We talk with our colleagues about their background in learning and development, the Xprtise projects that make them proud, and the biggest challenges in Learning & Development in the coming years. This time it is our Learning & Performance consultant Aron Peeters. After studying Learning & Development in Organizations at the college of Arnhem and Nijmegen (HAN) in the Netherlands, Aron immediately started working at Xprtise. As a Learning & Performance consultant, he responsible for a number of impactful projects, including Alrijne Healthcare Group, Erasmus Medical Center, Aviko and Stedin.

Who? Aron Peeters (1994)
What? Learning & Performance consultant at Xprtise since March, 2022
Where? Xprtise NL, 's Hertogenbosch.

After I graduated in February last year, I started at Xprtise the next month. Prior to that, I did my third-year internship at the Young Heroes Academy in the Netherlands. They offer a ‘gap year’ to young people who do not know what they want in terms of study or work. I had a coaching role and supervised a learning group. I did my graduation internship at the fire brigade of the Gelderland-South Safety Region in the Netherlands. Due to the COVID-19 measures, it was no longer possible to train in groups, so the fire brigade decided to switch to online training in the form of webinars. These webinars were watched less and less. I researched why, and also how that could be improved. Because the webinars were pre-recorded, viewers missed interaction with the trainer and felt less engaged. Among other things, I developed advise on how to improve this. Now at Xprtise I can put my experience of both that coaching role and the advisory role into practice. I still live at home with my parents, who both live near Nijmegen. Recently I went to the bank to apply for a mortgage. I am looking around for a house of my own, also in or around the city of Nijmegen. I'm really looking forward to that!

Where do you get the most energy from? What is your passion?

Soccer gives me a lot of energy. I train twice a week and on Saturday we play a match. Since last year I play in a friend’s team. Before that I always played in the first team, but that was going to take too much time. Now I have found the fun in soccer again. We have a very nice team and I feel that I can add value to the team. I have the same feeling when I work at Xprtise. We have a very nice, informal team and I feel valued. I get along well with my colleagues, have learned a lot in the past year and am increasingly involved in projects. 

"At Xprtise I can put my experience of both the coaching role and the advisory role into practice."

What makes the field of Learning & Development so interesting to you?

I accidentally came into Learning & Development, and I really like it! Before I started my studies Learning & Development in Organizations, I studied Human Resource Management (HRM) because I wanted to do something with people. I had not completed this HRM course. I then started at L&D and this is really where I felt at home. This study covered all the roles of the L&D professional: trainer/coach, designer/developer and consultant. In the beginning I thought I would like to coach more, but during the study my interest in developing grew. That's why I'm in the right place at Xprtise. I like the development side so much because you often start with nothing, and you quickly see results from what you do. You make people better, you optimize processes, and the results are often immediately visible. I also really like the customer contact.

What do you think makes Xprtise unique?

Mainly for two reasons: (1) the good customer relationship: people come and stay at Xprtise because the customer relationships are so good. And from there, new customers and companies are added all the time. Our clients are really satisfied with Xprtise. And (2) is definitely the 5 Moments of Need® methodology that is completely intertwined in the organization. Xprtise's approach is unique in the Netherlands and successful, so you see that many (large) organizations end up at Xprtise because they want to know more about the methodology. For example, they come to us to follow the 5 Moments of Need® Designer Certification training, so they automatically come into contact with Xprtise and start doing a project. I personally have also followed the 5 Moments of Need® training. The methodology is applied in several projects in which I am involved. So, I learn a lot in practice. Xprtise is my first job after college, and I couldn't have ended up in a better place! I can see myself working here for a longer period of time - a unique company where I can continue to develop myself.

What projects are you working on?

Two of the two largest clients that I often work for are Alrijne Healthcare Group and Erasmus Medical Center. I also work on other projects for Aviko and Stedin, for example. At Alrijne I am working on a project for frail elderly people in nursing homes and a project for rehabilitation departments. Good math skills by nurses are important for the safety of patients. Xprtise has therefore carried out several projects for Medical Calculation within Alrijne in recent years. I am now helping with a project for the outpatient clinics. In this way, the learning offer is becoming increasingly broader and more complete. For Erasmus Medical Center my work is more technical. They have several separate projects, which I combine into one large project. That is quite a challenge, especially since I only 'manage' this project. At the end of last year, we carried out tests and now we are in the process of implementing them.

For all customer projects I am mainly concerned with the content in the Performance Support software, AskDelphi. I also provide some technical support. Some of my jobs are giving employees access, determining what rights they have within the Performance Support solution, and answering question.. So part of my work is project work and another part is support and management - a nice combination.

What project are you most proud of?

I am most proud of the project 'Reserved Actions' at Alrijne Healthcare Group. This is a special project for me because it is the first project that I set up myself and also carried out together with some of my colleagues. With 'Reserved Actions' participants are asked to think of actions that only authorized healthcare providers are allowed to perform. Participants have to take a test because they are high-risk medical procedures. In this case, the solution was aimed at the people giving these tests. How do you handle it when someone comes to you with a specific question about testing? How do you deal with that? What do you need for that? It has become a great project that I am very proud of.

"As a small organization we work with large national and international clients; we make a big impact every day, I'm proud of that!"

What do you think are the biggest challenges in L&D in the coming years?

Work is getting busier and there is less and less time to 'get out of work' if you want to learn something. Then it's good to have a tool that you can access for support when you run into something. What we do at Xprtise – learning on the job and implementing the 5 Moments of Need® methodology.  I think is truly the future of L&D. People of my generation want to be in training sessions less and less. They want to learn in their work and learn more independently with the help of the right tools. When I look at myself, that is also what helped me when I started at Xprtise. I was largely trained through AskDelphi, but could of course ask my colleagues questions when needed. I think the challenge lies mainly there: supporting learning while working and providing good coaches that employees can turn to if they have questions. We need to support learners while learning in the workplace and as they want to develop themselves. 

Want to know more about Aron Peeters? Check out his LinkedIn-profile or send him an email at: a.peeters@xprtise.com.