Customer Story: Faam

‘So glad we found you! Flexible, involved and short lines of communication. Fast and good results.’ Not only a good match between Faam and the candidates, but also the right click between Faam and Forp. Bjorn Damen of Forp found the three consultants Gert-Jan van Poppel of Faam was looking for. Successful placements thanks to a personal approach.

We speak with owner Gert-Jan van Poppel at Faam’s office in the beautiful Blokstallen in Bergen op Zoom. In a nice conversation, he tells us that Faam likes to help people and organizations move forward.

With smart asset and process management, they are working towards a society in which everyone can work, live, travel and relax safely and comfortably. Not only now, but also later. They help clients with issues and can often be found at the client’s location.

Gert-Jan explains enthusiastically, “Faam is a fast-growing consultant club with well-educated HBO/University graduates with mostly technical backgrounds. We have a nice mix of ages and junior/senior consultants. Most consultants are on two or three projects which means they get to work with different clients and at various locations. The challenge, dynamics and variety is what our people like. We serve clients in the Netherlands and Belgium.

This year we exist 11 years and as true Brabanders we will celebrate. Carnival and Burgundian life is important to us so we drink and eat a lot together. And we also go abroad every year for a weekend. Super fun and cozy!”

Gert-Jan was looking for new consultants for the company in the spring. “I first tried to find those myself. But well, of course I don’t really know about it and besides, I couldn’t give it my full attention. Then it sank in again and was ultimately unsuccessful.”

“Then I looked at secondment agencies, but that way of hiring or paying a fee for so much of the annual salary is not what we want.”

“At the entrepreneurs’ club Stratos, which I belong to, we have a kind of message board and there I had asked the question, ‘This is what I’m looking for and does there happen to be an entrepreneur in this group who might have a good tip?’ And right away I got a response and they said, ‘You should call Dennis van Dijk of Forp, have good experiences with this club.’

“I called right away and soon Dennis came here for a visit. It clicked right away. Forp and Fame are also similar. They are both growing and progressive clubs. Forp’s approach really appealed to me and then I decided right away to do this with you guys.”

Faam’s plan was to hire at least three people by 2023. “Early this year, just before Forp came into the picture, we had already hired someone ourselves. In early October, two people started through Forp, and as of December 1, 2023, another person has started.”

“Three was an ambitious goal for us but it turned out to be four! All good people so that’s very nice. It went quickly and smoothly and all thanks to Björn Damen from Forp.”

“It went very well for us and the cooperation is very nice. Björn managed to understand what type of people we are looking for. So not just diplomas (which you just have to have), but above all: do you fit with Faam?”

Björn always told us which candidates he had spoken to and what his findings were. He then made nice interview reports of the intake. With these I could then take the next step.”

“With all the steps, we could choose whether we wanted to take this up ourselves or whether Forp facilitated that for us. This is all very flexible. Also the short lines are very pleasant, via app or just a call, just schedule a half hour to catch up.

“And I found the follow-up very good. Just an app: ‘You had an interview today how did it go, I’m curious.’”

The candidates were also enthusiastic about Forp, according to Gert-Jan.

“I asked them, ‘Why did you decide to interview at Forp?’ A number of people indicated that they were not looking for a new job, but were still curious about this vacancy. They told me that Björn’s approach and how he talked about Faam was different from other agencies.”

“Candidates found it strong that Faam uses a specialist for recruitment, who introduces Faam and explains well what they are looking for, but also does the intake. Then Faam takes over and they also join Faam right away. They said, “I get calls a lot and usually I don’t respond to them, but I found that really different this time. I found that really striking that candidates said that!”

“I’m glad I found you guys! And the nice thing is that you often tell proudly about your new people and people say, ‘so that’s clever in this day and age. How so?’”

“We succeeded with Forp. So I’ve mentioned your name many times and passed on contact information a few times.”

“Your value for money is also quite attractive. The way of checkout is really different from secondment companies. The quality is good and we quickly succeeded in achieving our goal of ‘welcoming good people into our club’.”