With a passion for Human Resources, Raisa Herfst started as a Contract Manager at HeadFirst Group in February 2022. A completely new world, in which she quickly found her niche. In her role, she takes care of the contractual settlement for professionals - self-employed or employed by suppliers - through the Select platform and has daily contact with various parties to do so. "My work is a lot broader than I had thought beforehand, which gives me necessary motivation every day," says Raisa.

Raisa's first day at work coincided withthe grand opening of the brand new headquarters. "I was surprised by well-appointed workstations and a warm welcome from my new colleagues, a diverse and close-knit team. If you indicate you need support, everyone is willing to help," said Raisa. She is also happy with the possibility of hybrid working, so she can alternate focused work at home with collaboration in the office. A place where she feels at home. Raisa: "HeadFirst Group really thinks about its employees and they listen to you. Initiatives like the HeadFirst Group Academy, the platform OpenUp and events contribute to this."

"At the beginning I was overwhelmed by the work, but partly due to good guidance from a buddy, it is as if I have never done anything else," Raisa explains. She is currently responsible for ensuring that the entire contractual process for Shell runs smoothly. For this she is working on a daily basis to set up the file for professionals, obviously with compliancy in mind. Therefore, documents must be checked and if necessary professionals approached for proper onboarding. Raisa is also the point of contact for Shell's hiring managers for contracting professionals. "The most enjoyable part of my job is taking the worries out of the hands of professionals so that they can start an assignment worry-free," Raisa says.

In addition to her daily work, Raisa is committed to further improving the organization. For example, she attended Yellow Belt training as part of the Lean program "Home Run. "I was given the opportunity to gain additional knowledge and implement continuous improvements within the department. This is valuable for yourself, the team and the organization. Fortunately, you get the freedom to block time in your calendar to work on this," Raisa said. Apart from her own improvement projects, the department as a whole has been professionalized, something that Raisa says has a positive impact on her work. "Because virtual colleague Sam helps professionals complete files, I have more time left over to personally help professionals or vendors with their questions. I look forward to the next steps of our department so that we can provide even faster and more efficient contractual processing," concludes Raisa.