Robert van Gasteren

Robert M.J. van Gasteren (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɔbərt vɑn ˈɣɑstərə(n)]; born 7 January 1959) is a Dutch politician and corporate executive. After studying law in his birthplace of Rotterdam, he worked in human resource management, rising to director-level positions in IT services companies. He worked at multinational Capgemini for twelve years and became chief operating officer (COO) of a smaller IT services company in 2016. Van Gasteren was the chief executive officer (CEO) of a managed services provider between 2017 and 2019 before serving as an independent management advisor.

In this Dutch name, the surname is Van Gasteren, not Gasteren.

Robert van Gasteren
Member of the Senate
Assumed office
11 July 2023
Preceded byJan Klopman
Personal details
Born
Robert M.J. van Gasteren

(1959-01-07) 7 January 1959
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Political partyFarmer–Citizen Movement
Alma materErasmus University
Occupation
  • Corporate executive
  • human resources manager
  • politician

He ran for a Senate seat in 2023 as a member of the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB). Van Gasteren was not elected, but he was appointed to the Senate on 11 July 2023 following the stepping down of another member.

Early life and career

Van Gasteren was born in Rotterdam on 7 January 1959. He studied law at Erasmus University Rotterdam for four years until 1982 and started his career in human resource management at a chemical company.[1][2] He subsequently moved to IT services companies such as Oracle and the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC).[2] Magazine Computable wrote in 2001 how Van Gasteren was introducing a new flexible employee benefits package at Inter Access, which had six different packages due to recent takeovers. Van Gasteren described that a flexible package might not decrease costs but could help employee retention.[3] He started working for the French IT services and consulting company Capgemini in 2004, filling executive positions in human resources and outsourcing.[2][4] In a trade publication, Van Gasteren characterized Capgemini as a high performance organization and said this implied HR was trying to influence its bottom and top line, when the board was aiming to double revenue. He also mentioned the company was naming, shaping, and measuring HR processes rather than capturing them in detailed procedures.[5]

Van Gasteren left Capgemini in early 2016 to take the job of chief operating officer (COO) at IT services company Vanad Group, headquartered in Capelle aan den IJssel and founded ten years before.[2] In April 2017, he succeeded co-founder Rob de Laat as CEO of a managed services provider called Staffing MS and formed the board of directors together with co-founder and CFO/COO Wouter Waaijenberg.[4][6][7] The Rotterdam company had been founded in 2008, and it mainly assisted municipalities, educational institutions, and healthcare organizations as well as international for-profit businesses. When an indirect competitor acquired Staffing MS in November 2018, the company kept operating as an independent subsidiary but Van Gasteren was replaced as CEO by Waaijenberg.[4][8][9] Van Gasteren subsequently became an independent management advisor, and he continued his activities as partner of an international consultancy called Annlyz Growth Partners, which he had co-founded in 2014.[4][10]

Since 2015, he has been on the board of directors of the Achmea Society, a majority shareholder of financial services company Achmea.[4][11]

Politics

Van Gasteren is a member of the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB), which first participated in elections in 2021 and was co-founded by agricultural journalist Caroline van der Plas.[12] Van Gasteren was the party's 18th candidate in the May 2023 Senate election. The ballot listed Bergschenhoek as his place of residence.[13] He was not elected, while the BBB won a plurality in the Senate of 16 seats amidst discontent about the government's policy to combat the nitrogen crisis – affecting farmers – and general distrust of established political parties.[14][15][16] Van Gasteren was appointed to the Senate on 11 July 2023 due to his spot on the party list when Jan Klopman stepped down to join the provincial executive of Flevoland.[17] In the Senate, Van Gasteren focuses on employment, foreign affairs, defense, and NATO.[4]

Senate committee assignments
  • Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Development Cooperation
  • Committee on Kingdom Relations
  • Committee on Social Affairs and Employment[18]

Electoral history
Electoral history of Simone Kennedy
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2023 Senate Farmer–Citizen Movement 18 0[lower-alpha 1] 16 Lost [14]

Notes
  1. Weighted vote total that is used to account for population differences between provinces

References
  1. "Mr. R.M.J. van Gasteren (BBB)". Senate (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  2. Sanders, Rik (9 March 2016). "Vanad benoemt Robert van Gasteren tot COO" [Vanad appoints Robert van Gasteren as COO]. Computable (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  3. Hillenius, Gijs (19 October 2001). "Inter Access lokt medewerkers naar nieuw pakket arbeidsvoorwaarden" [Inter Access lures employees to new employee benefits package]. Computable (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  4. "Oud-StaffingMS CEO Robert van Gasteren beëdigd als BBB-senator" [Former Staffing MS CEO Robert van Gasteren sworn into the Senate on behalf of BBB]. ZiPconomy (in Dutch). 11 July 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  5. Gouweloos, Anne (2010). "'Begin klein': HR-directeur Capgemini Robert van Gasteren over HR en HPO" ['Start small': Capgemini HR director Robert van Gasteren about HR and HPO]. Gids voor Personeelsmanagement (in Dutch). Vol. 89, no. 12. pp. 39–41.
  6. Van Gasteren, Robert. "Nieuwe directeur Staffing MS Robert van Gasteren: "Als Rotterdammer hou ik van de no-nonsense mentaliteit"" [New Staffing MS CEO Robert van Gasteren: "As an inhabitant of Rotterdam, I love the no-nonsense mentality"]. ZiPconomy (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Juliette de Swarte. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  7. "Ons team" [Our team]. Staffing Management Services (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 24 January 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  8. Martens, Suzanne (20 September 2018). "Headfirst Source Group koopt Staffing MS" [Headfirst Source Group acquires Staffing MS]. Computable (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  9. "HeadFirst Source Group stapt in managed services voor flexprofessionals" [HeadFirst Source Group enters managed services for flexible professionals]. Consultancy.nl (in Dutch). 21 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  10. "Our Story". Annlyz Growth Partners. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  11. "Bestuur" [Board of directors]. Achmea Society (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  12. "Partijgeschiedenis" [Party history]. Documentation Centre Dutch Political Parties (in Dutch). University of Groningen. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  13. "Definitieve kandidatenlijsten kieskring Zuid-Holland EK 2023" [Final party lists electoral district South Holland Senate 2023] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 19 May 2023. p. 15. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  14. "Proces-verbaal uitslag Eerste Kamerverkiezing 2023" [Records of the results of the 2023 Senate election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 1 June 2023. pp. 72–77. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  15. "BBB deed het ook goed in steden, stikstof en vertrouwenskloof leidend voor stemmers" [BBB did well in cities too, reactive nitrogen and distrust most important factors for voters]. NOS (in Dutch). 16 March 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  16. Van der Groot, Edo (16 March 2023). "Experts over BBB-winst: 'Knap, maar kiezers zijn niet met Van der Plas getrouwd'" [Experts about BBB victory: 'Impressive, but voters are not wedded to Van der Plas']. NU.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  17. "Van Gasteren (BBB) geïnstalleerd als Eerste Kamerlid" [Van Gasteren (BBB) sworn in as senator]. Senate (Press release) (in Dutch). 11 July 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  18. "Lidmaatschappen R.M.J. van Gasteren" [Memberships R.M.J. van Gasteren]. Senate (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
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