Erik Deen

HRD
Process Consultation
Safety

A fascination for craftsmanship

People learn because they want to achieve something. Finding that incentive means finding the key to effective learning! Learning is a guiding principle in my professional life. Firstly in my studies in Physical Education and Educational Sciences. Then, in my work as a training consultant at NS Dutch Railways, at the supermarket chain Albert Heijn and Kessels & Smit.

At Kessels & Smit, supporting learning and change are the core of my work. I always find it important to take a concrete perspective on these types of processes. What advantages do people see in change and learning in their work? What do organisations provide to make learning possible? I focus on the tensions between providing support and creating space, between guidance and self-directed development. I want to help people become aware of those tensions and look for the right paths.

The ’’craftsmanship’ many demonstrate in their work fascinates me. What makes a profession special and why is it so enjoyable? When are you good at something? How can you quickly get that profession under your belt and broaden your knowledge of it? In designing learning programmes, this curiosity about different professions is an important part of the pleasure I take in my own profession.

I enjoy using my interests, experience and abilities to create and support learning and change programmes within organisations. Big creative questions are for me as challenging as “small” learning questions. Together with those involved I enjoy looking for suitable ways of creating learning momentum within a specific context.

My aim is always that people and the organisation should profit from learning interventions in their work, in both the short and long term. Learning is not an end in itself, but something that enables people to work better, smarter, more pleasantly or more effectively.