Roel Van Heurck holds a master's degree in HRM. He had only been working for three years when he decided to join the Master Class HRM at Antwerp Management School. He didn't quite fit the profile, but as the youngest participant he was quite happy to work with people who had a lot more experience. The Master Class completely opened up his frame of reference: "Thanks to the Master Class, I can now 'sell' my HR projects in a much more powerful and well-founded way, both to the people I coach and to our management.”
After his studies, Roel started working as a recruiter at Axxes, an IT consultancy company. He still works there today and has since been promoted to HR Advisor. He spends about 50% of his time coaching recruiters, the other 50% goes to the development and implementation of varying HR projects, from wage tax to new evaluation tools. Axxes is his first and only employer so far. In the five years that Roel has been working for Axxes, the company has grown quite spectacularly.
"If I wanted to help writing the growth story of my company, I had to broaden my horizons."
"When I started working at Axxes, there were about 75 consultants, now there are 175 of them. In terms of recruitment, business processes, etc., we have made a major leap forward. I strongly believe in the story of Axxes and I want to keep working here in future, because there are still plenty of growth opportunities. But I’ve never known anything other than Axxes. I always look at HR aspects from the market position of Axxes. So, I realized that if I wanted to be able to contribute to the growth story of my company, I would have to broaden my horizons."
"It was really cool to get both sides of the story throughout the program."
"That's exactly what the Master Class HRM at AMS did. First, you get a whole variety of subject material. I couldn’t put everything to use in my job right away. For example, we discussed HR analytics in large corporate structures; at the time, I had no use for that. But now we are two years on, Axxes is expanding and what I was taught then has become totally relevant for us now.
Applicable or not, you learn a lot no matter what, because of the unique combination of theory and practice. On the one hand there’s the AMS faculty. They are academics who give you the framework, and on the other hand there are the guest lecturers, HR managers who tell you how they apply the theory in daily operations. It was very cool to see the two sides of the story all the time: you get to understand the theory and immediately see its impact on everyday HR practice."
"I can now sell my ideas in a much more powerful and well-founded way."
"I completed the Master Class a while ago, but the insights and experiences I received have stayed with me. I also try to convey them in my job and my HR projects now make much more sense. The Master Class has been particularly valuable to me: I got my master's degree, I started my first job here and I was able to realize a few changes. But thanks to the insights and stories of the Master Class, I can now tell my ideas in a much more powerful and well-founded way, both to the people I coach and to the business manager for example. Compared to the other participants of the Master Class, I was quite young, but I have become more mature in my job. I now have a much more solid frame of reference than before."
"It's cool to work with such a mix of experienced people, it opens up your world."
"The second asset of the Master Class is the fact that you get to expand your network in a fun way. There are the other participants, of course. Practically all of them had an HR job just like me, but in completely other industries. Most of them had also moved on to an HR function from a different background, for example from IT or finance. And I was the youngest, so all the others had more work experience. It was cool to be able to work with such a mix of people, it immediately opens up your world. And then there was the AMS faculty, of course. They are top experts in the field of HR and yet, they are very ‘accessible’; even today, I can still contact them if I have any questions. And last but not least: you get to meet a variety of guest lecturers, each and every one a big name in the field of HRM."
