“Actually, I would have liked to become a detective”

Who are the people who are committed to your pension daily? What drives them, what makes their work fun and what gives them energy? In the series ‘The person behind your pension’, APG employees give a glimpse into their work and life. This time we talked to Hassan Abbouti, all-round pension administrator. "When I see progress in something, it makes me happy. It makes the working atmosphere more relaxed." 

Have you always wanted to become an all-round pension administrator? 
"Haha, that wasn't the first profession that came to mind when I finished my studies. I started at SPW (Stichting Pensioenfonds voor de Woningcorporaties, ed.) almost 25 years ago. I got into it through a friend who wanted to job hop through an employment agency. I then went with him and an intermediary there persuaded me to apply for a job as well. Over time, I have had various roles at APG and before I knew it, I was working here for almost two decades. I had initially wanted to become a detective, like my neighbor. He always had interesting stories about his work. Later he also told me about the other, darker side of his work. You see things that are forever burned into your retina. As a result, I have adjusted my image of that profession."   

What do you do in your role? 
"I spend part of my time on the granting of survivor's pension and answering participant questions. But if my work were limited to that, I would quickly get bored of it. I am someone who looks for challenges and opportunities for improvement. At APG, you also get plenty of room for that, which is why my range of tasks is broader. For example, I prepare the start of the day and make the capacity planning. I have now started a new chapter in my work, the development of a capacity planning in which we look a quarter ahead." 

What makes your work interesting to you? 
"I like to analyze, to really figure something out. Setting up new things also gives me a lot of satisfaction. An example: for keeping track of the workload for the transition to the renewed pension system, the principles are the same for all pension funds. But they all have their own way of working. I wondered if we couldn't do that more efficiently, smarter. In the end, I built a tool for this that we can use for all funds and customer journeys. This also ensures less susceptibility to errors, making your work more enjoyable. If you get a file on your desk three times because something went wrong three times, that can be frustrating. So, when I see progress in that, it makes me happy. It makes the working atmosphere more relaxed." 

To analyze, to really figure something out. Kind of detective work.  

"Haha, yes, in a way that's right."

Probably it's not all rainbows and unicorns in your work. Are there any downsides? 
"If someone does not stick to an agreement, the disappointment can be great. You must talk about that with each other and something like that is not always received well. It can also happen that you have fully committed to something but still get a red card because you have not achieved a certain critical performance indicator. Something like that does give a bitter aftertaste. But every type of work has its nice and less nice sides. As long as the fun sides dominate and that is the case in my work. If it's the other way around, it's time to leave."   

What do you spend most of your time on in your private life? 
"I spend a lot of time with my children. The eldest plays football and together with another father I coach the team. I sometimes plan to do nothing at all, but they always ask: 'Dad, are you free? What are we going to do?' And before you know it, you're back in an indoor playground with lots of other parents, haha. When you have children, the rare time you have goes even faster. 

I also have a motorcycle, a racer. Now that I'm getting a bit older, I would prefer a touring bike. You sit a bit more relaxed on it. Not that I ride my motorcycle a lot anymore, it's in the garage more often than anywhere else. My time is more likely to go to the children, and the weather is not always great either."  

Laughing: "Recently, I finally took the bike out again for the first time in a long time, on a day when there was apparently no cloud in the sky. Then it suddenly started to rain, out of nowhere!" 

As a coach, have you also gained insights that you apply in your work? 
"Yes, because just as you make agreements with children about the division of roles, at work you also agree within the team who does what. And as an individual employee, you may have performed your tasks very well, but if you do not achieve a certain goal as a team, you receive a red card together. In that case, individual performances are less relevant."