3 questions for EuroFM President Natalie Hofman

3 questions for EuroFM President Natalie Hofman

The role of president for an association suits me. I want to contribute to my field of expertise and ensure that the field continues to develop in the future. A strong and stable association can contribute to this.

EuroFM is a network that advocates for the field of Facility Management at the European level. This is done in four areas of focus: education, research, contacts with other associations, and collaboration with the business sector. Natalie Hofman has been the president of EuroFM since February 2023. We ask her three questions: about her motivation to become president, the legacy she wants to leave behind, and the role Lejeune plays for the association.

What is your reason/motivation for becoming the president of EuroFM?

I hadn't actually considered becoming the successor to Pieter C. Le Roux. In fact, because I believe rejuvenation is important, I wanted to nominate one of the two new young board members. Unfortunately, they weren't ready yet. Then everyone said, "You have experience as a president, so why don't you take on that role?" So, you could say that I was nominated by my colleagues on the board. Actually, that role also suits me well. In my daily life, I'm not affiliated with an organization, which allows me to more easily express my own opinion or the opinion of the association publicly. This helps promote the association in a positive light and advance the necessary development. Additionally, I believe that my international network also played a role in the nomination.

What do you want to leave behind at the end of your presidency?

For me, it's important to ensure stability in the number of members and make relevant knowledge available to stakeholders. I would like to leave the association as a solid platform and hand it over to someone else so that they don't have to start from scratch again. Whether two years of presidency is enough remains to be seen. As we have experienced during the pandemic, the whole world can change in two years. Also, you shouldn't forget that the presidency requires a lot from you. It's not just a side job and it costs you at least half a day per week. The role should fit with your work environment, and you need to be willing to invest time in it. In two years, your work environment can change to the point where you suddenly don't have room for it anymore. Two years of presidency is manageable in that regard.

What role does Lejeune play for the association?

Lejeune has a broad network, which offers opportunities. Even outside our field, it makes it easier to exchange knowledge with related fields. Both the board and I can learn from that. The good thing about working with Lejeune is that we can also coordinate less obvious matters. For example, this year we organized a conference. I can ask the question, "How do you handle badges? How can we avoid throwing away a lot of plastic badge holders afterward. This way, we quickly find solutions. It's valuable to be able to share that knowledge with each other.

Lejeune's team also helps motivate our committee members and board members. Two years ago, we started with a completely new board. No existing board members, so we had to reinvent the wheel together. Additionally, we operated in an international environment during the period of the pandemic. This meant that we didn't meet in person for the first 1.5 years. It requires a different kind of motivation and composition. In that situation, it's very helpful to have someone like Barbara or Jules who can help initiate and maintain that.

Where EuroFM can still make progress is in improving marketing, the visibility of the association, the website, and the like. We currently use fairly traditional channels for communication. I think there's still a lot we can do and learn in that regard. That's where Lejeune could help us in the future.

Text and photo: Ria Luitjes