Member in the Spotlight: Maaike Jamoel of AND Digital
Meet Maaike, the Club Executive of AND Digital Amsterdam
AND Digital is a digital company with a mission: to close the digital skills gap and empower companies to realise their digital ambitions. We are proud that their first Netherlands-based club chose to call Tribes home, and we sat down with Club Executive AND Life Enthusiast Maaike Jamoel to find out more about their story!
Hello, Maaike! Please tell us a little about yourself and how you came to work at AND Digital?
I’ve worked at AND Digital for 13 months now, and I’ve been in IT already my whole career. The main reason I joined AND Digital is that it is a good mix of having the power of a big company, but you still have the feeling that you work for a smaller, boutique type company. As we are structured in clubs of 90 people, you retain that family feel where you know everybody, but also enjoy all the services of a bigger company, so it’s the best of both worlds.
Can you tell us about what AND Digital does?
We provide digital services, building end-to-end digital solutions. An important part of what we do is upskilling the client; for us it’s important to transfer knowledge to the client so that they can build their own team's capabilities and eventually become independent and prepared for the future.
Our BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal, in case you were wondering!) that we set for 2025 is that we want to close the digital skills gap. As there is such a big need for digital skills - and as we all know it’s really hard to find them - our aim is to close that skills gap, and the only way we can do that is by teaching everybody around us. We have a big focus on upskilling, growing, mentoring and coaching, for both our clients and our team here as well. By 2025 we want to have educated 200,000 people as part of that goal.
How does the Club Model work?
AND Digital has around 1800 people now and we work in clubs of up to 90 people. Here in Amsterdam we are Club Aletta, named after Aletta Jacobs. All of our clubs are named after pioneers, and we chose Aletta as she was the first woman to attend Dutch university, to earn a PHD and to become a doctor in the Netherlands. She was also a leader in the fight for women’s suffrage and peace activism. Her practice was in Amsterdam not far from our office, and so it felt right to name our club after her!
Every club has a maximum of 90 people which is a blended team of developers, designers, product analysts, and a management team. I’m part of the management team - I’m the Club Executive, which means I am responsible for the club in Amsterdam, overviewing both people and clients. Club Aletta is now with 65 people and we’re growing towards 90 people in January.
So once you reach 90 people, another club will open?
A new club has actually already recently opened in Rotterdam! We currently have 22 clubs in total, 2 of which are in The Netherlands. As part of our growth plan, once a club reaches close to 90 people then the next club will open, and we plan to open 5 clubs in the Benelux by 2025.
What kind of clients do you work with, is there a particular target industry?
No, we don’t have a particular target industry, we just love to work with clients who want to improve their skill set and are willing to work with us to do so. We’re not a consultancy, we don’t walk in there and tell clients what to do, our style is instead to work together with the client, which is different to some of our competition.
In the Netherlands we work with companies such as Picnic, Citizen M and Mollie, and in the UK we work with companies such as Sky and British Airways. We have a broad spectrum of different types of clients, with a nice growing percentage of Dutch clients.
What is it that makes AND Digital unique?
We have a people-first approach and believe that our people - our ANDis as we like to call them - are the key to our success. The way we recruit is different. We've recruited around 500 people in the last 6 months which is quite unique for the market we’re in, and that really has to do with the way we look at talent and the way we grow talent, how we develop our people. We have a lot of focus on internal growth and helping people to develop across different levels.
I noticed that AND Digital job titles also include a personal aspect, can you tell us about the thought behind that?
The reason behind that is that we want people to bring their whole selves to work, and to emphasise that everybody has a seat at the table. You’re not just the Club Executive when you come to work, but you’re also someone else. We want you to be able to be your authentic self, to be who you want to be. We don’t want people to forget that they also have something else outside of work.
My AND title is ‘Life Enthusiast’, because I always take everything as a positive and as a challenge, and I’m always looking for the next enthusiastic step.
Tell us why you chose Tribes Raamplein as your home for Club Aletta!
We choose Tribes for two main reasons. The first is that I think the Tribes culture fits our culture. It has the feel of being energetic and open and free, and our structure of having clubs is similar to how Tribes are formed in real life, so it fits well.
The second reason was the building itself and the garden. It’s a special building and we felt that as the first club in Amsterdam, we should be in a building that means something for Amsterdam and not just any old office space. Walking in here feels good, it’s more than just an office.
The garden is really important for us as well as it’s a real community place that brings people together. Having a big space where you can all sit together after work or have meetings outside is really important, and it’s great to be in the city centre of Amsterdam but to still have nature around you. When I saw the pictures of the garden I just thought, “We need to check this out!”
Finally, what does the future hold for AND Digital and Club Aletta?
We’re planning to grow into Europe and worldwide - we’re opening up a US club at the beginning of next year, and plan to have 5 clubs in Benelux by 2025. For Club Aletta specifically, we’re looking to hire around 30 more people by January and to find some more cool Dutch clients to work with!
Thank you so much for talking with us, Maaike. We are thrilled to have AND Digital as Tribes members!
If you would like to learn more about AND Digital and their services, you can find them here.
