“Don't make things more difficult than they should be”

With our talented colleagues at the heart of our technical expertises, knowledge sharing is key to everything we do. But how that that work at Thales? Join us as we talk with IVVQ (Integration, Verification, Validation, and Qualification) Manager Sjoerd van Elp. He explains why curiosity matters over understanding…

How did you end up at Thales?

“I studied Applied Physics at Saxion in Enschede. At the time I wasn’t sure what kind of job I wanted to do eventually. Physics gives you a lot of directions to choose from: applied Physics covered electrical engineering, theoretical physics, mechanical engineering… I knew I wanted a career in the technical field and with my background in applied physics there were many challenging opportunities to choose from.

Engineering turned out to be a lot of fun, but after finishing my studies I also really wanted to travel and see more of the world. Thales was looking for system test engineers that would regularly travel to international customer sites. The rest is history. I learned the ins and outs of the Smart-S Mk2 by performing processing cabinet testing, system setting to work and factory acceptance tests. Eventually, I traveled to customer locations to carry out onboard system setting to work and harbour acceptance tests for the systems I had previously tested in Hengelo.

I think I visited around ten countries for Thales: from Denmark and Canada to Spain and Singapore. It teaches you the differences between cultures and communication styles, and how to make sure every customer feels heard and respected. Working abroad externally also gives you a lot of freedom and you learn how to rely on yourself. Besides, it’s a great experience to successfully complete a harbour or sea acceptance test.”

Was it hard to go from test engineer to IVVQ manager?

“I grew into it, I suppose. I transitioned from test engineer to the evaluation side of things: first-line analysis on board. Eventually I became an IVVQ engineer, and then IVVQ manager of the APAR Block 2. My role is to coordinate testing and qualification of the APAR Block 2 – one of our fire control radars.

Occasionally I miss that feeling of getting to solve a puzzle, a riddle, what you experience when you’re physically working on the radar. But I think the fact that I’ve had those experiences makes me a better manager, because I’ve done the work I’m overseeing now. Therein also lies the danger of getting too involved and thinking I could still do that same work myself; the systems I’ve worked on 10 years ago might look very different now and have a completely different architecture. That means letting go, do not micromanage, and allowing your team create their own way of working and building up expertise. At first, I needed to get used to the fact that team members solved things in different ways than I would’ve done. But those are also solutions: if it works, it works! That’s a great lesson for any manager, I think.”

 What makes you a ‘Thales expert’? Do you feel any added pressure or responsibility?

“I guess it’s because I followed the entire trajectory from testing to IVVQ manager, so I’ve seen what all aspects of the process look like. I don’t know if I would’ve done anything differently without the ‘title’ of Thales expert, but to me the additional responsibility involves a strong emphasis on supporting others' development through on-the-job coaching, while also evaluating content to identify areas for improvement. For instance, I help coach the IVVQ top class, and I teach part of the Radar Basics Journey of the Naval Academy about smart testing in IVVQ.

Talking about our work comes easy to me, mostly because of my experience abroad talking to customers. It’s great to get to share what you know and it’s also perfectly fine to answer a question with ‘I don’t know now, I’ll find out for you’. The key to sharing knowledge is not making things more difficult than they need to be. Don’t use thirty abbreviations in one presentation. You’ll lose half your audience. Take a moment to look at your content from the audience’s perspective.”

What do you expect from new colleagues? And from those that have been working here for a long time?

“I always hope that new colleagues joining the team show a lot of curiosity and initiative, that they don’t stop asking questions. I don’t mind if you don’t understand something, that’s completely fine! Experienced colleagues need to be explicitly okay with someone not knowing things and still hand off some of their work to them. Give someone a task, coach them and ask them to report back. You’ll learn so much more doing things yourself than just watching others do it. Of course you should still coach, manage and ask how things are going. But give someone your trust and true responsibility. That’s what makes a good job great!”