Guido Poels has been walking around within the walls of Cevek since 1991. He did so as a commercial representative until Guido stepped into the story of a management buyout in 2010. Since then, Guido has been managing director and co-shareholder. IMPACT helps Cevek with the search for specific technical profiles willing to get their hands dirty: a challenging ordeal.

From its inception in the 1970s, Cevek focuses on two major areas: a department focused on windows and doors on the one hand, and a team focused on heating and plumbing on the other. The main focus is on energy efficiency and Cevek also becomes the first company in Limburg to specialize in underfloor heating. In 2010, founder Louis Vreys retires: loyal employees Guido Poels and Wilke Slenders take over the torch.

Thus Cevek grows to a team of some 30 employees. The windows and doors department is being phased out, the specialization in the widening world of heating and ventilation increasingly deepened. Moreover, a brand-new showroom is coming in 2015: to meet the growing demand for total projects, Cevek will from now on also focus on designing and installing both bathrooms and custom kitchens.

Over the years, the heating industry has changed profoundly, Guido clarifies. “25 years ago, heating, so to speak, consisted of installing a mazout boiler, some radiators, a burner and a boiler. Meanwhile, there are a huge number of additional options: gas and condensing boilers, heat pumps, solar panels and collectors, rainwater recovery … It has become an incredibly wide range.”

These major changes make the search for suitable personnel a very difficult challenge for Cevek. “In the past, students came from vocational school, where they had studied central heating. Now the profession has evolved so much that you need a thorough technical knowledge and you often need to retrain. We need technical profiles or vocational students who have done another technical course such as electricity, electronics, electromechanics or preferably air conditioning or control technology.”

Therein lies precisely the difficulty. “These technical profiles are people who prefer not to take a hammer or a grinding wheel in their hands. In the long run, they would rather aspire to a commercial position, want to work as a representative of technical products or make calculations, for example. These are not the workers who will be chopping away at open construction during the winter months. But we are looking for just those people who are technically skilled, but also want to get their hands dirty.”

Since 2014, IMPACT has been helping Cevek find that unique combination. “IMPACT also encounters the difficulty. Yet they manage to find suitable candidates. What’s good: they are also honest about it. They don’t send as many candidates, but the ones they send fit the bill. Picking up phones all the time or visiting candidates who don’t fit, that’s time-consuming and exhausting. There is no point in speaking in superlatives and warming up to us as clients, because that just backfires and disillusionment. IMPACT doesn’t do that.”

Over the years, IMPACT found several suitable candidates for Cevek. For his part, Guido is very invested in these profiles. “A little while ago, for example, a bachelor climatization started. We give him every opportunity to get a taste of all facets: walking along with refrigeration and service technicians or mechanics, going to work during bathroom renovations. That way he can find his niche and gain knowledge to later grow into a role as a site manager, for example.”

But that’s not the only thing. “Our employees and temporary workers are given the opportunity to take a training course in refrigeration/air conditioning technology, for example. This is an expensive two-year course that we take care of. But that’s how they become golden. In any case, we are in a sector where you have to learn constantly: new techniques and technologies, manufacturers’ products, certificates … During the corona period, we followed a webinar every day, so to speak, to give you an idea.”

Now that the worst part of the corona crisis seems to be behind us (for now), Guido feels the market is picking up a bit. “You notice that a lot of people have used the past time to think about their professional careers. Unfortunately, several companies have also gone overboard because of the whole situation. This does mean that some quality specialists have to look for a new job, whereas until a year ago they may not have felt the need to do so at all. Hopefully we can offer them that and thus create a win-win situation for both parties.”

And IMPACT will undoubtedly continue to play a role in that. “The market is simply limited, so IMPACT cannot work miracles. Nevertheless, they manage to find a suitable temporary worker in that small pool of people on a regular basis. We hope that we can continue our cooperation in the same way and in this way continue to grow both Cevek and IMPACT.”