Remco Kraal (Pro Contact): ‘The office is buzzing; success is contagious’

Remco Kraal has only been COO of Pro Contact since October, yet he already dares to call his new club ‘the most fun company in the Netherlands’. ‘The only development I consider crucial is the development of our company.’

The most fun company in the Netherlands? After working there for only a few months? It may sound a bit over the top. But Remco Kraal is happy to say it. And why shouldn't he make such a statement: after all, he already knows the organisation well. ‘Long before I walked in here, I was a satisfied client of Pro Contact,’ he says. ‘I was on the board of a French temp agency and was looking for candidates with a tricky profile on the Dutch market. Pro Contact made that happen, and the collaboration went so well that I ended up staying in Amsterdam.’

What was a highlight for you in 2023?

‘There are many. We're a fast-growing company, and growth and success bring fun things with them: we're currently celebrating one milestone after another. In the past few months alone, Pro Contact was nominated for an award from MarketingTribune, we won a Gazelle from Het Financieele Dagblad and we celebrated our tenth birthday.’

‘I find it hard to pick one highlight from that, but when I look at the organisation as it stands now, everything is just really great. The workplace is buzzing, the atmosphere is contagious. It's fantastic to see that what we do, a combination of sales and recruitment, is received so well by the market.’

How is it that you're so good at those 2 things at the same time?

‘Pro Contact once started out as a sales lead generator , which makes us super results-driven. Only after we had perfected our approach in that field did we throw ourselves into recruitment, so that's where the fun and energy are now. And because organisations are searching hard for new people due to the tight labour market, but don't want to pay top prices because of inflation, we've found a gap in the market. After all, we're not an expensive recruitment and selection agency, but a flexible problem solver: that's a unique proposition.’

Surely there are other Recruitment Process Outsourcers?

‘Of course: other RPOs exist in the Netherlands, but our combination of recruitment and job marketing is unique as far as I'm concerned. Just take a look at our site and you'll see which companies we've helped and what our cost per hire was, completely transparently. These days clients rightly look at costs, and thanks to our way of working they know where they stand with us.’

What was most important for you last year, the tight labour market or AI?

‘I'd say: they were both important. But I suppose I have to choose?’

That would be nice.

‘The tight labour market is currently one of the drivers of our success. But even in a hypothetical situation where the shortage is solved tomorrow, we don't need to worry. Our online tools sit deep in our clients' funnels: in short, we'll still be needed. And apart from that: Pro Contact is originally a sales company, so we could always aim our sales cannon at another field if necessary. That's why, at the end of the day, I don't see the tight labour market as a crucial development for our organisation.’

So the answer to the question is: AI?

‘AI is a development that won't just disappear; our marketing department has young creatives who are more interested than average in its applications. At the same time, technically speaking, we're not doing much more with the technology than others at the moment, so for now I don't want to make it more important than it is.’

Was there a development last year that you do consider crucial?

‘The only development I consider crucial is the development of our company. We've now officially outgrown the role of start-up and aren't really an SME any more either. In fact, we're growing so fast that everything is creaking at the seams: it's time to push on. The growth ambition is huge, and one of the reasons I joined Pro Contact is to steer that next step in the right direction.’

So plenty of confidence.

‘Absolutely. On the one hand because the operational side of the organisation is rock solid: the past 10 years have made sure of that. On the other hand because growth is now in the recruitment market, and the board has invested heavily in it. In 2023 the organisation brought in a number of heavyweights from the recruitment profession, including me. As a result we now have everything in our own hands: 2024 will be all about even more growth!’

Read the article on werf-en.nl