Platform on civil engineering, underground infrastructure, energy, construction equipment & construction machinery
His grandfather had a nickname: Mans van de Dekker. Referring to his father, who was a roofer. His grandfather also had a contracting company, founded in the 1950s. Today, Raimond Hendriksen's employment agency proudly bears the name "Mans van de Dekker Vakmensen. A special company with special attention to training and enthusing new, much-needed recruits.
"In 2010, I started this company together with an associate, whom I bought out in 2017. That's also when the name 'Mans van de Dekker Vakmensen' was chosen. Due to a merger with a fiberglass company, it then became part of the MvdD Group. From that position, we broadened our activities," Raimond explains.
MvdD Group provides manpower and equipment in a number of divisions. These are MvdD Aannmij, which includes "recreation," MvdD Cables and Pipelines, MvdD Cleaning Service, MvdD Craftsmen and MvdD Rental. "We can offer services, rent out equipment, supply manpower or provide total projects," Raimond continued. "The youngest branch is Cleaning Service. A logical consequence of the fact that we are present on construction sites anyway. When we are finished, the construction site is clean. But we do the cleaning of facades, solar panels and glazing just as easily."
There are currently about a hundred people working within MvdD Group. This includes some young recruits. Knowing how difficult it is to get young people enthusiastic about the sector, we ask Raimond about his 'secret': "Yes, it is difficult to get young people. We now have 3 young people in training out of 100. We could easily add 5 more. We are constantly innovating to keep everyone at work and are looking for young people who have what it takes to work within our network. We offer apprenticeships for school leavers and are in close contact with schools. Lateral entrants are also welcome; for example, we have a qualified cook walking around here who was happy to trade the kitchen for the great outdoors. He has since become a foreman."
MvdD Group offers young people or side hustlers a chance to get a taste of all the facets the group has to offer. "The most important thing is that the will is there," Raimond explains. "Then you can get a taste of all the facets our beautiful work has to offer. You get every opportunity here and are guided well, so we can discover together where your talent lies and where you fit in. Really all branches of sport in the civil engineering sector pass by here. Training happens on the job, sometimes it is more difficult when it is busy with a large project, but with individual projects there is time and space to be coached almost 1 on 1. That is why I would like to say to young people or lateral entrants who read this: come and 'sniff around'... You only know if it is something for you once you have tried it. Just get in touch!"
