Véronique Debeer is incredibly energetic, and as she says, always on the move. “If I’m not working, I’m taking care of my kids, and I walk or run to recharge my batteries and boost my energy.” She definitely needs that energy to assist the Mediabrands team every day. “Thankfully, I’m not alone”, says Véronique who, as HR Business Partner, together with two other colleagues, lends an ear to no fewer than 180 employees. “That’s an enormous amount of life stories, questions, needs, problems, … that require our attention”, she explains.
“Our company attaches great importance to the well-being of its employees, both at work and beyond. And that’s exactly why I love my job so much. Both the values of Mediabrands and my tasks are perfectly aligned with the person I am. My goal is to be able to help everyone as much as possible, to the best of my ability.”
Tour guide
Véronique particularly likes the social aspect of her job and the word ‘partner’ in her job title. “That word perfectly encapsulates what my job stands for”, she says. After all, everything at Mediabrands revolves around partnerships. Incidentally, with a view to the future, Véronique believes that for a company like Mediabrands, cooperation and co-existence will be the key words. “By this I mean the continued co-existence of both traditional and digital media, of face-to-face and remote, strategy and consultancy, acceleration and deceleration…”
She likes to compare herself to a tour guide. “Whoever joins Mediabrands as a new employee embarks on an exciting journey which we make together, each with our own backpack. For us, it’s always a new start, the beginning of a beautiful collaboration”, continues Véronique, who herself has a long history at Mediabrands. With a career spanning 20 years, the company and its employees hold hardly any secrets from her.
Before joining the company, she was active in marketing and communication, but after 15 years she was longing for something different. She preferred a job in which she could fully deploy her empathy and open-mindedness. So, she took a course in human resources and afterwards had the opportunity to take on another role internally. “If I could do something over, I would have gone into HR much earlier. It is a passion for me. On the other hand, the job suits my life stage better now. It’s the kind of work that requires a certain level of maturity and life experience.” Meanwhile, Véronique has also thrown herself wholeheartedly into recruitment. “That’s something new for me and I really like new projects and challenges, that’s what drives me.”
An important part of the work in HR is to ensure that employees can continue to combine their work with caring for their family. “It is not always easy or possible to accommodate all wishes, but we do our best and show as much understanding as possible for each person’s family circumstances,” she explains. “Especially in a pandemic, everyone is expected to be flexible.”
”“Happiness can be created. The search for happiness begins with small steps, by doing what is necessary to reach your goal. At the same time, it’s also about enjoying the little things in daily life.”
Trusted confidant
In her job, she has to deal with all sorts of profiles, changes and problems, both at work and privately. She’s aware of what is going on in everyone’s life. “I am not just a colleague. Above all, I’m a confidant”, Véronique explains. “It’s a privilege that people put their trust in me. That is the essence of my job.” As a result, she is usually the first to know about small and major changes in the lives of her colleagues. “What I love most is when people come to me to announce a wedding or a birth. It’s often emotional, a small moment of happiness. I would not be surprised if, after Covid, there was a baby boom at Mediabrands”, she jokes. But there is a downside to everything. Less pleasant announcements are of course resignations, burn-outs, illnesses and deaths, or when she has to announce a dismissal to a colleague. That remains the hardest thing for her. “I have to be careful not to get too involved”, Véronique continues. “I am extremely empathic and I have a tendency to take other people’s problems to heart too much, a bit like a sponge”, says Véronique, who at the end of the workday enjoys playing classical tunes on the piano. She has only been playing the piano for a year. “I felt the need to learn something new and to use another part of my brain”, she explains.
“Thankfully, in our new blended family, I always have an audience: my husband, four children, two dogs and a cat. We’re a bit like the Brady Bunch. I love it.”
Finally, as someone with such great people skills and life experience, we would like to know what happiness means to her. “Happiness can be created. It is a journey that starts with small steps. That means doing what is necessary to reach your goal, working towards it. But at the same time, you also have to enjoy the little daily things”, Véronique concludes.