GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
May 2016
n
issue 1
Horizon 2020
Ready for the future
Are you IN?
Gosselin Group on LinkedIn
From Russia with love
Gosselin Mobility at the Foreignerslife exhibition
@Gosselin
FOREWORD
THE HOURS JUST FLY BY
Dear colleague,
We are proud to present the first issue of
Interview with Werner Peeters
Inside Out, a new in-company magazine for all
In every edition of Inside Out, we turn the floor over to co-workers who tell
us about their experiences working for Gosselin. For this first issue of our
magazine, we decided to interview warehouse supervisor Werner Peeters.
Gosselin employees. This magazine will help
you stay up-to-date on important news and
learn interesting facts about our company.
It will make our operations transparent, so
that everyone will have a clear idea of what
Gosselin stands for. It will also introduce you
to the people behind the employees.
We will continue to post messages on the intranet. The intranet
is ideal for urgent messages and personal details. This magazine
offers a platform for longer articles, detailed background
information and great images. We will also make sure that
employees without a computer can read Inside Out.
We hope this magazine will come to be the voice on the phone
CREDITS
Volume 1 - no. 1 - 2016
Inside Out is a magazine
for all employees
of the Gosselin Group and
appears three times a year.
Layout
Micha Verbruggen
that you recognize but can’t put a face to; a bit more of a coworker, in other words. And that your co-worker will become
more of a person, and together, we will become more of a group.
This is our goal.
Happy reading,
Editing & project management
Dirk Van Der Borght
Editorial board
Anne Van Gils
Ann de Schutter
Photography
Stefaan Van Hul
2 GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
Marc Smet
Werner works in the military warehouse in Deurne. Every day, wood
crates arrive here, packed with the
personal belongings of American
soldiers who are moving. “My day
starts at 5:00 in the morning,” he begins. “We start unloading the trucks,
measure the crates, and move them
to the warehouse. After that, we
make a plan for loading the crates
that have to be shipped. I really love
this work. There is a lot of variation
in this job. Even though I work long
days, the hours just fly by.”
Werner started working here seven
years ago, and has since worked his
way up to warehouse supervisor.
“I first found out about the company from my father, who was also
warehouse supervisor here. I found
my professional challenge at Gosselin. There is also an excellent dynamic within the team. There are
six of us, and the group works really
well together.
We are always willing to help each
other out, and jump in when necessary.”
Reliable, flexible and honest
When we ask him to describe Gosselin in three words, Werner says
he doesn’t have to think too long.
His answer? “Reliable, flexible and
honest.” “Over the past few years,
we have made tremendous progress when it comes to professionalism and safety. Gosselin used to
be a family business. It still is,
but the work is done in a
much more professional
The man behind the colleague
manner now. A few new
people have joined us
Werner is 39 and lives in Schelle. Soccer is his hobby, and he coaches an indoor
who have made a posisoccer team. He is also a passionate cyclist. “I try to cycle to work three days
tive contribution to the
a week. It’s about 11 miles. I don’t have any problems finding a good balance
company’s
operations.
between my work and private life. Gosselin is flexible about hours, leaving me
You can tell that the comenough time for myself and my family.”
pany is growing, and that
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Werner’s father, Mon Peeters,
also makes my job a lot
for his years of service at Gosselin. He started working here in 1990, and recently
easier.”
retired. Enjoy it, Mon!
GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
3
Horizon 2020
HORIZON 2020
Gosselin is getting ready for the future
HORIZON
2O2O
“We have experienced incredible growth in the past few years. Unfortunately, the organizational structure hasn’t always kept up with this evolution. Today, the Gosselin Group consists of around 40 companies,” Stephan
Geurts Sr. tells us. “We aim to present a single, strong company to our
customers, consisting of two divisions: Gosselin Logistics and Gosselin Mobility, both of which offer a broad range of professional services. In order to
support these efforts, we are launching a new project called Horizon 2020.”
“It’s a pretty tall order. All of these
improvement projects will demand
attention and energy from all of
us, but I am confident that Horizon
2020 will help make our company a
truly well-oiled machine.
The official starting shot was fired
during the management meeting
on April 28. Future editions of Inside
Out will contain progress reports,
and further details on each of the individual projects.”
selin’s vision, mission and values.
This document describes what we
hope to achieve as a company,
how we plan to achieve our goals,
and which efforts are necessary
to do this. This basic outline was
then presented to and discussed
extensively by management during three workshops. We now
have a final formulation of our
mission, vision and values. In the
very near future, we will further
communicate the mission, vision
and values, and every employee in the entire group will be involved.”
Guido is also active in other Horizon 2020 projects. One pilot
project involves our container ter-
Ann De Schutter: “A positive evolution for the company”
The Gosselin Group organizational
structure was also introduced at the
management meeting on April 28.
“The most important image on our
organogram is the one that shows
the two divisions and lists the services each offers,” HR Director Ann
De Schutter tells us. “The organogram makes the company structure
transparent. Everyone will now have
a better understanding of where
they are in the organization, and a
greater sense of involvement will
develop with the company.”
“Horizon 2020 is an umbrella term
for a vast array of improvement projects that are in the pipeline. I hope
GOSSELIN GROUP / General Structure
Version 1.1 / 2016
GOSSELIN GROUP
Legal Counsel
3.1. FACILITY MANAGEMENT
2. LOGISTICS
1. MOBILITY
SALES
3. SUPPORT SERVICES
SALES
1.1. RELOCATION
2.1. CUSTOMS
3.2. FINANCE
1.2. MOVING
2.2. FORWARDING
3.3. HUMAN RESOURCES
1.3. CONSOLIDATION &
EXCESS BAGAGE
2.3. LASHING & SECURING
1.4. SELF STORAGE
2.4. TERMINAL
OPERATIONS
2.5. TRANSPORT
SERVICES
Network: Western & Eastern Europe,
Caucasus & Central Asia
Stephan Geurts Sr., Guido Van Nuffelen
and Ann De Schutter were there at the
inception of Horizon 2020.
“It goes without saying that the company has experienced major growth
in the last 30 years. Gosselin evolved
from being a Belgian company offering local services to an international
company with 32 offices. Gosselin
used to be a moving company; these
days, we also offer logistics services
in addition to our mobility activities.
The number of employees has also
risen substantially.”
Stephan Geurts Sr.: “A plan for
the future”
“We deserve to be very proud of
this rich history,” Stephan conti-
4 GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
nues. “But in order to make further growth possible, we can’t be
afraid to take a critical look at our
company, and take new steps. We
are bundling these steps together
under the name Horizon 2020. This
is a plan for the future we are all
involved in. Here are a few of the
Horizon 2020 projects we will be
rolling out: defining our mission, vision and values; establishing a clear
organizational structure; determining everyone’s responsibilities;
preparing business plans and a
greater focus on our internal and
external communication.”
2.6. WAREHOUSING
2.7. INDUSTRIAL
PACKAGING
3.4. IT
3.5. LEGAL & RISK
3.6. MARKETING &
COMMUNICATION
3.7. QHSE
2.8. CONTRACTING FIS/
NVOCC
2.9. INDUSTRIAL
PROJECTS
Guido Van Nuffelen: “Everyone
will be involved”
As an organizational development consultant, Guido has been
involved in the creation of Horizon
2020 since the very beginning.
“During the summer of 2015, I got
together with management to put
together a basic outline of Gos-
minal, and will ensure better coordination between the activities
at the wharf, the warehouses and
the office. Guido will supervise
the improvement process for this
project. There is another project
in the works that will allow us to
better anticipate our customers’
expectations.
that everyone sees the positive
side of this. Gosselin is an exciting,
growing company that is undergoing major changes. It is a company
that constantly sees opportunities,
and creates them. It is always possible to take new steps here, and
that’s a really great feeling.”
GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
5
G osselin Mobility
THE AMBITIONS OF GOSSELIN MOBILITY
Sales meeting 2016
On February 22, 23 and 24, sales staff from all the domestic and
international offices met at the Gosselin Mobility offices in Antwerp
for an annual meeting. During this informative three-day event, the
existing friendly ties were strengthened and new ambitious plans
were devised.
“We held the first sales meeting last
year in Budapest,” Jaff Van Durme
says. “We had noticed that there
wasn’t very much communication
between the offices, and wanted to
change this for the better, initially by
getting to know more about each
other. I am proud to say that we suc-
Chantal Pas, Jaff Van Durme, Guido
De Ryck, Arie Jan van der Wijngaard and
Luc Premereur provided the practical
content of the sales meeting.
ceeded in achieving that goal. After the sales meeting in Budapest,
more information about customers
was shared, and a more pro-active
approach was taken to our custom-
6 GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
ers. The objective of this sales meeting in Antwerp is to take it all a step
further, and turn these good intentions into concrete business plans.”
The starting shot has been fired
On Monday morning, CEO Marc
Smet welcomed all those present,
and emphasized the importance of
smooth communication and teamwork between all of our offices and
branches. The starting shot for an
exciting three-day event had been
fired! This was followed by presentations from each country, outlining their business plans and targets.
The goal is to achieve an overall increase in sales of 7% next year.
On Tuesday morning, Arie Jan van
bility activities for the top 500 multinationals, thus offering the chance to
sign significant contracts.
der Wijngaard explained the ways our
marketing department can support
sales. He placed a major accent on
the positioning of Gosselin Mobility
as a strong brand, and encouraged
everyone to engage in more conscious customer segmentation. There
are four customer groups at Gosselin
Getting to work!
The presentations and the theoretical portion of the event were followed by a few workshops. These
sessions enabled all of the participants to share their ideas on topics that concern Gosselin Mobility.
Chantal Pas gave a workshop on relocation services, Arie Jan gave one
on corporate gifts, Luc Premereur
focused on diplomats, and Olivier
Ravon zeroed in on customer focus. These workshops met with very
positive reviews.
In the early afternoon on Wednesday, all the participants were introduced to several Gosselin Group
business units they might not have
been very familiar with before, such
as the legal and forwarding departments. Around 12:00, Stephan
Geurts Sr. closed the event with a
few final motivating words: the ambitions are there, and the expectations are very high. It was time to
put it all into practice.
We would like to thank all of the
participants for their efforts during the sales meeting, and we wish
everyone the best of luck in achieving their goals!
Gosselin Mobility’s offices
are located throughout Europe.
An informative
three-day event
An impressive group of participants from
Italy, Russia, Poland, Latvia, the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Romania, Croatia,
Serbia, the Netherlands, Uzbekistan,
Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Belgium.
Mobility: companies, diplomats, private individuals, and our partners or
agents. He also recommended putting more effort into the diplomats
and companies segments since these
have the potential to represent larger
projects and repeat business. Michael
Cazalet, head of the division, also emphasized the potential the Relocation
Management Companies offer. These
are companies that manage the mo-
GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
7
Social
Trade
media
ARE YOU
fairs
?
Gosselin on LinkedIn
The Gosselin Group maintains a profile on the social network site LinkedIn.
You can follow, like or share the messages posted there.
LinkedIn is an online platform you
can use to expand your professional
network. Gosselin also has a profile
on LinkedIn. We use this channel for
posting information on the company,
and to share information about Gosselin with our customers, suppliers,
employees and anyone else who’s interested in Gosselin.
What kind of information will you find
here? Announcements about our
presence at trade fairs, a success story
about a unique partnership, and natu-
Follow us on LinkedIn:
like, share and follow
rally also any job openings we might
have.
Would you also like to be able to see
posts from Gosselin? If so, go to www.
linkedin.com and log in (or create an
account if you don’t have one yet). Fill
in “Gosselin Group” in the search field
at the top right of the screen. When
you see the page with the company
profile, click “follow”. It’s that easy.
You can also fill in Gosselin on your
profile as your employer. Normally, the
company logo will automatically appear in your profile when you do this.
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Andrey Khomenko and Christina Likhovid
welcomed numerous visitors from
more than 30 countries.
Gosselin Mobility at the Foreignerslife exhibition
The Foreignerslife exhibition was held in Moscow from February
5 through 7, and was the first Russian exhibition for expats. Naturally,
our colleagues from Moscow were there, ready to welcome the numerous visitors and provide them with information.
People planning to live in another
country usually have so many questions. Not only do all the practical
aspects of the move have to be arranged, there is also all sorts of paperwork to take care of, from visas
to social security and tax issues.
The Foreignerslife exhibition was
including potential customers such
as ambassadors, business people
and private individuals.
While Andrey, Christina and Sylvia
provided visitors to the Gosselin
booth with information, a packing
employee demonstrated how he
packs customers’ personal belon-
The Foreignerslife exhibition
was held to help expats in Russia
Do you know any news about Gosselin that could be posted
on LinkedIn? If so, please send them to Dirk Van Der Borght
in the Marketing & Communication department.
He will handle the editing, and post it on the LinkedIn profile.
8 GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
[email protected]
held to help expats in Russia. It was
the ideal opportunity for our Russian colleagues to introduce themselves to more than 2,000 visitors,
gings. The Gosselin corporate video
played in the background, leaving
a major impression on anyone who
came to the booth.
GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
9
G osselin Logistics
N ews
YOU LEARN THE MOST ON THE WORK FLOOR
VISITORS FROM CHINA
Interview with Siebren Van Mechelen
On March 11, a delegation of
logistics experts from three transport
companies from Chongqing paid us
a visit.
Gosselin Logistics offered internship positions to the International
Transport and Logistics program. The partnership with education immediately led to the recruitment of one new co-worker.
Siebren Van Mechelen (no relation
to Walter Van Mechelen, editor’s
note) recently started at the Gosselin Logistics division as a member of
the forwarding export team. “Originally, I worked as a manual laborer
at a port terminal. Although it was a
positive experience, I still wanted
more,” Siebren tells us.
“I decided to take my career in
new direction with the International Transport and Logistics program. This new program was an
initiative taken by several schools,
businesses and associations in the
Antwerp area to offer a solution to
the rising number of job openings
in the logistics sector.”
Two internships are a key require-
ment in this program. “Even though
you can acquire a lot of knowledge
in a classroom, you learn the most on
With around 30 million inhabitants,
Chongqing is one of the most
important economic centers in
China. A presentation given by our
logistics division and a tour of one of
our corporate sites was followed by
an interesting discussion focusing
on imports from China, one of our
areas of specialization.
and interesting, and there is a good
click with my co-workers.”
That click was felt from both sides.
Gosselin’s multifaceted nature
makes the work interesting
From left to right: Granel Issanbaiev (seated),
the work floor,” Siebren continues.
“I decided to do my internship at
Gosselin because the multifaceted
services the company offers really
appealed to me. It turned out to be
a good choice. The work is exciting
After his internship, Siebren was offered a temporary contract as a junior forwarder, giving him the
chance to get to know the company
even better. We wish him the best
of luck at Gosselin!
ORIENTATION FOR STAFF
Andreas Kruger, Arno Antheunis, Marija
Kirkovska, Sylvia Antwi, Glen Bauwens,
Jessica Claro Morejon, Tim Jacobs, Sophie
Noë (Human Resources) and Stefanie Wijnen.
On March 24, employees who have
started out in the past few months
were given orientation training. This
is a new effort from Human Resources
to initiate new employees into the ins
and outs at Gosselin.
The early afternoon started with presentations given by Stephan Geurts
Sr., Ann De Schutter, Marc Beyers
and Nathalie Luyckx. Later in the afternoon, Sophie Noë and Peter Vandegoor took the dozen trainees with
them to see Gosselin’s corporate site
in Deurne. Once there, they were
given detailed information on the
self-storage facilities for consumers,
the various warehouses and of course
the container terminal.
NEWS TO REPORT?
The forwarding export team
“The export team is responsible for the shipment of goods all over the world,” Lieve
Donckers, team manager, explains. “In most cases, this involves full containers, but
we also offer breakbulk and RORO (Roll-on, Roll-off) services. The shipments are
carried out on the orders of companies from Belgium, the Netherlands, France,
Germany and Switzerland. We also get orders from our global agent network. One
day it might be a shipment of food products, and the next, carpets or a load of
steel. The diversity of goods and destinations is what makes the job so varied.”
From left to right:
Siebren Van Mechelen,
Annie Depooter, Kim D’ Hulste,
Lieve Donckers, Frank Mentink,
Gene Dierckx and Ellen Deruelle.
Do you have any news to report, or
would you like to give us your feedback on the contents of Inside Out?
You are always welcome to do so.
Let us know
what you think!
THE
EAM
Dirk Van Der Borght would love to
hear your input and responses:
[email protected]
GOSSELIN MAGAZINE
11
Marketing
LAUNCH OF NEW WEBSITES
Gosselin recently launched two new websites.
One website for the logistics division
www.gosselinlogistics.eu
One website for the mobility division
www.gosselinmobility.eu
Be sure to take a look. Happy browsing!