Testimonial Sigrid Boelens
Name: Sigrid Boelens
Started with TNT: 1 October 2007
Present position: Project Manager Corporate Sustainability
Education
My name is Sigrid Boelens and I did Policy and Organisation Studies at Tilburg University. I was a member of the St Olof student association and on its committee for a year. I also took part in the AIESEC ambassadors programme, spending two months in Serbia during my second year. In my fourth year, I was an administrator with the Tilburg branch of AIESEC, I spent a number of summer vacations doing voluntary work with the mentally handicapped, and after graduating I spent six months in Africa, where I taught and started a library.
I came into contact with TNT via the Global Experience Programme (GEP), which enables students to do an internship in a developing country. During my year with AIESEC, one of my responsibilities was to restart the GEP together with TNT and the World Food Programme (WFP). While organising the GEP, I got to know a lot of TNT people and I got on really well with them. I was also very impressed by all their efforts and enthusiasm for working with WFP. Corporate sustainability at TNT is more than just a management statement; it’s also promoted by the company’s employees. After my time in Africa, I was certain that I wanted to continue working with a socially responsible company and when I got the chance to join TNT I did so within a month, full of enthusiasm.
Working for TNT
I work at the Corporate Sustainability department, which implements numerous projects involving such things as quality, the annual report on sustainability, co-operation with the World Food Programme, and efforts to prevent climate change. The latter has led to a programme called “Planet Me” and that’s what I work on most of the time. I’m the project manager, for example, for a competition for environmentally friendly behaviour, I keep in touch with TNT Post customers who want to work with us in the field of corporate sustainability, and last year I carried out market research on the range of electric scooters on offer.
Every day is different! Some days, I get an endless stream of queries, e-mails, and visitors. The important thing then is not to disappoint anybody and to make use of all that energy to create an even more sustainable organisation. At other times, I may be dealing with a much more sensitive topic, for example the company’s future choice of fuel. That’s when you realise just how big the organisation is, and how many different interests, choices, and opinions there are that you need to take into account.
Because TNT is so big, you sometimes have to be very patient about finding the right person or before a project or a change really gets off the ground. All those different options, activities, and assignments mean that it’s sometimes difficult to make a choice or to say no to something! On the other hand, TNT offers an enormous range of opportunities, challenges, and possibilities. But what I like most of all are the people I work with, the personal approach, and the many activities that are organised in addition to our “normal” work, for example by Young TNT but also company hockey games, networking get-togethers for drinks, international study trips, etc.