived and worked in and around the Central District. After starting out as a trainee at ING, I stayed there, learned a lot and advanced to external relationship account manager. Outside of that, I was always very active in social issues through professional initiatives and projects like Dance4Life.” When she was approached in 2013 to enter the ‘Best Idea of South Africa’ competition, where she still had connections from her student days, Zizi leapt at the chance to make her own dream come true: to develop a socially focused, full-time business model. She won the competition and Mama Taxi began operating in 2016.

PAINTING THE TOWN

TRIBUTE

Women employed by Mama Taxi are all at some disadvantage on the labour market and need a helping hand to fully reintegrate into the economic marketplace. By making that part of its mission, the company pays tribute to Zizi’s grandmother. She always said her own legs were the only taxi she trusted to take her to the market – earning her the nickname ‘Mama Taxi’ – and always encouraged, inspired and challenged her granddaughter to be the best she could be and stay mindful of other people and their circumstances. “In Africa, ‘Mama’ is a title of respect used for older women. The power of falling lies in how you bounce back, because women bend but don’t break. The Mama Taxi concept is focused on empowerment through education and job-creation. Women complete an intensive programme called ‘Driving Your Own Future’. As well as driving skills and theory, they’re also trained in competencies like communication, hospitality, etiquette, navigating the city – lessons that are valuable in careers beyond Mama Taxi, too. It is also a reflection of Rotterdam as an inclusive and diverse city.”

The Mama Taxi team consists of six seasoned stars and another five women are currently in training. When recruiting, Zizi works with the municipality and social employment agencies. It is an intensive and time-consuming proposition, demanding hard teamwork every day. But their efforts are paying off. “Aside from transport for the professional market, such as our partnership with Unilever, since the pandemic started we have also been serving specific target groups, and we are hoping to resume events again soon.” Thinking about the future of her business is also vital, says Zizi. That’s why her entire taxi fleet is electric. “Most women at Mama Taxi have kids and this is also a way they can have a positive impact for the next generation. We drive Teslas because of the good charging infrastructure and reach. Our goal is to paint the town with loads of Mama Taxis while enabling as many women as possible to permanently reintegrate from assistance programmes. That’s how we’re contributing to solve a piece of the societal puzzle in this city.”

DRIVING YOUR OWN FUTURE

Jana Aridi & Laura Di Santolo

FORWARD·INC Supporting newcomers in building human, social and financial capital

Based at CIC in the Groot Handelsgebouw, Forward·Inc is a foundation supporting newcomers in the Netherlands with launching their own business and persuing their entrepreneurial dreams. Behind the organisations are Diederick van der Wijk and Laura Di Santolo, who discovered a shared passion for connecting people from migrant backgrounds with human, social and financial capital. Jana Aridi – originally from Lebanon – is currently building her own business through one of the Forward·Inc Programs.

The idea began as an RSM international Management Master’s degree project, Laura explains. “Diederick asked everyone in our graduate program if they’d be interested in getting involved with his project to support newcomers with launching a business in the Netherlands. He organised a Start-up Weekend, inviting aspiring newcomer entrepreneur, students from the university and professional business coaches. They loved the idea and that’s how we started building our community.”

NEWCOMER ENTREPRENEURSHIP

It was thanks to the efforts and investments of volunteers and partners including eBay, Coca-Cola, ABN Amro, law firms such as Dentons, and many others, that the young duo were able to get Forward·Inc up and running. Now, four years later, they are dreaming of becoming a global hub for what they call ‘newcomer entrepreneurship’. Forward·Inc has an entire team devoted to helping people from a wide variety of backgrounds go into business. Such as Jana Aridi, originally from Lebanon. “By training, I am an architect, designer and artist. In Lebanon I had my own design practice as well as managing different design programs, but the situation was making it harder to fund or even create new projects.” Jana recently launched her business Project4200, aiming to expose and connect creative businesses in Lebanon to the rest of the world.

FORWARD ROADMAP

The foundation offers four programmes to which anyone can apply. Laura: “Over 500 entrepreneurs reach us on an annual basis, and we conduct brief intakes with each one to align expectations. Participants first enrol in an 8-week online program that requires six hours per week to complete. After that, we select 30 graduates for the Forward Incubator, which is a high intensity four-month program and demands a lot of drive and commitment. Participants get a team facilitator, a professional business coach and two student consultants from EUR, VU and UvA.” Forward believes it is important to give people the opportunity to become economically independent, and everyone has their own story and factors that require a personalised approach. “The coaches provide me advice and tools to progress through all the programs Forward·Inc is offering”, Jana explains. “Networking and making connections are also a huge part of setting up a business. Once you get the support you need, it feels like you’re finally accomplishing something. Forward has helped me to differentiate myself, my work and of course my business. My goal is to register my business in the Netherlands as soon as possible and to one day host exhibitions for designers.”

RCD X THEATER ROTTERDAM X SCAPINO BALLET

On a magical Tuesday afternoon, members of the RCD community were invited to Theater Rotterdam for a delicious lunch and a spectacular show performed by Scapino Ballet. With a special edition of one of their pieces, their take on the classic Casablanca, it sure was an afternoon to remember.