Who are these people who consciously choose to work in the pension sector? What do they do there all day for your pension? And what do they like about their work? We take you behind the scenes. Naomi Hollands-Vrinzen (27) is a communications advisor at APG. “APG gives me the space to put my own spin on the things I do, and that suits me perfectly.”
Advisor communications at APG, was that always your dream job?
“In a way it was, actually. I used to work at a commercial agency. It was a good job, but it lacked a sense of meaningfulness. I saw APG popping up more and more often on social media, with great examples of how they are tackling their social role. That attracted me. I started having some conversations and that resulted in a job. I have now been working here for two years."
What does a communications consultant actually do?
“I direct the internal communications for Fund Operations and Participant and Employer Services. Over 2300 colleagues work there who ensure that the members of the pension funds that APG works for can accrue a pension, gain insight into it and get their pensions paid out. I help to ensure that these people know what is going on and what is changing inside the company. These are exciting times; we are on the eve of the transition to the renewed pension system. As a result, literally almost everything is changing here. I help colleagues understand how the changes will affect their work and how they can prepare for them. We are a large organizational unit, with many different departments and teams. These have to work together and depend on each other. I support them in that.”
What makes your work fun?
“I enjoy working with people, and in my job I am constantly interacting with many people and departments to get the different types of information to colleagues properly. When I achieve what I set out to do and make people happy, it’s really very satisfying. I also have a very diverse range of tasks. For example, I organize meetings, support management when they speak somewhere and consult with both management and colleagues about what is going on in the departments. What also appeals to me is the complexity, and that is abundant at our company. I love understanding difficult things, abbreviations and systems and being able to explain them to others.”
But I’m guessing it’s not just a party every day. What’s the downside of your job?
“When I just have meetings all day and can’t be productive. I want to get things done and not just talk about them. After a day of meetings like that I’m completely exhausted. Fortunately that doesn’t happen too often.”
And what are you good at?
“I can look at things very objectively and therefore give independent advice. I am also good at putting myself in other people’s shoes. My personal opinion and what I think doesn’t always matter; I can usually easily make that distinction. And I can keep several balls in the air as well as keeping an overview; I usually see the bigger picture. That helps me to give good advice.”
