Perspective on the mission as a young father
Robert Redelijkheid is Regional GWW (Civil Engineering) Director at Mourik Infra and a young father. How does that change your perspective on Mourik’s mission: for future generations?
Craftsmanship always rises to the top
“Mourik is shaping a safe, strong, and healthy tomorrow through its commitment, talent, knowledge, and inventiveness. For me, that vision is strongly linked to the company’s identity. Mourik is a family business and we take a long-term view. We have lasting relationships with both clients and staff. That is valuable ‘property’. While we must meet today’s financial need, our focus remains on the future. We have so much in-house knowledge and inventiveness and we are gradually realizing that we can showcase this more. When it comes to talent, we are explicitly working on homegrown talent. We try to give people opportunities to develop and to do what they are good at, but also what they enjoy, because that almost always goes hand in hand. It’s good to let young men and women gain a lot of experience. Some may hit a bump, but that’s okay. At Mourik you are allowed to learn. You know, when you drive past our projects, you immediately see our beautiful yellow equipment. Directly behind and around it is the real capital. It’s the people who make the projects.”
My mission is…
“I’ve had many opportunities at Mourik myself, first as an intern and then in various positions. I had to work hard for that, but it’s certainly also thanks to the people around me who gave me those chances and let me make mistakes, within a supportive environment. I wish that for others too. Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that I now have young children. That does something to you as a person. I see clear parallels between parenting and leadership. My mission as a father is to ‘equip’ my children so that they can step into the world fully prepared. I want them to think for themselves, and being a little stubborn is fine; don’t simply go along with the crowd, choose your own path. Let them try. Maybe you’ll hit a bump, and that’s okay. But then, with or without a little help, just get back up and keep going. It’s no different at Mourik.”
The human dimension must remain
“At Mourik we are now heading toward 100 years. That’s a great milestone, but it’s not the end goal. We have to keep adjusting and refining. The biggest challenges at the moment are the labor market and the craftsmanship that goes along with it. The older generation will soon retire and that will be a drain on knowledge and experience. At the same time, we need people who bring new qualities, around themes like AI, diversity, and different ways of working with clients. We are increasingly moving toward construction teams and two-phase contracts. So how do we shape tomorrow? By focusing on long-term contracts, because then tomorrow suddenly becomes tangible. If you invest in that, in people and in technology, it pays off immediately. We try to take a step back and look at what will be needed in the years ahead. I hope that, despite our growth, we can continue to facilitate the human dimension and entrepreneurship.”