Get acquainted with… Mark
Last time you were introduced to Jeroen, our raw materials buyer. He handed over the baton to Mark van der Salm.
Mark and Snijpunt have been connected for eleven years now. If we include a period of internships and summer jobs, it’s even longer. Though he is only 34 years of age. You can say that Mark and Snijpunt have grown together from beginner on the (job) market to a fully-fledged player. Since then Mark has become general manager and Snijpunt market leader.
How it all started
Mark did an internship at Snijpunt for his MBO Business Administration study. As it clicked well and there were many opportunities for him at Snijpunt, Mark stayed. In 2008 he was offered a permanent job and he also decided to follow a higher professional education (HBO). He completed two external internships during this study. One of which in Abu Dhabi.
From his financial position, he has increasingly expanded towards HR, operational affairs and production. As if that wasn't enough, he decided to get his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 2010. Like his other studies, he did this 3-year study in addition to his full-time job.
In the meantime, he has also experienced and guided the growth of the organization. "Where it all started with a team of 10 to 15 employees, we have now grown to a daily production team of 80 to 90 people."
Since 2018, the management of the financial department has been transferred to Ruben Verouden, our new financial manager. This gave Mark the opportunity to divide his time between all departments of the organization better.
What keeps you busy every day?
Marco and Mark bear the ultimate responsibility for Snijpunt together. Yet there is a clear difference in their work.
Mark explains briefly and forcefully: “Marco is ultimately responsible for the commercial part. All other matters are my responsibility. That’s the shortest explanation."
More specific, it means that Mark is responsible for everything that has to do with overall business operations. HR, operational management and production are (still) an important part of this. In our Management Team Jeroen and Ruben are also very involved in our overall management of the organization. Not only for internal consultations, but also the cooperation with Harvest House is taken up jointly.
“The best thing about my job is to see the organization grow and with it also to see how people grow in their responsibility. To be able to achieve your goals daily with a nice group of people with the right motivation is great. Besides that, I get the chance to constantly find myself a challenge by grabbing on to new things. Like for example with the construction activities for the expansion right now."
There is plenty of challenge at Snijpunt. As said with the expansion of the building of course, but also with the further automation of production. “We recently started with 2 new cutting machines and with our expansion we will automate our entire internal logistics system for delivery at every production line. Our goal is to keep our production space free of pallets and raw material. This also improves the working conditions of our people and we can make our current processes run even more efficiently.
Besides that, our goal for the coming period is to further strengthen the cooperation with Harvest House (and its companies). We've been part of this group for a year now and we both see strategic benefits to realize. I want to try to actually achieve these in the coming years.”
Energy from people
For such a position and the constant need for challenge you need a lot of energy. Mark gets his energy mainly from working with all the people around him. “It is important to see that everyone at Snijpunt enjoys coming to work and that I am not the only one who enjoys it. A satisfied team is very important for a production company. Without all those people, our machines really can't produce anything. Motivating and increasing involvement is an important point in my business operations. Soon we will be checking with our employees what they need more. By staying in conversation and taking ideas and suggestions seriously, we all get a little better every day.”
He succeeded well in setting goals and achieving them so far. “When I just started working at Snijpunt, I always had the opportunity to grow with the organization. I now hold the position that I wanted so badly. From this position I always keep my eyes open for new opportunities and possibilities. I like to work with people who are constantly looking for improvement in themselves and the Snijpunt organization. I like to give people a lot of freedom and responsibility and adjust this where necessary. At Snijpunt we have a very good group of people now who can function very well themselves and who can be left alone for a part of the week.”
A private life as well
Fortunately, there is more to Mark than work alone. Together with his wife Sanne, he has two beautiful children; a son and a daughter. He likes to spend his spare time with his family, relatives and friends. "Every day I enjoy the moment I come home and see the laughter of my children."
Mark knows himself well and can therefore answer easily if you ask him to describe himself. “I am loyal, ambitious, honest and open. I want to be able to trust people, then I also give them my confidence. I believe in placing responsibility with the people themselves. Leadership with a firm hand never worked for me."
Clear language, just as we are used to from Mark.
When we ask him who we should really introduce next time, Mark doubts. “We have so many people walking around here with beautiful stories and personalities. It is difficult to choose. Still I choose Adem. He's been working with us for a long time now and is getting more and more commercial duties. It's time we introduce him properly! "
