Danique Couprie

“At Design Group we put our shoulders to the wheel together”

• Employees are looked after here

  Design Group is truly a socially aware company. What I had already noticed during my job interview was subsequently confirmed in practice. Employees are looked after. I constantly see that committed and supportive attitude. Together we put our shoulders to the wheel and make sure we deal with everything, sometimes by literally taking over work from one another. At peak times, the office staff are happy to work in production, doing work such as building displays. We have a proper introduction programme where you get to know the whole company well and an internal academy. There are also inspiring sessions a few times a year on current topics: from health & wellness to AI.

  ‘After eight years at my previous employer, I felt that I wanted to explore leadership more. And my marketing background means I also want to like a company’s product. Both aspects came together in this role: I am now the team leader for 11 employees in Sales support – which I do indeed enjoy very much – and we produce a positive and creative product here. That is also reflected in the building. The decor is cheerful, and you can find our products everywhere. For example, there are always rolls of gift packaging with small production flaws in the lunchroom that you can take home for free – if you work here, you’ll never have to buy gift packaging again!

• I have the room to take on the challenges I enjoy

  When I started here, I was told that it would take at least a year for me to get to know the company – and that was true. We do 70% of our sales around St Nicholas and Christmas. A seasonal peak like that was completely new to me. The whole year here is dominated by that season – including the cheerful St Nicholas and Christmas products you see around the building. Delivering all the orders at the right time while optimally coordinating all the different interests is quite a challenge. I really enjoy discovering new things like that and looking creatively for solutions. Just as I always want to go to new destinations on holiday or discover new places in the Netherlands while running, I also enjoy the fact that my job allows me to take on a lot of challenges that I enjoy. In the past I wanted to work for a large, well-known multinational, but there I would probably have been given a specialist role, whereas it is precisely my broad role and the variety I experience here that I enjoy so much.

• The ambition to continuously improve

  I also appreciate the fact that this company is constantly striving to improve. Hence five young and relatively new employees, including me, were asked to lead a project to analyse our processes and improve them where possible. It’s very cool that they are actually asking new people who can look at things with fresh eyes. I see the same in terms of sustainability: there is a constant search for how we can contribute to this more and better. I appreciate the fact that Design Group is at the forefront of this. For example, with projects to replace plastic with a better alternative and by actively reducing or offsetting the factory’s carbon emissions. And if there’s a trade fair in Frankfurt or Paris, we travel by car or train wherever possible.