Dirk Buyens passes the torch of CEO at GPTW Belgium to colleague Koen Dewettinck.
Today, 2 February 2024, after 21 years at the helm, Professor Dirk Buyens is passing the torch of CEO of Great Place to Work (GPTW) Belgium to Vlerick colleague Professor Koen Dewettinck. With his wealth of experience in measuring employee engagement and optimising workplace culture, Koen will strengthen the management team by building upon Dirk’s work.
‘We look forward to Koen taking the helm and steering the ship. He is the perfect person to further put the Belgian arm on the map in the world of Employer Branding labels, where a company’s own employees have the final say in their company’s recognition,’ explains outgoing CEO Dirk Buyens.
Koen boasts over 20 years of experience researching how organisations can boost employee engagement and performance. He is a professor of Human Resource Management and a partner at Vlerick Business School, advising numerous organisations regarding employee performance, corporate culture and fostering a team environment.
It was Dirk Buyens who established Great Place To Work in Belgium. Through this initiative, he built an organisation that allows Vlerick Business School to showcase companies that treat their employees with respect, placing the art of ‘being a good employer’ at the centre of the conversation. Over the years, more than 2000 Belgian organisations have been surveyed using the Great Place To Work methodology, as overseen by the GPTW team. This team is managed on a day-to-day basis by Astrid Vandenbroucke, who took up the role in 2022 following many years’ experience in researching business activities at Vlerick Business School.
Today, Great Place To Work recognises workplaces in over 170 countries across several continents, enabling research at multinationals around the world. In 2002, the European Commission launched its initiative for Great Place To Work to promote good workplaces throughout Europe. As part of a partnership with Vlerick Business School, the Belgian branch of the organisation saw the light of day in 2003. From day one, it was given a clear objective – to support as many Belgian organisations as possible in becoming a Great Place To Work For All, and to do so based on the involvement of their own employees.
The Great Place To Work certification label is awarded on the basis of employee experience, as assessed using the Trust Index model, developed over 40 years of qualitative and quantitative research involving responses from millions of employees across the globe. Today, GPTW uses this information to set new benchmarks for working conditions worldwide, providing organisations with invaluable insights into how people interact both with and within the workplace.