19 years at your first employer: Stefaan’s Kuehne + Nagel story

Straight after college, Stefaan applied for a job in the warehouse at Kuehne + Nagel. It didn't take him long to become Team Leader, and eventually Supervisor. 'I was - and still am - quite driven in my job which allowed me to grab several development opportunities at Kuehne + Nagel', he explains. 'I was lucky that my superiors always coached me and pointed out which skills to improve in order to take the next steps in my career.'

In August 2010, Stefaan handed in the keys of the warehouse in which he had spent his first 10 years at Kuehne + Nagel. 'Our operations and warehouse activities moved to a bigger location to accommodate the company's growth and to make room for business expansion and new customers', Stefaan clarifies. A new chapter for the organisation, which also marked the beginning of a new challenge for Stefaan as Operations Manager in a brand new Kuehne + Nagel warehouse.

Over the years, the customer portfolio grew and along with it Stefaan's responsibilities. 'A very exciting time in my career was when we implemented a new big customer which is a well-known player in the toy industry', he recalls. 'Since I was responsible for the operational implementation for this project, my team and I set up all the warehouse processes for this new business. I'm proud to say that today the operations for this customer are still part of my job alongside several other new customers for which my team and I manage the warehouse activities!'

Managing warehouse operations is also managing people. For Stefaan, the days that he hasn't had the chance to make his usual tour around the warehouse, is a day that he goes home unfulfilled. 'It is my job to spend sufficient time in the warehouse to be available for my team. An observation I've made over the past 19 years is that our strength largely lies in our motivated people, whose passion for their jobs results in sustainable and strong customer relationships. And that is our Kuehne + Nagel mission.'

Would you also like to work for a company that values both its people and its customers? Check our career portal on https://jobs.kuehne-nagel.com