“I typed up a thesis on a typewriter.” It was February 1984 when Tineke van den Bosch (now 62), born and raised in Eindhoven, was doing a temp job for TU/e. Later that year, she was invited back to replace someone at the administrative office, and she ended up staying. She was given the opportunity to assist the personnel advisor and was streamed into human resources consulting. “I thought: hey, this is fun. I want to know more about this.”

She got to pursue a higher vocational education program in personnel management, and to her own surprise, Tineke, who had started working as soon as possible after graduating lower secondary school, suddenly found herself eager to learn. “Combining study and work was tough but a lot of fun. It was great to be able to apply new knowledge right away.”

After fifteen years, she felt she needed a new challenge and she was eventually able to find one internally, at the Department of the Built Environment. Her only condition? A new study program: a master’s in Managing human resources. Tineke – who had always considered herself an average achiever – surprised herself by completing the program with flying colors, the first of her class to do so.

Built Environment also benefited, because her master’s thesis was a ready-to-use, solidly grounded human resources plan which she then proceeded to implement within the department. “Operation Tychon, named after the Greek god of chance.” Feedback tools were introduced, as well as a training course to improve communication between managers and employees, and even a department magazine to increase engagement. “Suddenly, I was an editor-in-chief.”

What do you do?

In 2009, she made the switch to the central level. Only partially at first, to oversee procurement for the Academic Leadership courses, and later as a full-time employee. “I had to think about that, because the department is the ‘shop floor’. That’s where you find the people who you’re doing it for.”

There wasn’t much time to dwell on that, however. Whereas personnel policy had previously been focused primarily on academic staff (WP), there was now to be a targeted policy for support staff (OBP) as well. Tineke was put in charge of that project. “It was the biggest one I ever ran: seventy people were involved in various consultative and working groups, and the unions also contributed input.”

In 2012, the OBP policy was ready. It included a training program, tools to increase mobility, programs to encourage career advancement and a campaign featuring TU/e’s very own employees, entitled ‘What do you do?’ “The turnout at the kick-off was so large that we immediately planned a second meeting.”

Stuck in a rut

After that, more big projects and policy matters came her way. For example, she put a lot of time and energy into ‘Talent to the Top’, a program aimed at increasing the number of female scientists obtaining and advancing to professor and associate professor positions. “It was important to promote awareness of the gender bias that nearly all of us have. I think we were able to pave the way a little bit. It’s nice to see the great strides that have been made through the current diversity policy.”

She also has fond memories of the Inspiration Days. During these days, employees got the chance to ‘sneak a peek at the neighbors’, i.e. job shadow colleagues in other positions. “All of this was to stimulate employability: to ensure that employees don’t get stuck in a rut, but continue to develop themselves.” TU/e supported this approach by appointing a mobility manager: the icing on the cake for Tineke. “I’m very happy that that position was created.”

She herself went on to focus on the employability of people for whom finding a job is not a matter of course: she took it upon herself to implement the Participation Act at TU/e. The university is required to employ a set percentage of employees with an employment disability. “Think of autism, a language deficiency or a physical disability. I’ve often had to push very hard, but this has also led to some great matches – although we still have a long way to go.”

Teen Tour

For Tineke, getting stuck in a rut was not an issue. In addition to being a policy officer, she assumed two more positions: she became a confidential counsellor and a personal coach. Both of these roles resulted from her unwavering interest in people, what they do and how they think. “Back when I had a Teen Tour ticket, I used to interview fellow travelers on the train.”

However, as a confidential counsellor, she would occasionally learn more about people than she cared to. “There have definitely been times when I thought: whoa, I didn’t know this was happening at the university – although you have to keep in mind that you’re only hearing one side of the story.” She won’t miss that burdensome weight after she retires, but what she will miss is the constructive role she was able to play: listening, being a sparring partner or supporting the employee in a discussion with the other party.

The recent reports of abuses at TV program DWDD are triggering to Tineke. “Matthijs van Nieuwkerk should have received help”, she says emphatically. Without frameworks or guidance, it is easy for someone who is placed on such a pedestal to go off the rails.

At TU/e, she has also dealt with cases where employees were unhappy with the management style, but given her duty of confidentiality, she will not go into further detail. However, her general impression is that the casuistry at the university has become more complex. “When there’s a conflict between two people, there are all kinds of underlying factors at play. Think of high work pressure, mutual competition and political issues.”

Cheat

Coaching provided a counterweight: “I’ve seen such great progress in some cases.” In total, she has coached nearly eighty employees across all levels of the university with great satisfaction. However, she first had to silence her inner human resources consultant: “I had a tendency to give advice or to cheat by asking leading questions, when in fact, as a coach, you should encourage the other person to come to their own insights.”

Tineke completed as many as three coaching courses and specialized in transactional analysis. “The basic principle is that as a person, there is nothing wrong with the way you are.” It is your behavior that might need adjustment, if it’s causing you trouble. And surprisingly, the trigger for troublesome behavior is the same for everyone: “Insecurity. It’s something that affects everybody.”

And that doesn’t go away, but those who force themselves to take small steps anyway will gain positive experiences to counteract that insecurity, she explains. Where does Tineke’s own insecurity lie? “I don’t like to be the center of attention at all.” The farewell interview with Cursor is one of those small steps she is consciously taking. 

Spotted woodpecker

She is going to miss coaching, as well as the valuable contributions she could make as a confidential counsellor. And her colleagues, though she has already had to break away from them somewhat due to the pandemic. “I’m glad that we got to see each other more often on campus these last six months.”

Tineke will continue to volunteer at De Landrijt nursing home in Woensel. She is also going to travel with her husband Ton, who has been in her life about as long as TU/e has. They share a fondness for the Iberian Peninsula: Portugal and the beautiful bird regions in Spain. But she doesn’t have to travel far to enjoy birdwatching, as she knows from experience. “In my former office in Traverse, my visitors’ eyes would often wander to the window. Without even looking, I would know that the spotted woodpecker was paying a visit again.”