On the power of simple, open and honest communication
Shortly after taking over as general manager of Heineken Netherlands in February, Hans Böhm entered a turbulent period. Without covid-19, 2020 could have been a fantastic year, with the European Football Championship, Formula 1, the Olympics and Sail. Now he had to set up a crisis team in a hurry. Fortunately, he had Mark Blok by his side. ‘Mark showed me how important a strong corporate affairs department is.’ Part 4 in a series of interviews with executives and their communications directors.
Mark Blok became director of corporate affairs at Heineken Netherlands last June. A few months before, he had left Ikea of his own accord because he no longer felt “needed. “I want to be able to lie awake again,” he explained in an interview with Intermediair. In a LinkedIn post, he wrote that his ultimate goal was to make himself redundant. He still has that aspiration, he will explain later.
Hans Böhm did not know Mark but Mark was the first management team member he met when he had to be photographed for the announcement of his taking office as general manager. With an oblique glance at Mark: ‘Mark is one of those people who then says: I’ll come over myself, we’ll have a cup of coffee at the café across the street.’ Mark: ‘I wanted to meet Hans quickly, I was going to announce him and wanted to know: who are you?’
They clicked pretty quickly, despite or perhaps in part because of their different backgrounds. Hans: “We think diversity and inclusion are important. For me, Mark is a diversity role model in our company. He comes from outside and does not fit the stereotypical image that the market has of Heineken employees. These are often people who studied in Rotterdam, were members of certain student associations and had a mom and dad who also worked in the business world. Yes, that is also my background. It clicks between Mark and me because we both know that you have to do it together with people, that you have to keep it simple and we are both quite no-nonsense and humble.’ Mark: “I immediately felt a click and trust. Hans gives people every confidence until they prove otherwise. That’s kind of nice because there are also leaders who don’t trust anyone until someone proves otherwise.’ Hans: “That seems very tiring.
Mark likes to lie awake – proverbially – at work. How is that with you, Hans?
Hans: “I usually lie awake about things that I feel I have no control over or that happen to me. Of course, that was the case at the beginning of the corona crisis. Then you have to search for the right navigation. But I had the luxury of having a duo that managed the crisis to a very large extent from day one. Mark formed that duo along with our HR director who had just joined us. This left my hands free to focus on that part of the strategy-build the future while managing the crisis-where my heart lies: building. We continue to build on our sustainable mission to make Heineken in the Netherlands fully circular by 2030. We have the drive to win, but winning in a world that loses is not an option. We are committed to sustainability, responsible alcohol consumption and our role in society. We want to set an example and show that we are a reliable company and a good partner.
A partner who not only has a glass of beer with you in good times, but also in bad times, you said the other day in an interview with VNO-NCW.
Hans: “Yes. This difficult time has shown the importance of the economic, social and community functions we perform. One of the things people have missed the most is having a beer together on a terrace. Many of our customers, hospitality entrepreneurs, are struggling and we do what we can to help them. Ultimately this is also in our interest because, of course, we would like there to be entrepreneurs left at the end of the crisis. We really have to get through this together.
How is your mutual cooperation going?
Hans: ‘Mark showed me for the first time how important a strong corporate affairs department is. I have to say: Mark also pulls in a lot of work that made me think: Huh? What are you doing here? He is a star at making complex things simple and I love that. That talent was immediately apparent in the corona crisis. Mark dares to make decisions and played an important role in articulating well the complex choices we had to make, both to our staff and to our customers. For the first time, I did not write the strategy alone, but much more together with Mark, including translating the strategy into internal and external communications. Mark also got me into vlogging. It not only helped to shape the strategy, but also to let it land widely in the organization in a way that suits me. Coming across as authentic works easier when you have someone beside you who makes you feel safe. Whether that is in an interview or in a so-called online townhall where I communicate directly with all the colleagues in our company. Someone who confirms: you should just say it the way you just did, because you meant it and it’s sincere.’
Before Mark’s arrival, did you have a different view of the function of corporate communications?
Hans: “Over the past 25 years, I have experienced corporate communications more as a counter where you sometimes had to pass by for verification. For example, if it was about sustainability or responsible alcohol consumption. Of course, corporate affairs also has an important control function: everything we do must be consistent with what we have agreed. But these times call for support over control. It’s more about the support function directly linked to the business, thinking ahead and helping shape strategies.’
How do you see your position, Mark?
Mark: “I don’t like defending so much. I want to move forward and make an impact. Storydoing instead of storytelling. That also means being sincere and daring to make yourself vulnerable. You can come up with great strategies on paper, but if you can’t communicate them and bring people along with you, they’re no use. In a crisis you can reason very much from yourself, but if you communicate with hospitality entrepreneurs I would still imagine what it is like to be in their shoes and connect your communication to that. The same goes for the people who are with the customers for us every day, even if that is now mostly virtual. If communication is not just a point of contact that you have to go to for verification, but can really add something because there are people there who understand what is going on in your business, who dare to think along with you and occasionally speak out, then that is greatly appreciated. I have the luxury of being fairly young in the Heineken group and occasionally being allowed to ask stupid questions – which in retrospect is not so stupid, because I don’t write down anything I don’t understand myself. That leads to great discussions.
What is your mission at Heineken?
Mark: “Heineken is a great brand and a great company with a great product. Behind them are many beautiful and good people; it is a challenge to show the authenticity and passion of those people a little more to the outside world. In a human way, putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes rather than reasoning from within ourselves. We took on that challenge with our leaders, to coach and train them to communicate in a more personal way. We have learned in this covid era how important it is to stay close to your employees, as we do with our customers and with consumers. I think it’s really cool that Hans said, let’s really make that a role and work with the leadership teams to develop a strategy together, bring it to life and bring employees into it. That’s quite a change for some leaders. Because in the past the best boy or girl in the class automatically climbed up to director or manager, but now we are going to demand other qualities from you.
‘A lot of smart people work at Heineken and it’s often about the content. But it’s not just about what you say, but how you say it. You can say: everyone has their own personality style. Then I ask: Are you going to communicate from your style or do you consider what the other person’s style is and connect to that? That’s a challenge.
Hans: “We had a vacancy for internal communications and in good consultation we appointed someone who said: I’m not going to communicate so much, I have to make sure that I get the leadership of Heineken Netherlands to communicate better. So then you quickly come closer to a coaching role than an executive role for communications. I see that as a big turnaround: how do we now give all the leaders closer to the operation the feeling that they are doing the communication themselves, in a style that suits them and in a way that suits their own people.’
Mark: “That’s what I meant when I wrote in that LinkedIn post that I would like to make myself redundant. If you do this very well, as a communications department, you no longer have to communicate yourself, but enable others to do so themselves, making their stories more credible and authentic. And if I can do that with a great corporate affairs team in which we know each other’s strengths and grant each other a lot, then I think we are on the right track.
Hans: “We don’t want to be a company with a digital department, we want to be a digital company. The same goes for sustainability and communication: those shouldn’t be departments, we want to be a sustainable thinking and a good communicating company. We are working on that.’
Do you sometimes have discussions, disagreements?
Hans: “Definitely. From me, sometimes internal communication could be louder and clearer. I have a recent example. We have to make it felt within the company that something is going on and that costs really need to be watched. I asked Mark to prepare a story to explain: the beer market is struggling, costs keep rising – it can’t go on like this, we really need to start paying attention. Mark had made it a case for growth. Of course that’s nice and positive, it exudes that we are going to build and I like that. But I said: doesn’t that just take the sharpness out of it? Isn’t it precisely for a moment that people need to feel: ouch? We’ll have a good discussion about that in full transparency. It’s good to get something different from what you ask for each time, though, and then discuss that. That way you get a diversity of perspectives that allows you to arrive at a better solution.
Mark: “Hans wants to go full throttle and I get that. I want that too. Still, sometimes it is better to take a little more time in the beginning so you can have the right discussions and make people part of the process. Like we are doing now in our own management team and our leadership team. Just then you can accelerate together afterwards. You have to dare to put your own needs aside for a while. So when Hans asks a question like that, I deliberately put something extreme opposite, such as a case for growth, so that you get the right discussion. But we often find each other. For example, when it comes to keeping things simple. In the end we sell beer but sometimes we make a plan as if we are going to put a rocket on the moon. Dare to tell it like it is, don’t sugarcoat things.’
What is the added value of communication to the organization?
Hans: “An organization is nothing more than a group of people working together, and that cooperation only works if there is good communication. In addition, we are an organization that only functions if we communicate well with the world around us. Communicating well is almost the essence of an organization.’
What are the best results of your collaboration?
Mark: “Shall I begin? I honestly think that with corporate affairs we have taken the step to really connect with the business, partly because of Hans’ confidence. We started working together according to the relay model, in which everyone goes in depth as a specialist in his field and emerges with a baton – a result that is very clearly and simply defined – that can be passed on to the next runner. The baton symbolizes powerful, simple communication and good cooperation. That’s a beautiful result. And we have become much more open.’
Hans nods, “That sums it up nicely. We have become more open, both internally and externally. Internally, people indicate that it is now very clear what direction we are going in and what is expected of them; we also see that reflected in our employee satisfaction survey. And to the outside world, we are more open about our journey to sustainability, daring to indicate that we are not there yet but are taking important steps. We wouldn’t have dared to do that in the past; the policy then was rather to wait until all the steps had been taken and the result was perfect and finished. And we are open to our customers about the difficult situation we are all in and that we help where we can.
#helpthehoreca
is an example of that. It feels good to communicate honestly and openly and not hold all the cards to the chest. We create positive impact and hopefully inspire and encourage everyone who interacts with us.
This is the fourth part of an interview series initiated by Herman Rutgers Executive & Interim search.
Previously published interviews with Nicoly Vermeulen and Joost Ravoo of TU Delft, and with Tom van Aken and Caroline van Reedt Dortland of Avantium.
