Employees of Damen Naval and Damen Yachting can now contact a new confidential advisor: Sytske Martens. Through the organisation 2people@work, 58-year-old Sytske was already the external confidential advisor for Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen and she will now also be working with the other two Damen companies. Employees can come to her for a wide range of issues ranging from bullying to discrimination and from (sexual) harassment to aggression or violence.

The term ‘confidential advisor’ already says a lot, but Sytske emphasises that everything discussed with her is confidential information that remains between her and the employee in question. “As a confidential advisor, although we are appointed by the company, our job is to stand alongside the employees. We are completely independent and in situations where a confidential advisor is necessary, everything we discuss with an employee is confidential. There is no feedback to the company.”

The moment a problem arises in the workplace and someone contacts the confidential advisor, the first step is to see if the colleagues in question can resolve the situation among themselves. “Sometimes the solution is as simple as stating that you don’t like something. Most people do not intentionally want to hurt another person and will adjust their behaviour when it is pointed out to them,” Sytske explains. “In an ideal world, people interact and the situation is resolved. But that doesn’t always work out. Sometimes someone has already said something about a situation a few times, but nothing changes. Sometimes the balance of power is such that people don’t dare speak to the other person.”

In those cases, Sytske discusses with the employee what steps have been taken and what the next steps could be. “If professional help is needed in another area, we can also arrange that.”

“As a confidential advisor, although we are appointed by the company, our job is to stand alongside the employees. We are completely independent." Sytske Martens

In addition to her role as confidential advisor, Sytske also works as an absenteeism and reintegration advisor and career coach. Before joining DSV, she had no experience of Damen other than knowing the logo from the buildings in Zeeland. “I work for several companies, but this is my first shipbuilder. I find diversity very interesting because the cultures within companies are very different. For example, a shop floor with many men is very different from a company where lots of women work.”

Sytske would like the threshold for contacting her to be as low as possible. “Don’t keep things to yourself if something has happened. People can discuss anything with me and can always contact me. I always try to respond within one to two days and will then do my best to help find a solution.”

Besides the external confidential advisor, every Damen company also has internal confidential advisors who represent the interests of staff. Check with the HR department who the advisors are for your company.

 

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