Author: Alex Ruitenbeek
As the CEO of recruitment agency YoungCapital, Ineke Kooistra made the company big. Now, after a mini-sabbatical, she’s taken up the top position at Circle8Group, a larger company based in Switzerland. ‘Ineke was born to work.’
Ineke Kooistra, the new CEO of Circle8Group, makes no secret of religion being a fundamental aspect of her life. Photo: Sietske Lammers
Ineke Kooistra once said to a former colleague that she’d like to be a CEO some day. Not that she didn’t have a nice job as a director at staffing company Adecco in the Netherlands but she knew that, as a manager, she could do much better. Ambition is something you either have or don’t have. And Kooistra has it.
The former colleague remembered Kooistra’s comment and gave her the inside track on the three founders of start-up Studentenwerk, who were looking to fill the top position. But that wasn’t exactly what Kooistra had in mind. She was working for the largest recruiter in the world and didn’t want to move to ‘such a small outfit’. To humour her former colleague, she went for an interview anyway, describing her initial presence there as ‘frosty’.
A few hours later, Kooistra’s world was completely transformed. She was a bundle of enthusiasm. The three men from Studentenwerk had convinced her with their vision, their view on technology and their strategy for growth. Everything exuded agility, exactly what she lacked in her work for a corporate. She realised something: ‘I’m actually a rebel at Adecco and now I want to work with other rebels.’
CV
- 1969 Born in Borger on 9 November
- 1995 Bachelor’s in Marketing Groningen
- 2008-2010 Advanced Leadership IMD Lausanne
- 1993-2000 Manager Unique Recruitment Agency
- 2000-2003 Professional Resources Manager at CSS Telecom in Heerenveen
- 2003-2012 Speciality Director and other positions at Adecco NL
- 2013-Jan 2023 CEO Studentenwerk/YoungCapital/The Works
- 2021-present Non-Executive Director at AFAS Software
- Aug 2023-present CEO Circle8Group (Switzerland)
Soon after, she was the CEO of Studentenwerk, which she quickly renamed YoungCapital to make it sound more professional. She streamlined the organisation, achieved growth in turnover and profitability and put the brakes on the three owners ‒ invariably calling them ‘her boys’ ‒ if she considered it necessary. If another wild idea was put on the table, Kooistra would first pay compliments for ingenuity and then suggest sleeping on it to see if it was still a good idea in the morning. Then on decision day, once a week on a Thursday, they would jointly give the go-ahead or not. ‘Ineke keeps a clear head and looks at the bigger picture,’ says Gea Hamersma, a friend and former colleague.
Earlier this year, after ten years at YoungCapital ‒ now called The Works ‒ Kooistra (53) bid the company farewell. She took a mini-sabbatical for some rest and recreation. But she did state on her LinkedIn profile that she was open to an international position as a CEO. And the phone started ringing immediately. The first month she didn’t respond because it was taken up by a trip around Spain with husband Jan. Then came coffee dates with headhunters and before long she hit bull’s eye. In mid-August, Kooistra assumed her position as CEO of Circle8Group, a Swiss company that calls itself an IT talent recruiter. Circle8Group encompasses eight brands, with a combined turnover of around one billion euros. Hamersma, who herself occupies the top HR position at Heineken subsidiary De Brouwketel, says: ‘I knew her sabbatical wouldn’t last all that long. Ineke was born to work and I thought it was quite something that she’d taken a break.’
‘She doesn’t consider anyone better than anyone else. It doesn’t matter to her if you’re a dogsbody or a top manager or a lorry driver like myself.’ – Marion Smit, former colleague at Unique
Laura from Little House
Marion Smit met Kooistra at the start of their careers at employment agency Unique in the north of the Netherlands. ‘Ineke was and still is everything I’m not: disciplined, decent, modest, thoughtful. I like to do crazy things more than anything and dive into everything head first. I used to compare her to Laura, that proper religious girl from the television series Little House on the Prairie. But when I see Ineke now, I think most of all: you’re such a well-balanced and beautiful woman.’
But what’s perhaps most important, according to Smit, who retrained as an international lorry driver after a career in the staffing sector, is that Ineke ‘doesn’t judge people’. ‘She doesn’t consider anyone better than anyone else. It doesn’t matter if you’re a dogsbody or a top manager or a lorry driver like myself.’
Kooistra calls herself down to earth. She says it has to do with her Frisian roots. ‘I hardly ever panic.’ Smit, a friend as well as former colleague, notes: ‘Ineke observes and then acts. She’s optimistic, thinks in terms of solutions and always has the confidence that things will work out. To me, she’s the epitome of new leadership: you stimulate, step back, show trust and build.’ Hamersma would rather not use the term down to earth ‘because it sounds superficial and that’s something Ineke is definitely not. Let’s just say she’s businesslike, objective and non-emotional.’
Free Baptists
Kooistra makes no secret of religion being a fundamental aspect of her life. She belongs to the Bottenbley Free Baptist community in Drachten. Smit says: ‘She once gave me the Ten Commandments as a present. I may not be religious but she thought I personified them.’
‘Religion is her moral compass and this is reflected in qualities like her honesty, her kindness towards others and her willingness to help.’ – Gea Hamersma, friend
Hamersma, who is religious, adds: ‘Religion is her moral compass and this is reflected in qualities like her honesty, her kindness towards others and her willingness to help. She doesn’t feel awkward about her religion but she doesn’t wear it on her sleeve either. Okay, if someone drops a swear word, she might say something about it.’
A bit reserved
Kooistra has remained in Friesland her entire life even though she spent twenty years working in the west of the country. And this won’t change now that her job is in Switzerland. Travelling or staying over is not a problem. By her own account, she was ‘born with a lot of energy’ and she has her husband Jan at home as a stable factor for their two children. As Hamersma says: ‘Ineke is very good at being alone.’
Smit is convinced that Kooistra will have a great time in Switzerland. ‘The country and the people suit her: they’re a bit reserved, they’ve got an eye for quality and they’re disciplined.’
Written sources other than FD: MT/SProut, AM, KPMG, Management Scope, CEO Alert