Rut

Rut Wielenga never expected to work in engineering, having studied geography at university.

“I was never expecting to work for an engineering company because I know engineering is not my main interest, however I wanted to study geography because I thought it would lead to me somehow making a positive impact to communities and society. One of the reasons why I wanted to work for a global civil engineering company was because I believed that engineers did that really well.”

Today, his passion lies in helping colleagues through providing spatial information for the projects they’re involved with so that they can better understand the context of the project; something he gets to do often in his Digital Reporting and Geographic Information Systems roles at Royal HaskoningDHV; roles, he says, are also all about supporting colleagues across the company in their projects.

“I don't have to understand engineering or environmental work to be able to guide colleagues with spatial data. For example, if water engineers want to size their pipes, they need to have an idea as to how many people live in the area. They also want to know what the elevation is, what the geography of the area is, etc., and that’s the type of spatial information I'm able to provide.”

Rut has been with RHDHV since April 2009 and is currently pursuing his Masters in Geographic Information Systems, “my research project is low-tech”, he says. “My job is more digital. However, quite often, if we do digital things, we can miss out on where most of the people are. I'm not sure there's always as much engagement as is possible with the community that is receiving a service. So, my Master project is about consultation and community engagement, concerned with disaster risk, using a three-dimensional model that people can make out of toilet paper, cardboard boxes, and glue. Community members can then visualise and touch the topography of their community using a model, talk about what’s happening during a disaster, and understand how an event or project will affect them and their community.”

Of all the digital changes the world is seeing, Rut is most excited about the potential of virtual reality. “What’s happening is that people can visualise a place without having to be there. And there are colleagues who are involved with developing this. It’s currently not being used as much as possible, but the potential is there. Being able to visualise things without having to physically be on-site or even in the same country is incredible.”

Rut also creates web-based interactive reports, like this one, to share information and engage with colleagues and clients in South Africa and Mozambique. His other iReports encourage people to present project information to project teams and clients in a more engaging, interactive, and interesting way.

Rut says that the pandemic has helped the company grow more digitally savvy, allowing better engagement with clients. “It’s been a huge change. Colleagues now see that clients are ready for these digital ways of working. People thought before that their clients couldn't work via Teams, and now they see that they can. They were quite conservative, but it just takes people some time to be convinced about something new,” he laughs.

I ask Rut about disconnecting in a digital world, and although he says he doesn’t personally need to disconnect completely, he believes it is a matter of discipline. “I have my Teams app on my phone, but if someone in Australia responds to something early in the morning, I must just choose not to respond then. You’re just choosing to be available all the time. I guess also it's having a life outside of work and how much you value that. My experience is that people respect your time when you have boundaries in place.”

Rut believes in grabbing opportunities with both hands and says that the company has the resources available for people to do just that. “There are many things going on within the company that are being communicated via online platforms that I think many colleagues in Southern Africa are not connecting with as much as they could, and that when they do, they’ll find opportunities within the company. The company is doing so many great things worldwide, and people could be plugged into things and be connecting with colleagues more than they are. Colleagues should also take more of a leap of faith with their clients to introduce them to digital ways of working.”

Rut, like many others, is motivated by the company’s purpose of Enhancing Society Together. “I know everyone else has said it, but it’s a really big deal. And I would challenge colleagues to take that further than only making good decisions, but also to connect more with the communities they are busy enhancing.”