Family Day – Working together
As one big family at Bekina
Working with family: it happens more often at Bekina than you might think. Partners, brothers and sisters, parents and children, cousins… spread across our various business units. And perhaps that’s no coincidence, because as a family business, that familiar feeling is simply in our DNA. Working together, helping each other and growing as colleagues - and as a family. We’d like to share two of those stories with you.
Vanessa & Eline (Mother and daughter)
Area Sales Manager at Bekina Indurub & Regular student job at Bekina
Vanessa, Area Sales Manager, has been working at Bekina Indurub for over 25 years, and her daughter Eline has also become a familiar face here. For the past two years, she has been combining her SME Management studies with a student job within the company. From administrative support and digitalisation to quality checks and counting incoming materials: Eline has the opportunity to gain experience in various departments and business units. The colleagues here are always delighted to see her again, and that's the same for Eline.
Working alongside the same colleagues as her mother is quite special. “I often hear how much we look alike, both inside and outside. I could almost say we’re like twins, as it’s pretty close”, says Eline. “We really are very much alike,” adds Vanessa. “Sometimes we even say the same thing at exactly the same moment. That’s how well we’re in tune with each other.” Also professionally they recognise a lot of themselves in each other. “Our way of thinking, the precision and eye for details we put into our work: we know from each other that we always want to get everything right straight away,” says Eline.
The knowledge from Eline’s studies can be translated in practice at Bekina, whilst experiences on the floor help her to constantly make connections between theory and practice. At the same time, Vanessa also learns from the fresh insights Eline brings from her studies.
Moreover, Bekina has been a familiar name within their family for years, as their partner Philippe also works at Bekina Indurub. “We’ve been hearing about Bekina at home for years. So when I'm working in the same environment now, it feels familiar. Without really realising it, I’d already picked up a lot of passive knowledge, which is a real asset. When I was little, I was already at the company parties too,” says Eline.
It brings not only theory and practice closer, but also brings them closer to each other.
David & Anna (Partners)
Warehouse Coordinator and Packing Employee at Bekina Boots
David works as a Warehouse Coordinator at Bekina Boots and has been part of the Bekina family for almost twenty years. About five years ago, Anna also decided to join Bekina Boots, where she works as a Packing Employee. As partners and colleagues, they combine their family life with a shared workplace, something that now feels completely natural to them. “It’s nice that we can work at the same company as partners,” they tell us. “We work together, yet also separately, which creates a good balance.” Although they don’t work in the same department, their paths cross every day. “We arrive together in the morning, head home together in the evening, and see each other at lunchtime.”
Their working styles complement each other well. “We’re on the same wavelength. We don’t have to think too long about things as we always want to move on.”
Whilst some might have questions about working with their partner, Anna and David see only advantages. “For us, it brings nothing but positives. There is not only the convenience of driving to work together, it also helps that certain information gets through more quickly, making it easier for us to adapt immediately when necessary.”
Their story is a great example of how partners can share a workplace.
Out together, home together.