Bulk loading and unloading (from containers or trucks) is something you don’t have to teach H&L Services: for nearly two decades, this company has specialized in it. CEO – in this case short for Chief Entertainment Officer – Walter Vandeperre, explains what makes the job so enjoyable.

“In any case, it is not complex: we remove goods from containers and stack them on pallets. Or we take goods off pallets and stack them in the container. Always purely manual work. Very physical, but still everyone likes coming to work here. We don’t say that lightly: we have little or even no turnover here.”

What do you think is the main explanation for this?

“We try to make the work as pleasant as possible, first and foremost by creating all the framework conditions in the best possible way so that our employees can concentrate on the job. We also make sure that we employ people who we suspect will get along well with each other. In this amicable atmosphere, one person will more easily do something for another. We also want everyone to be happy here. Not only for their own mental well-being, but also for the productivity of our company. My roots are in the Kempen region, where they say: a smiling cow gives more milk. If you work with happy employees, chances are your customers will be happy too. And employees who enjoy their work will also be more productive.”

So what is the ideal profile of an employee at H&L Services?

“Someone who is physically fit, because as mentioned, it is manual labor. Furthermore, it must be someone who looks forward to doing something different every day: we work all over Flanders, we have a pool of 80 employees – so every day looks different. Also nice is a talent for making social contacts and adapting to different situations. Those who expect the same thing every day have little to look for with us.”

Do you also need to have a dose of independence?

“Absolutely, a large dose in fact. It’s not like you’re thrown into a pond at H&L Services and left to fend for yourself. But neither is it the case that we hold your hand from morning to night and Monday to Friday. It does expect someone to immediately take initiative and adapt to the circumstances. I’m not going to say you have to be a free agent, but it does help. In short, you have to have the mindset to grow and evolve with the company, taking into account the plights.”

Conclusion?

“Everyone is welcome here, as long as they are social and want to work. Moreover, there are two things we don’t discuss. The first is the work itself: it is what it is, as I said at the beginning. If you don’t want to do that, you shouldn’t be here. Second, that is the wage. The wage bill is 80 to 85 percent of our costs, and that also determines our competitiveness in the marketplace. If we start giving everyone a raise tomorrow, we will price ourselves out of the market. So we are not going to negotiate that. Unless it’s that you’re such an outlier that you can manage a thirty-man crew at a moment’s notice. That said, we pay better than the market. Moreover, you can go home when the job is done: once a container is emptied or filled, we don’t expect you to stand around twiddling your fingers for several more hours. So you get a full month’s pay, even though you often don’t work a month.”

For twenty years, H&L Services has specialized in loading and unloading general cargo from containers or trucks at customer sites. Our company has an excellent reputation, but we cannot do an optimal job without our motivated employees. We let two of our employees do the talking, who then turn out to be brothers.

How did you end up at H&L Services?

Peter: “I started there back then because my father was working there at the time. So until his retirement, we were actually colleagues.”

Marco: “I still worked there as a job student, and later I started there as a permanent employee. My father and brother were already working there then. So you could almost speak of a small family business, albeit that we are now 80 employees and, unfortunately, we are not in charge.”

What specifically do you have to do at H&L Services?

Marco: “Actually, it’s pretty simple: we manually unload containers, putting the loose goods on pallets, which we then wrap and place in the warehouse, where the warehousemen continue working on them. But we equally load containers, so in other words the opposite procedure. Loading and unloading is all done manually.”

That sounds like a very physical job. Is it challenging?

Marco: “It does indeed demand a lot from the body, but on the other hand, once the work is done you get to go home. So no 9-to-5 mentality here: once the required containers are unloaded or loaded, the working day also ends. Why stay longer, is the justified reasoning of our boss. I have done jobs where I was twiddling my fingers at one point, but had to stay because it was not yet five o’clock. That can’t be the intention, can it?”

Do you enjoy working for H&L Services?

Peter: “The fact that, except for some brief interruptions, I’ve been working there for seventeen years says it all, doesn’t it? Pleasantly disturbed colleagues who become friends after a while, the freedom you have to fill in your work yourself which makes you a bit your own boss… And as my brother says: done is done here. When the job is done, you get to go home.”

Marco: “Apart from the fact that people here reason on the basis of productivity instead of hours worked, it is nice to work here because there is a very pleasant atmosphere among colleagues. There is no difference in rank here: a newcomer will not be looked at or treated differently from someone who has been working here for, say, ten years. If you show a willingness to roll up your sleeves, you will be accepted.”

Any assets?

Peter: “There is often a pleasant competitiveness here: see who loads their side of the palette first. I like to go along with that once in a while. It also helps in that respect if you’re missing a screw when you come to work here. Especially since it’s such physical work: occasional laughter provides the ideal counterbalance.”

Marco: “Finally, I would like to mention as an asset the great variety: you are always working in a different warehouse, because we are active throughout Flanders. And since there are now 80 of us, you are always working with someone else. Ideal for those looking for a job without routine, like me!”