Stijn's professional journey at Pàu.
Before I started my journey at Pàu, I was working for another consulting company at a project within Colruyt Group.
Colruyt Group has been Pàu's loyal customer and so throughout the project, I came into contact with several Pàu employees. By working with them and talking to them, it quickly became clear to me that this digital consulting company was an outstanding employer. The slogan ‘People First’ especially appealed to me. It didn’t take long for me to apply. I got hired instantly and was even able to stay on my project at Colruyt Group. It was a decision that gave me a lot of opportunities and great colleagues. I was treated with respect, and I immediately noticed that there was huge growth potential. I didn't have this feeling with my previous employers, or I didn't experience it in that particular way. Within Pàu, I quickly realized that I had the potential to be able to achieve so much more!
Less than a year later I got the opportunity to become a coach. This was a great way for me to further develop my soft skills and to contribute to Pàu’s People First vision. Meanwhile, at Colruyt Group, I was growing more and more into a coordination and leadership role. I became Conversion Specialist and Product Owner for DreamLand’s webshop.
Pàu has experienced enormous growth in recent years and yet not much has changed in terms of vision, mission, and atmosphere. I still believe very strongly in the People First vision. You are still heard, and your personal needs are taken into account. I have now also been given the opportunity to become Talent Manager, which is a big honour to me. After 4 years of experiencing Pàu as a digital consultant, I can now join the management team in their mission to keep making Pàu an amazing place to work. For me, my career at Pàu has been a real success story. I honestly think that without Pàu, I would not have been where I am today on both a professional and personal level.
People First means that it is our mission to unlock everyone’s true potential, and the driver of that is the IDP: Individual Development Plan. Every employee at Pàu has a coach, and together with this coach you map out a career path that consists of several objectives. Every objective should bring you closer to your next goal. As an employee, you are in the driver’s seat of your career, but you have your coach, competence lead and talent manager joining you for the ride as copilots. Team feeling is also a big part of People First. As consultants, our people are spread-out through most of Flanders, which means we don’t see each other as often as we would in different jobs. To make up for this, Pàu organises several team events on a frequent basis to ensure we feel connected to each other. The monthly Pàu Connects and Pàu Sessions are a great example. These are get-togethers where we can socialise, share knowledge and get important company updates. All of this with free food and drinks! Last but not least as part of People First is work-life balance. I have always felt very supported in this. When times got rough personally, Pàu was there to help out and give me time to breathe. When I felt overwhelmed by new responsibilities, they were there with coaching and understanding.
In short, applying at Pàu has been the best professional decision I have made so far and I hope to spend many more years here, making it an even better place to work than when I joined.
