‘It’s my responsibility to keep our digital assembly line running'

Denise works in the Functional Management INDiGO team, which is part of the Business Innovation and Support (BIS) department. Together with ten colleagues, she supports all IND employees dealing with INDiGO. They answer questions, help with instructions and consider changes to the system. The functional managers each have their own work area. Denise is mainly responsible for Family Reunification and Naturalisation.

Started as a temporary worker

'I actually ended up here by chance,' Denise laughs when asked why she joined the IND. She started out as a temp, right after she studied public administration. 'It was a difficult time to find work, so I was just happy to have a job. That was 12 years ago and I'm still here. So, in the end, the IND turned out to be more than just a stepping stone. I felt welcome right from the start. The atmosphere, the colleagues: it was like a warm bath.'

From on stage to behind the scenes

Denise started at the Asylum Extensions department in 2013 and made the transition to employee of the IND desk in 's Hertogenbosch in 2020. 'I loved working the at the IND desk. I experienced at first hand who I was doing it for. It's about people, about their lives. That realisation really fuelled my enthusiasm for working at IND,' Denise says. 

But after a while, she got restless again. 'I needed more challenge and depth. I was already solving some technical issues here and there for my colleagues around me. They said I was good at it. I used to joke that I was just good at Googling. But when a position at Functional Management INDiGO became available, I applied anyway. And I got the job! They’ve been letting me work on technical issues for a while now.' 

Bridge between technology and practice

'As Functional Manager INDiGO, my main goal is to ensure that colleagues can work with our application system without a hitch,' Denise explains. 'To that end, I'm in close contact with various teams within the organisation. On the one hand, with the IV team, which can solve the big, technical problems and implement system developments. And on the other hand, with the IND employees who use INDiGO on a daily basis. Officially, we call them key users.'
These key users are indispensable to Denise. 'They are our eyes and ears and know better than anyone else where there are glitches in the system or what could be improved. I translate their wishes into technical adaptations. Small requests I can often fix myself or coordinate directly with development teams. Larger questions I discuss with information managers who then decide which improvements to prioritise. We all operate on the same principle: the system should serve the employees, and not the other way around.'

Getting rid of separate lists

A good example is a recent project within the Family Reunification process. ‘Employees in that department still kept track of their work in individual Excel sheets,' Denise says. 'That is not convenient and also error-prone. The development team, together with the process staff, built a dashboard that provides insight into all issues per employee. Now you can see at a glance where action is needed. No more separate lists, but one clear overview.'

Meaningful

‘I love hearing from employees how happy they are with an improvement,’ laughs Denise. ‘That tells me that I’ve really contributed something and it’s what makes the work so rewarding to me. There's always something new to look into, improve or explore with colleagues. The better the system works, the better colleagues can do their jobs. And that, in turn, directly affects applicants, as they get clarity on their future sooner. Everything is connected. So even though I'm no longer in contact with applicants myself now, I feel really good about being able to help them in my own way.'

For a beautiful society

'By the way, that's an attitude I see a lot around me: the desire to help,' Denise concludes her story. 'Team spirit is a top priority here, as is the desire to contribute to a beautiful society.' Her message to the outside world? 'Behind everything we do, every IND decision, every process and every system is a human being working hard to give applicants clarity quickly. That deserves more recognition.'