"I believe that all these different cultures strengthen each other."
At Huijbregts, people with different cultural backgrounds work together. This brings in various perspectives. "Which allows one to broaden their horizon," says production manager Rik Coppens. He knows this all too well: not only did he travel the world for a year, but he also has a Chilean wife. "All those different cultures… I really believe they can enhance each other."
"During my world trip, I visited nearly all continents. In the Canary Islands, I met Pau, who is now my wife. The spark flew, and we entered a long-distance relationship. Eventually, she emigrated to the Netherlands, and we got married. For her, that meant moving from Santiago—a city with eight million inhabitants—to Budel, which has about eight thousand. Just that was already a culture shock..."
A refrigerator says something about culture
"What my wife had to get used to the most? Dutch food. In Chile, she ate hot meals in the afternoon. In her eyes, we have breakfast twice. And our meal times were also an adjustment. At first, she would sometimes feel hungry in the evening because she wasn't used to having dinner as early as 6 PM. It's funny how the arrangement of our refrigerators reflects our cultures. A Chilean refrigerator is packed and chaotic, while a Dutch refrigerator is relatively empty and organized. You can see that in our (work) culture too. Here, it’s more about efficiency, while there, they don’t want to shortchange anyone."
Learning from cultural differences
"There are certainly differences in character traits as well. Dutch people are quite down-to-earth, while Chileans are much more exuberant. For example, when my mother saw my wife's wedding dress, she simply said, 'Oh, nice.' Pau didn’t understand that reaction at all. Her mother reacted in a much more emotional and enthusiastic way, which some Dutch people find difficult to understand. Those cultural differences make you wiser. And you also appreciate what is going well in the Netherlands. In Chile, for instance, the gap between rich and poor is significant. Here, people generally have more opportunities. By interacting with other cultures, you understand that someone might react differently than the Dutch norm. You can learn from those differences."
Buddy
"At Huijbregts, I work with colleagues from Turkey, Romania, Poland, Moldova, Vietnam, Morocco, and so on. It’s important that they learn more about our (work) culture. Thanks to my wife, I know it can take some getting used to. That’s why we work with buddies at Huijbregts—someone who supports a new employee. I was that buddy for my wife. Because of that, she was able to make significant progress. That confirms for me how important our buddy system is."