This article appeared on May 6, 2022, on Customer First.
On Thursday, June 9, the new CCMA Manager of the Year 2022 will be chosen. CustomerFirst spoke with jury chairman Maaike Rosendaal and Cynthia Mak, jury member and last year’s winner, about the process, the judging, and what they believe the winner should embody.
Rosendaal is the jury chairman for the first time this year. She succeeds Maarten Vader, who fulfilled the role for several years. For Mak, it is her first time on the jury. She continues the tradition of appointing the new Manager of the Year by the former winner and the other jury members.
“The process is currently in full swing,” say Mak and Rosendaal. The jury first met in December to evaluate last year’s edition. Mak: “It became clear that the assessment criteria for the jury members were clear, but it was evident that the followers of the event wanted more insight into this. Therefore, this year, we are constantly considering whether all steps in the process are sufficiently transparently described. There was also demand for the impact of the professional audience, so they now also get a voice. This award is a professional award and not a popularity contest, but at the same time, we also want to give the public’s opinion a voice in the process.” The role of the public will be particularly larger in the semifinals.
Visit
The jury has now visited the eight semifinalists. The idea is that the manager creates the program at their own company. “The beauty of the personal touch is that you immediately see the manager’s style,” says Rosendaal. “One does a presentation from a room, another goes to the floor and shows the people working. One does it very loosely, another has everything orchestrated. From this, you can clearly see who is a blue manager (data-driven) or more green (people-oriented).
For Mak, the visit as a jury member brought back some flashbacks from last year when she was visited as a participant. “I saw very diverse things and also really enjoyed doing it. Last year, I found it fun to show many sides of myself, both professionally and personally. For instance, I was celebrating my birthday during the visit and treated the jury to a homemade cake – my favorite. I put a lot of effort into the invitation to be as creative as possible. That’s typical of me. They were only there for 2.5 hours, but I hope they saw all that preparation.”
Manager of the Year
Ultimately, the jury must, of course, choose the Manager of the Year. The jury obviously has an idea of how this should be fulfilled and what the winner should meet, though both jury members (understandably) do not want to reveal this exactly. Rosendaal: “What we do pay attention to is, of course, whether someone is really ready for change. The profession is currently changing so much that you must be able to manage that. Additionally, we look at vision, leadership, and how you handle trends and developments.” Mak adds: “The theme is, of course, To the Future. How do we move forward in the future? It is also nice if someone is an ambassador for the profession. How they give shape to that is, of course, a personal choice. The potential in this is more important than the current qualities.”
Mak, of course, has personal experience with this last point. For a year, she held the title and decided to start vlogging and posting on Instagram from this new role. She was also the keynote speaker at the last CustomerFirst conference and spoke at numerous other events, including the KSF Annual Congress. “The award also gave me more drive and passion to promote the profession. I really enjoyed it. It also allowed me to develop personally further.” The new winner does not have to fear being overshadowed by the previous winner. “I have found a direction in what I enjoy, but the profession cannot have enough ambassadors.
The winner of the Manager of the Year 2022 will be announced on Thursday, June 9, at De Kas in Woerden. The full jury consists of:
- Maaike Rosendaal, Board Member of CCMA and Manager of Customer Care at PWN
- Melanie Stemerdink, Board Member of CCMA and Dedicated Engagement Officer at Yource
- Ine Beljaars, Manager CoE: Customer Interaction & Digital at Aegon
- Cynthia Mak, Winner of Manager of the Year 2021 and Director of Customer Care at Talpa Network
- Rik Bronswijk, Partner at Coniche and Director of the WFM Academy
- Harry Jacobs, Program Manager of Services at De Connectie in Arnhem
