‘In finance, you work with everyone in the company, which makes it beautiful.’

In 2024, Stefan de Bruijn (53) celebrated his 25 years of service at Enovation. Time to share his experiences at Enovation! 

What is your function at Enovation?

“I am a financial controller and team leader for Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. My work involves financial data and accountability. When we sell integrations or other services, I need to account for where the hours and invoices go. The entire chain needs to be well-organised. We are continuously working on setting up the systems for this. And with all the acquisitions and the company structure, it’s a nice puzzle to work on. I love it.”

How did you find your way to Enovation?

“How did I come to Enovation? That’s a long story, haha. Before my military service, I did MMOC, which was a course in management, economics, and marketing, which I have relied on for the rest of my career. After my military service, I first worked as an accountant at an electrical engineering company. Through an acquaintance, I then ended up at ZorgPlan. They took over Sleutelnet and Gelrenet in 2001 and were actually a competitor of Lifeline, which is essentially the basis of Enovation ZorgMail. In 2008, ZorgPlan bought competitor U-zorg. From that moment on, it was renamed Z-Netwerken BV. In 2012, we started collaborating with Vanad Enovation. ZorgPlan sold Comvio to Vanad Enovation in 2015. Then Z-Netwerken was bought by Vanad Enovation in 2018. Enovation became independent, and that’s how I ended up on Enovation’s payroll. Can you still follow, haha?”

Could you talk us through your journey at Enovation?

“Due to the acquisitions in the past, I ended up at Enovation via a detour. Always in the financial departments of the companies I mentioned. In 2023, I temporarily took on the role of CFO when Marnix Cornelius left, until Patrick van der Poel became CFO. When Patrick was CFO in ’23-’24, we had a challenging year with the sale to Legrand. And now I am very happy with Teis Leenders as the new CFO, and we have entered a new phase. His knowledge and skills are incredibly valuable, and he is a great colleague to work with.”

“What I find important is that at Enovation, we need to be able to adapt. If we all say: we need to go left, but later it turns out we should go right, then you need to be able to go along with that. You need to let go of how it was. If a certain way of working doesn’t work, you need to adjust and choose another way. We are also a learning organisation and will remain so. Speaking for myself, I have learned a lot from the process during the acquisition by Legrand.”

What do you like about your work?

“Everyone in our family was in finance, and so am I. What fascinates me is that finance brings many people together. As a people person, I find it beautiful that you actually work with everyone in the company. There is always a challenge; it is never boring. Fortunately, because if something becomes too simple, I would leave.”

“Furthermore, I enjoy motivating my team. I think we should keep it fun and be able to laugh. If people enjoy themselves, it always pays off, and people are willing to go the extra mile at other times.”

I enjoy motivating my team.

What are you most proud of?

“What I find important in leading a team is that work is important, but private life is even more important. If someone asks to visit a sick grandparent, I will always make that possible. Work has also made that possible for me in the past due to my home situation, and I was given space for that by Enovation. It was nice that there was the possibility to work from home a lot.”

Work is important, but private life is even more important.

What do you do in your spare time?

“When I’m not working, I enjoy pottering around at home. I live with my wife Eline, daughters Jolie (18) and Naomi (22) in Duiven, near Arnhem. I coached my daughter’s hockey team for years. Nowadays, I enjoy just being at home and occasionally getting together with a group of friends we call The Beer Lovers. Or socially drinking beer and providing moral support at football club Vitesse, haha.”

Interested in becoming a colleague?

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