It is impossible to say for sure whether it will go exactly as described, but the anecdote is relayed a number of times: every newbie who joins the network of HR directors at the UNL (Universities of the Netherlands) is welcomed into the fold warmly, but is also told not to get too attached to their colleagues. They’ll be gone soon, after all.
Last December, the new HR director at Maastricht University – known here as the director of People and Development (P&D) – left after just nine months. It is not the first time someone has left the post in Maastricht early. And UM is not unique in this. Elsewhere, the turnover is also significant (although no exact numbers are known), said three (former) directors from within and outside UM. Nieke Guillory, who was head of the UM HR department from 2021 to 2025 and is now university secretary: “I remember during one of my first national meetings, we discussed why so many people change jobs within five years. There was no clear explanation, the reasons were diverse, as they are at UM. One might leave after a short while because it’s not a good match – and it’s not a bad thing to say ‘this isn’t working’ after nine months. Another might go on sick leave, yet another might leave because of the atmosphere. I left because I was offered another very nice job.” Her predecessor had to leave ahead of time after 3.5 years due to dissatisfaction about his leadership and people feeling unsafe in the department.
Difficult job
Is the Executive Board’s hiring policy not working? Or is just hard to find the right person for the job? The six HR experts who were interviewed for this article all agree that it is a difficult job. And not just in the academic world, but also in healthcare, for example, said P&D team leader Jolande Martens. Before she moved to UM in April 2025, she had a long career in care for the disabled and the elderly. “Over the last 16 years in my time in care for the disabled, I had eight HR directors, and for 1.5 years, there was no director at all.”
Difficult playing field
What makes the job so difficult at a university? The HR director always has to walk the tightrope between the Executive Board on the one hand, and the faculties and services on the other. “You find yourself in an arena of different forces. Things are discussed and agreed centrally that may not work when decentralised. Meanwhile, you need to have broad support, from the Executive Board, the deans, board members and also the staff,” says Pierre Schröder, who has been an HR adviser at UM for 35 years. In that time, he has seen 13 directors come and go, five of whom were temporary (interim), and eight who took on the job fulltime. “Six of those eight HR directors left ahead of time.”
Cees van der Zwan, who is often hired as a (team)coach by UM and other universities, calls it a “difficult playing field. You often hear people say they know best what is right for their people. Creating a uniform policy is impossible; one group after another will inevitably adjust the rules to suit themselves.” He lists the implementation of Recognition and Reward (R&R: more reward for education and support alongside research, and more recognition of team science) as an example in Maastricht. “UM is a leader in terms of implementing R&R. The Executive Board expressed a number of ambitions, they want HR to implement it broadly, but then you see that every faculty has its own take on the idea and carves its own path. Leaving the HR directors stuck in the middle.”
Added to that is the fact that although the head of HR is responsible for implementing new policy, their formal power is limited. In fact, the deans outrank them hierarchically. Van der Zwan: “Those are systemic tensions you have to be aware of, and they can make things difficult.”
Collection of companies
Martin Lammers, HR director at UM from January 2011 to January 2015: “Before I moved to the university, I worked at Vodafone. Working in HR there was powerful. If you didn’t want to hire someone, it didn’t happen. And if someone wasn’t performing well, then you spoke to them about it. It’s your expertise: attracting good people, making sure they stay and feel good when they leave.” What a different world to here: “The university is actually a collection of small companies who are not interested in external policy and direction.” He points to the survey into the work experience that was carried out during his tenure at the university: “I knew exactly where the problems were, but no steps were ever undertaken. People wouldn’t call out unacceptable behaviour much in my time. If a professor was able to bring in a lot of money, then they were held to different standards to those who couldn’t. Budgets were the driving force: if you brought in money, you had power. That can be a good thing, as it does make sure researchers feel attached to their work: Nobody ever washes a rental car.”
In the end, Lammers left early to take on a different job. He is not keen to comment on it: “It worked out well for my supervisor Nick Bos and me when a position opened up at the business school. Working with clients again, developing programmes and organising training courses with an enthusiastic and motivated team. I still enjoy working there on call.”
Martijn Scheen has been HR director at Wageningen University for seven years now (he is the exception which proves the rule) and is a member of the UNL network, which he calls “very close. New people, even interim appointments, are integrated quickly.” He recognises the situation Lammers sketches: “The university is a sort of hotel for researchers. The Executive Board doesn’t have the power to determine the direction from the top. It takes a lot of discussion to get any leadership project or wellness pact pushed through. You have to talk to a lot of people, build trust, and not be in a rush. It takes a long time to get results.” More than one says that the university is a “tanker, traditional, not interested in novelties”.
Chore
Furthermore, continues Scheen, you are in an academic environment, “where academic freedom is essential. Professors have a lot of autonomy, and the old guard, in particular, are wary of anything sent down from ‘on high’. They are very focused on content; essentially, they know all about photosynthesis or biochemistry, and are then also forced to be a manager.” Emphasis on forced. At Wageningen, it’s seen as a chore, an extra task that is thrust upon them. “Before coming here, I worked for NS, where people had ambitions to rise to the position of manager. The care for people and their well-being has not always been fully developed. So it can be very difficult to get attention for HR topics. You have to be able to engage people in your story and then keep repeating it until you have convinced even the greatest sceptic. It’s what makes my job fun, because it works.”
Jolande Martens: “There is indeed a huge difference between someone who chooses to become a supervisor and someone who has that aspect added to their job. Of course, there is a leadership academy at UM, but a course like that is a tool. Someone first has to understand the importance of a good human resources policy. That’s hard to do when the priority is on research projects.”
Know what’s happening
Nieke Guillory, who was in charge at UM for four years, knows better than anyone that nothing changes without the cooperation of the deans and faculty directors. “If you want a lot of power, then don’t choose this job, you’re a glorified policy director. Actual implementation is up to the faculties and the service centres. I had a lot of support, my expertise was appreciated. If you want to change something, you have to have a good working relationship. You have to build trust, listen to others, know what you’re talking about. As far as I’m concerned that isn’t just true for HR, but also for marketing and communication, and other services.”
Connection is important, says team coach Van der Zwan, but it isn’t enough. “You also have to be visible and nearby. You have to speak the language of the faculty, know the ‘local colour’, the etiquette, and in broad strokes, what the main issues are. And be honest in your position: you are there to support management so that they, in turn, can focus on their employees.”
“It’s an almost impossible task,” he says, “especially if you’re not from that world. You have to invest a lot of time into getting to know the faculties. Obviously, you’re not doing it alone, the whole management team serves as the eyes and ears of the organisation.” Guillory: “The HR team is also spread out through the faculties, we gauge what the needs are. There are different cultures within UM, you have to create a framework that allows room for bespoke solutions.”
Adding: “Those who come from a commercial background have to get used to it, as their role there is different. We have an informal culture, which has a positive side: cooperation, love for the job, passion – the downside is that we can find it hard to give feedback, and in recent years, to receive it too. As soon as something is less than positive, people are more likely to play the ‘feeling unsafe’ card.”
Knocks and bruises
Van der Zwan has two more points: “This job also asks a lot of a person. You need someone who has survived a few knocks and bruises and has built up some resilience. Experience is important. It’s not a job that lavishes you in praise, and you need to be able to cope with that.”
And the fact that UM is so far down south brings with it its own cultural aspects – something Van der Zwan, who comes from further north, can attest. “It’s different here than in the west, which is more business-like, more pragmatic, people here are very keen on ‘together’.” For example: “I was supervising a department at Maastricht, and the leadership found it hard to take charge, even though the group wanted them to. The head of the department wanted to do it together. In the north, you would just get on with it, after all, the group has given its consent. That incisiveness, a willingness to make decisions, is not as prevalent here. No judgement, things are just different here. An HR director needs to know what the local customs are. And then there is the unwritten rule at UM: a decision is not the final destination but a jumping-off point. Maybe people should be more willing to call each other out on that: This is what it is, this is what we’re doing!”