Team

Our people make the difference. Each employee makes a unique and valuable contribution to the joint work of Heijmans. It is precisely the mix of different disciplines and backgrounds that makes us strong. We look at complex assignments together and from all angles, which leads to innovative solutions. If necessary, we expand our knowledge and skills by adding new competencies. We are always open, curious and inclusive – In this way, we bring out the best in ourselves and in each other every day.

Leadership and adaptability

Leaders play a crucial role in delivering our 'Together to 2030' strategy. Our goals call for leaders who have the skills to shape, organise and deliver change. To this end, we are taking a targeted approach to investing in their development. This starts with a shared, clear view of leadership, which offers support for all managers at Heijmans to add focus, clarity and recognition for leadership across the entire organisation, in line with our strategy.

The foundation of leadership

In 2025, Heijmans designed the 'Foundation of Leadership', which clearly sets out what we expect from managers and how they can implement this in practice. At its heart, leadership is about consciously switching between three roles – leader, manager and coach – and having productive business conversations that both connect and provide clear direction. This helps to create a shared basis for leadership throughout the organisation.

This shared foundation is elaborated further in our leadership characteristics, which set out the behaviours and qualities needed to achieve our strategic direction: vision and strategic thinking, leadership in relation to digitalisation, the ability to connect and promote well-being, and versatility. Ambidexterity means that leaders have the ability to manage short-term operations safely, compliantly and efficiently, while simultaneously shaping the long-term strategy. These characteristics underpin our leadership development and help us select and strengthen the leaders Heijmans needs on the path towards 2030.

It goes without saying that we actively support managers in their development. This means we help them find the right balance between a range of expectations. They must be able to switch smoothly between steering on project results and creating room for change, and between standardising working methods and encouraging entrepreneurship.

Onboarding for new managers

In 2025, Heijmans introduced a specific onboarding programme for managers. This programme is based on the ‘Foundation of Leadership’ and supports both new managers and employees progressing internally into a leadership role. Workshops, peer-to-peer coaching and a central digital information environment allow staff to gain a clear picture of what leadership at Heijmans involves and what is expected of them within six months. The initial results show that new managers feel welcome, settle into their roles faster, and are more confident in their leadership role.

In addition to the shared foundations, we offer in-depth pathways within the business areas to help leaders shape changes towards 2030 in practice. These pathways take a deeper look at the specific situations and challenges within the various business units. The core themes themes are directly aligned with our strategy: living and translating the strategy into our own business, knowing what the team needs to be successful today and tomorrow, leading collaboration with other teams and business units, and developing individual leadership skills and competences in a targeted manner. Within Living and Working, this takes place through the 'Stronger Together for the Future' initiative and through the 'Support through Connecting' initiative in Connecting.

Talent development

Talent development is a key part of our long-term strategy. We invest in recruiting, retaining and guiding young talent, including apprentices, trainees and other newcomers to the labour market. Every year, we launch a talent programme across the entire Heijmans organisation for so-called young potentials with approximately three years of work experience. The 'Leaders of Tomorrow' programme has been specially designed for the group of advanced management potentials.

The business areas also offer their own development activities for talented professionals, focused on personal growth and improving strategic skills. We actively encourage advancement within the organisation to ensure employees can continue to develop and grow their career at Heijmans. In 2025, 53% of the key positions (positions that are vital for the (future) operation of the organisation and are directly linked to Heijmans' strategy) were filled by internal candidates. This lies slightly below our target of 60%.

Future-proof skillset

Heijmans' strength lies in the diversity of our disciplines and the professional skills of our people. We want to maintain and improve upon this strength. Advancing digitalisation, production technology and sustainability are changing the way we work. Such developments require agility, new skills and a learning organisation. That is why we continuously invest in developing knowledge, expertise and behaviour. In 2030, we expect a large proportion of our employees to work in a way that did not exist in 2023. By actively supporting employees in their professional growth, we ensure that our professional skills make us stand out and stay relevant in the future.

We will continue to guide our staff through every phase of their career, making sure they are well prepared for the future. In doing so, we will focus on technological and digital skills and competencies in the area of sustainable development. We accurately map out the differences between current and future roles to ensure we can respond to developments in a targeted manner.

Learning and development

In 2025, we refined our vision for learning. Our motto is "we learn at work and from each other", with 70% of learning taking place in daily work, 20% through interactions with others and 10% through formal training and education. This creates a learning environment in which employees develop on an ongoing basis and apply knowledge directly in practice.

Every employee has control over their own development. Learning objectives, development needs and suitable learning solutions are discussed with their manager through a personal development plan, which sets out specific steps and progress. The Heijmans Academy supports employees with a wide range of internal and external training courses (the '10' in the '70-20-10 model'). In addition, Heijmans has its own training site for technical training and more, which further strengthens our expertise across the company as a whole.

In 2025, we developed the 'Skills' internal training course within Civil Specialists. There is no standard training available for work such as installing guardrails, applying markings and working with foundation machines. The 'Skills' course therefore offers employees a practical programme in which they learn the basics of the profession alongside other Heijmans colleagues.

We are also making additional investments in knowledge transfer and on-the-job coaching. In 2025, we developed a mentoring programme to provide internal practical trainers with support in their role and knowledge. They play a key role in strengthening our expertise and in training new generations of colleagues.

Vitality

A healthy lifestyle helps with professional growth and the development of new skills. As an employer, we therefore see it as our duty to promote health and vitality, and we do this through a wide range of activities and facilities.

Periodic health assessment

Every employee receives an invitation to a regular occupational health check-up (PAGO) once every two or four years. The most common risks from these examinations form the basis for our vitality programme, which focuses on healthy living, balance and prevention.

2025 saw a PAGO+ survey carried out at Schiphol for the first time. The PAGO+ survey is a more extensive version of the regular PAGO survey for employees working in locations containing exposure to ultra-fine dust. The survey is an initiative of Heijmans' Works Council, in collaboration with Volandis, the PCOBB (Central Platform for the Construction and Dredging Sectors) and the other main contractors at Schiphol. Of the approximately 1,475 employees invited who have worked at Schiphol in recent years, more than 650 took part. The broad results of the survey will be published in early 2026.

Feeling good about yourself

The Vitality working group organises a range of activities for employees throughout the year under the motto 'Feeling good about yourself'. In 2025, various webinars on work pressure and balance were offered during the national 'Week of Work Stress', while the auditorium in Rosmalen was packed for a lecture by former Olympian Mark Tuitert on energy and perseverance. We also asked colleagues to take part in the national 'Walk during your working day' campaign. We have also seen groups of employees come together to take part in sporting initiatives such as the Roparun and the Amstel Gold Race.

Boosting vitality

Vitality means something different for everyone. For one person it is about physical health; for another it is about a good work-life balance, coping with work pressure or continuing to learn. It could also be a combination of all these factors. Heijmans offers employees support and a range of schemes to keep them happy and healthy at work, including lifestyle coaching, help with quitting smoking or losing weight, work resources on building sites and a cycling plan. Training courses on energy, the work-life balance and stress management are also offered, while support is available for situations in employees' personal lives or at home. We also support managers with 'Getting started with vitality in your team', a specific step-by-step plan to make vitality a topic that can be discussed easily within teams.

Diverse and inclusive employer

Everyone should feel welcome at Heijmans. People feel seen and heard in a socially safe and inclusive environment, which increases job satisfaction, motivation and engagement. Different backgrounds and perspectives also improve our creativity and power for innovation. By reflecting the diversity of society in our teams, we have a better understanding of what end users need and can incorporate this into our projects. What's more, an inclusive culture helps us to attract, retain and develop talent in an ever tighter labour market. Diversity and inclusion only serve to enhance both our organisation and our contribution to the challenges facing the Netherlands.

A diverse organisation

Our policy is based on a simple belief that all people are equal, but not the same. Heijmans strives to be an organisation that reflects the diversity within society – and that requires a workforce that varies in age, gender, cultural background, experience and perspective. In 2025, we took further steps to make our organisation more diverse, with an increase in young employees.

We invest in apprentices, interns and trainees through a dual higher education programme with Avans University of Applied Sciences, practical training for (young) professionals and more. We also worked on more inclusive recruitment. Recruiters gave managers workshops and supported them in the objective of selecting and recognising unconscious bias. We are also taking steps to increase the intake and growth of women. The proportion of women at Heijmans increased from 15% in 2024 to 16% in 2025, with 40% of the trainee intake in autumn 2025 women.

A construction programme for status holders was launched in collaboration with Koning Willem I College, combining work, learning and coaching. Thirteen status holders took part in 2025. We also organised the 'Together we are one' event for newcomers and their mentors, which focused on getting to know each other, sharing experiences and forming connections.

Celebrate our differences

In 2025, we put into practice the belief that all people are equal, but not the same under the motto 'Celebrate our differences'. Diversity at Heijmans means that we value and celebrate our differences. Every year, we focus on initiatives such as Diversity Day and International Women's Day. We also reflected on how we deal with each other during the 'Hey, are you okay?' week, paying attention to empathy and collaboration.

In addition, individual departments at Heijmans launched their own initiatives to promote inclusion. Teams pay attention to a range of cultural and social celebrations and commemorations, and in that light, Non-residential Projects selected two days in 2025 to give even more attention to: Eid al-Fitr and Spirit Day. Another example is the use of a VR experience, which gives employees the opportunity to put themselves in situations of social inequality so they can increase their understanding and awareness.

We also developed a toolbox of practical ways of working in 2025, based on a common framework for diversity and inclusion, in order to support managers and teams. Teams can get started straight away. The tools range from a card game with questions for reflection to discuss with each other to a conversation around a campfire to invite dialogue, raise awareness and help to build an inclusive culture together.