"What I love most is experiencing such different contexts in a short time: factory floors, public sector, international head offices. You learn fast what you're good at, and what you love."
Jana studied organisational psychology in Ghent, then spent a year and a half in internal HR recruitment. She quickly realised she wanted broader experience, and she wanted it faster than a single employer could offer. That's when she joined TriHD.
"I wanted to grow. Not in five years, now. Working as a consultant meant I could be thrown into completely different environments, industries and challenges, one after the other. That was exactly what I was looking for."
In June 2022, she became one of the first TriHD consultant in East Flanders. Her very first mission set the tone.
Mission 1 ·Thrown in the deep end, and thriving
An electronics company was scaling fast and needed people quickly. Jana owned the full recruitment cycle across IT, HR, engineering and sales, white and blue collar alike. She ran phone screenings, conducted first and second interviews, partnered with hiring managers in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, negotiated salary offers, and rebuilt the onboarding process from scratch.
"I was the only one with a real recruitment background. I didn't wait to be asked. I proposed improvements, and the client listened. That gave me confidence early on."
Eight months in, she had already made her mark: a new onboarding workflow, a welcoming brochure, and a reputation as someone who brought ideas, not just execution.
Mission 2 · Stepping into the unknown and owning it
Her second mission looked very different on paper, a factory near the French border, 300 blue-collar employees, 50 white-collar employees, and a vague brief: "internal comms, events, HR support." The HR Business Partner she was replacing had gone on maternity leave and never returned. Jana stayed for over a year.
What started with an unclear scope grew into a substantial role. She optimised development dialogue processes, built a framework for Dutch language courses, reported on absenteeism, trained team leaders, created onboarding materials and ran wellbeing toolboxes for production supervisors.
"Ambiguity isn't a problem. It's an opportunity to shape your own role. The clients who aren't used to consultants are often the ones where you can have the most impact."
Pro Bono mission that still sharpens your edge with TriFinance for Impact
During a summer between missions, Jana contributed to a TriFinance for Impact project for Capital vzw in Brussels, a non-profit that needed a new organisational structure. She mapped their current org chart, proposed a redesigned one, built job descriptions for missing roles and wrote a best practices guide for interviewing candidates.
It was a short project, but a reminder that the variety at TriHD goes beyond client industries, it also extends to the type of work, and the kind of organisations you can help.
Becoming Strategic HR partner for 400 people in the public sector
Jana's current mission is her most senior yet. A large public utility, she acts as HR Business Partner for Facility Management, Legal, Customer Service, and more. That's over 400 FTEs across multiple departments.
Her days involve monthly one-on-one with team managers, supporting two simultaneous reorganisations, handling complex employee cases, coaching managers on conflict resolution and trust-building, and reporting directly to the direction team.
When a fellow consultant left and Jana was asked to absorb their scope, an extra 200 FTEs, she was transparent with her manager about the limits of what she could realistically take on. That kind of honesty, she says, is part of what makes the TriHD model work.
Beyond client work, Jana now mentors otherTriHD consultants going through the same kind of missions she started with. She runs status meetings with her TriHD manager, stays in close contact with her care manager, and actively contributes to how the team grows.
What makes TriHD different
The support that lets you take real risks.
Jana is clear that the variety alone isn't what makes TriHD work for her. It's the combination of that variety with a structure that actually supports you: a mentor, a care manager, and a team you can call when things get complicated at a client.
What Jana says about support: "There were no rigid weekly check-ins. But whenever I needed something, a difficult client conversation, a scope that wasn't clear, I could call and someone was there. That matters more than you'd think."
Ready to grow like Jana?
If you're an HR professional who wants to build real expertise, across industries, contexts and challenges. TriHD offers the missions, the mentoring and the autonomy to make it happen. You bring the drive. We'll make sure you never grow alone.
Explore opportunities at TriHD.
Read more about Jana and her mission as HR Business Partner.
