Day in the life of a Change Consultant at Highberg: Casper Groenink

As a Change Consultant, I work at the intersection of process, governance, behaviour & leadership. We combine the ‘hard’ (process & governance) and ‘soft’ (behavior & leadership) side of organizational change and therefore look at what is going on in an integrated manner. What characterizes our interpretation of the role as a consultant is that we really stand next to the client and ensure that the change is secured on these different axes. Ideally, we do this in three phases: starting with an analysis (both qualitative and quantitative), followed by a design of the desired situation and finally the implementation.

My week is varied and strongly depends on the phase the project is in. In an analysis phase, I have many conversations, client interviews, observations, data analyses and interpretation sessions with colleagues and clients. In the design phase, I facilitate interactive sessions in which we work together towards a new working method or structure. During the implementation, I am often on the work floor, to guide and secure changes. Every day is different, because the client, colleagues and content of the project differ from each other, and it is precisely this variety and dynamics that make it so much fun.

I end my days with small actions such as answering emails and planning sessions.

I like to start my working days early, because that is when I am most alert and less distracted by phone calls, appointments and ad-hoc matters. I use that moment for thinking, such as working out analyses or preparing sessions.

What I consciously focus on, in addition to my core tasks as described above, is sharp observation and good listening: what does really happen within an organization? Based on that, I try to make patterns visible, for example in behavior, collaboration or processes. In addition, I facilitate sessions, I reflect with clients on what I see happening, and I help them to take steps towards the desired change.

That varies per project and phase, but those types of sessions are always in the service of the client. I regularly attend meetings, from strategy sessions to progress meetings, and try to organize my agenda in such a way that I seek connection on location and at other times seek depth in analyses and elaboration. 

On average, I work 2 to 3 days a week at the client, 1 to 2 days at our own office and one day at home. That distribution varies per project, but as far as I am concerned: the more often you are on location, the greater the impact. At the same time, there is a lot of room for flexibility, which makes the work easy to combine with other obligations.

I find it most rewarding when you see that you have really changed something in the mindset and ideas of others, which increases their job satisfaction and quality of work. That is more about the how, and we then try to capture that in figures, so that we can also make the change tangible. For example, in my past projects we have reduced the workload by 30% and increased productivity by 35%, I think that is really cool to see and gives me a lot of motivation.

What makes Highberg unique is that we work from various smaller locations with our own areas of expertise. As a result, you know everyone at your own location, which makes it feel small-scale and especially very warm. At the same time, we have the clout and broad, complementary expertise of a large organization. Where I sometimes noticed individual profiling and competition between consultants at other consultancy firms, here everyone genuinely wants the best for each other, and colleagues prefer to put each other in the spotlight rather than take the credit themselves. We really are together in this and celebrate each other's successes. And our client relationships and approach to projects are also different: we only accept assignments if we believe we can really make an impact - and then we go for it. No endless PowerPoints or billable hours without concrete results, but change in practice.

The difference lies mainly in the type of projects and the context. Transformation consultants, based in Amsterdam, focus primarily on innovation and agile working. Change consultants, based in Utrecht, focus more on strategy, leadership, behavioral change and process improvement. In practice, we regularly work together on projects, at each other's locations and there is room to also delve into the areas of expertise of your colleagues.

Stop by for an introduction! Then we will find out together whether this suits you and whether there is a match between you and us. And if you have doubts, I would like to ask you: are you looking for a continuous drive to perform, do you want to get the best out of others, do you like to work on both people-oriented and process-oriented interventions, a varied working environment and an office with a lot of atmosphere and social activities? You will probably feel immediately whether this is something for you.

Want to work as a Change Consultant at Highberg, just like Casper? Apply now on our vacancy.