What is at the core of Successr’s vision? .
“The core of our vision is captured in our payoff: Sustainable Talent Strategies. This means that we don’t just help people find a job or help clients find the right candidates, we aim for sustainable relationships and long-term impact.
We believe in good employment practices as the foundation for bringing together the ambitions and dreams of both people and organizations. It’s about creating sustainable matches that truly work, not just for now but for the future.
For us, it’s also about integrating strategy, quality and commitment. We see recruitment as a strategic discipline. We don’t only provide operational support, we guide clients in developing their talent strategy and employer branding. This is what drives us and what everyone at Successr stands for: building strong, future-proof organizations by connecting talent in a smart and human-centered way.”
What does that mean in practice for your services? .
“We build sustainable organizations through two pillars: attract and engage. Within attract, we partner with clients to find candidates who truly fit their organization. That means no quick fixes, but quality, challenge, training and making critical choices. Within engage, it’s all about delivering on what you promise. Strong employer branding only matters if the internal experience is equally strong. We ensure that this experience is consistent, from onboarding to development.”
As CEO, what do you want to change in the world of recruitment and talent development? .
“I don’t have one grand mission to change the world. My main mission is to be a great place to work ourselves and help our clients do the same. But there are two things that I believe really need to improve.
First, I still see that the employee experience or employee lifecycle is not designed or connected in an integrated way at many organizations. That surprises me, especially nowadays. What you promise externally, you need to deliver internally. But that often goes wrong. This is exactly where we want to make a difference: helping clients build a strong foundation so people can truly grow within the organization.
The second is more recruitment-specific. Over the years, the industry has gotten a bit of a bad reputation because of opportunistic players and ‘cowboy organizations’. As a result, recruitment is sometimes no longer seen as a serious profession. We want to show that it can be done differently—and much better. Recruitment is not a trick, but a craft where quality, depth and partnership should be central.”
How does Successr stay relevant in a rapidly changing market? .
“Curiosity is one of our core values. We invest in our collective brain, we create room for ideas and we put a lot of focus on knowledge sharing through our Academy. We don’t need to be the first to do everything, but we always want to be alert and form our own perspective quickly. Think of AI or other themes that matter to our clients. As a consulting partner, we help our clients build a bridge to the future. That means we need to keep innovating and guide our clients along the way.”
Successr as a Talent Design House: what does that mean? .
“That’s a bit of a special story. The idea came from a combination of things. On one hand, I was inspired by a renowned design house from Eindhoven, known for innovation and creativity. No standard solutions, always custom-built. That’s something I get excited about myself—continuously challenging the status quo.
One day, I read an article about the acquisition of that design house by one of the large consulting firms. The article explained that companies like the Big Four have become so optimized and standardized that there’s barely any room left for real creativity. So they buy creative companies to bring that spark back into their services.
To me, it felt like you remove the soul from such a creative company. And that’s precisely what I don’t want. I want to build a creative talent design house, one that can do everything the big consulting firms do—but better. More creative. More practical. No endless PowerPoints, but real solutions that clients can sustainably move forward with.
That’s where our vision also originated: a model that allows us to build a sustainable HR infrastructure in a modular way.”
How did you decide which services should be put in the spotlight? .
“We started with recruitment because the demand was high. But our ambition has always been broader, focusing on the complete employee lifecycle. The rebranding was the moment to make that clear. Together with a brand strategist, we defined who we are, what we stand for and which clients fit us. From there, we rebuilt our entire positioning.”
What are the strongest elements of your services right now? .
“Our recruitment division is incredibly strong. I’m ready to take on any challenge there. Our HR team is also growing fast. What sets us apart is that we always look beyond the question on paper. We challenge clients, give strategic advice and help build the right infrastructure.”
How do you ensure you stay aligned with the needs of tomorrow?
“By staying curious. Passionately curious is one of our core values for a reason. We build teams with people who dare to question the status quo and search for smarter, better solutions. The world changes quickly. You must be adaptive, move at the right time and challenge clients in their thinking.”
What triggered the rebranding? .
“The trigger had been around for a while. After five years, the Successr brand no longer fully reflected who we truly were—and this was something not only I felt, but also our own people. That’s actually healthy, because your brand should evolve with your company culture.
So with the help of a brand strategy agency, we took a step back and asked the whole team again: who are we? What do we stand for? Which clients really fit us? And how can we best express that visually and as a brand? It was a thoughtful process in which we sharpened both our strategy and identity. It felt like putting on a new jacket: fresh, energetic and truly fitting.”
What did you learn from that process? .
“As an entrepreneur, the process was incredibly valuable. It gave me more focus and positive energy, because we really took the time to think about our core strengths and how we want to differentiate ourselves.
The whole team became enthusiastic, everyone felt involved. The reactions we received were very positive—clients, partners and colleagues immediately recognized the core message we wanted to convey.
Of course, there were small learnings too, for example in the collaboration with the marketing agency, where we might do certain things differently next time. But those are details. The foundation is strong and gives us a lot of confidence for the future.”
What will be the next big step? .
“The first step was strengthening our HR team, just like we did with the recruitment team. With this top-tier team, we can now take on any recruitment challenge, nationally and internationally. We want the same level of growth and quality for our HR team. We’re well on our way and will continue building on that.
We also want to make Successr more international. We already work with people across the globe and run projects abroad, but I’m aiming for bigger international assignments. On top of that, we’re investing heavily in improving our tech infrastructure. We continue to integrate technology and data into our services so we remain a strong, future-proof consulting partner.”