Partner Arnold Pierhagen shares how Becky’s solution proved instrumental in managing De Coop & Haegen’s steady growth, fostering a dynamic team in Belgrade that enhances efficiency and enriches collaboration. Discover the transformative impact of strategic hiring and dedicated support, driving the company towards new heights of excellence.
The number of clients of accounting and tax consultancy De Coop & Haegen is growing steadily. Unfortunately, it can be challenging these days to find suitable employees to manage that growth. Arnold Pierhagen, one of the three partners of De Coop & Haegen, explains how Becky came up with the ideal solution.
‘In 2019 we were invited by Becky for a visit at their office in Belgrade. We already had recruiters looking for suitable candidates for us in the Netherlands, but unfortunately with little success. Early 2020, just before the pandemic broke out, we decided to give Becky a try. Even if we had no idea what impact the crisis would have on us and on our customers, we decided to go for it. It turned out to be an excellent decision, since last year we gained a number of brilliant customers.’
‘Becky soon sent us some really nice resumes. On Sjoerd’s advice, we started with a senior and a medior accountant, to get things off to a quick start. Stefan and Ivan have been working for us since the 1st of May, 2020. Last November Vesna came along and since the 1st of August this year Milena, both medior accountants, joined us too. At the end of 2020, we started to give Ivan more responsibilities, as our team leader in Belgrade. It’s good to know I can leave certain tasks up to him.’
“De Coop & Haegen can perfectly manage their growth thanks to 4 team members in Belgrade”
‘You can’t just throw new employees into the deep end. At the start, you really have to put in enough time and attention, so they get acquainted with the tools and processes. From this year on, Becky will give new employees a basic training in advance in which they will receive an explanation of the most important laws and regulations, the VAT system and common software packages. I have temporarily dedicated an employee entirely to that.’
‘Joris has invested a lot of time and effort in supervising our new colleagues, by means of online tutorials. Our new colleagues are very intelligent and inquisitive, so they picked it up quickly. At the start, we received a lot of questions via Microsoft Teams, but that is happening less and less. Working remotely is very easy. We are not a large office, but we do work with state-of-the-art software, where everything is linked and automated. Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether your employees work at the office, at home in the Netherlands or in Belgrade.’
‘Of course we had some doubts at the start. Why would people, who were previously employed by large companies, enjoy working for a ‘tiny Dutch company’? It turns out that they love working with modern equipment and with their Dutch colleagues. The work ethic there is much stricter and with Dutch employers they have a better work-life balance. We’re no longer afraid that they don’t find the work challenging enough. We notice that they enjoy working with us, they even come up with ideas about how we can increase the efficiency and quality of our services.’
‘At the start, our Dutch colleagues were a bit sceptical. ‘How will we benefit from new colleagues who work from abroad?’ But they soon saw the added value. Thanks to their colleagues in Belgrade, they can dedicate more time to customer relations. And there is enough work for everyone. We would like to bring our Serbian colleagues over for Christmas. After a few beers, I’m sure they will really feel that they are part of the team.’
‘The Serbian team members are employed by Becky. We hire them on a monthly basis. Becky suggests the right people and finds them a place to work from. Once you hire them, they become your colleagues. You pay a single amount and that’s it. It’s not more expensive than what you pay for an employee in the Netherlands. The most important thing for me is that they are very pleasant, smart and eager people to work with. Working with them gives you energy, I think that says it all!’
Specializing in Human Resources, Emanuela seamlessly blends her proficiency in communication, coordination, and client satisfaction.
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Slobodan Miličević is a Senior Accountant Team Lead at Becky, office in Sarajevo. He works for Alfa Accountants en Adviseurs. We asked him to share his experience of working at Becky. We hope you will find his insights useful.
Vijzelstraat 68
1017 HL Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Makenzijeva 57
11000 Belgrade
Serbia
Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 28
11000 Belgrade
Serbia
Marsala Tita 28
71000 Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina