Meet Ellen
"I'm proud of the opportunities I've had at Action over the past four years."
Ellen Daams, HR Services Team LeadAbout Ellen
When Ellen Daams worked as an au pair in England, she volunteered for a recruitment company. Her experience there was so good that she stayed with the English company for a while after her employment with the family came to an end. This spontaneous career change led to a successful career in Human Resources several years later.
Why did working as an HR specialist appeal to you?
"When I returned to the Netherlands, I first worked as an office assistant and recruiter at a secondment company. In that role, I gained broad experience in the field of HR and recruitment. I not only recruited new employees, but also took care of payroll administration, fleet management and personnel administration, for example. From then on, I actively looked for a job in HR. The first conversation at Action was natural and open. I instantly got a good feeling."
Do you remember how your first few weeks at Action went?
"I got started straight away and I quickly got used to it. Since I started at the beginning of the new year, I was able to go to a New Year's party in my second week at work. Of course, I already knew that Action is a big company, but only when I saw all those people together did I truly realise the scale and impact of my new workplace. A fun anecdote is that during the onboarding period, one of my colleagues told me that I had to write down the number of stores. I think I noted down 1,577 back then. Now, only four years later, you can add up to around 1,000 stores to that total. Action's growing fast!"
"I'm someone who looks forward to things quickly, but I haven't had the time for that yet at Action."
What do you encounter in your work as HR Services Team Lead?
"My days vary a lot and are filled with a whole host of ad hoc things. I'm currently a Team Lead of ten employees whom I support in their daily work. In addition, I'm the contact person for all Dutch HR advisers, so I regularly receive requests and/or questions about contracts, reports, onboarding processes and policy issues, for example. As well as ad hoc work, I also encounter several recurring issues. Every year, for example, the sales categories for all of the stores in the Netherlands are subject to a review. If a category changes, we also have to adjust the salary scales for the (assistant) store managers. That's a fun challenge every year.
The HR processes at Action are highly standardised and professionalised, but that doesn't mean that you have less to do or that your work quickly becomes boring. There are always changes in legislation in one of the many countries in which we operate, or process optimisations with new systems or other developments. As an HR specialist, you're always on the move. I'm someone who looks forward to things quickly, but I haven't had the time for that yet at Action."
Action is growing, but have you been able to grow too?
"I started as an HR Administrator four years ago. I learned a lot quickly, and a few years later I rose to the role of HR Services Assistant Team Lead. Shortly after, one of the Team Leads left and I was able to take another step up. On that growth path, I've been able to indicate clearly where I wanted to go in terms of development, and I've always had managers who wanted to help me plan out how I could achieve my goals. And I've managed to do it all in a work environment where we know how to find each other, and where there's room to learn and make mistakes. I'm proud to work for Action and proud of the opportunities I've been given in recent years."