‘Every day I drive to work singing’

Sietske Harms was the number one employee at Uniqare. She was involved with the building of the organization since the very first minute. And now, as assisting forewoman, she controls what happens on the work floor of Uniqare on a daily basis. And she fits right in: “We are working here with a beautiful team.”

How did you end up at Uniqare?

“I have been working here since the formal establishment. The people of the parent company United Care came to me with the question: ‘we are working on establishing a sewing workshop for slings, and therefore we are looking for someone with extensive experience in sewing and supervising. Would you like to come and work for us?” This seemed like a great challenge to me, so I answered ‘yes’ to the question.”

What exactly is your work about?

“As assisting forewoman, I am responsible or the daily management of the team of work floor. In addition, I actively help in the production and sewing of the slings. I do not have a designated working place, instead, I help where necessary. It is unsure for how long this position will remain to exist in this form. Our team and our production are growing rapidly and the more employees there are, the harder it will be for the manager to help with the production work.

Are you supervising a nice team?

“Together with our general director Jan Stevenson, I am responsible for the recruitment and selection of new people. So all I can say is that we have an amazing and very good team, haha. And I honestly mean this. It is an especially mixed group of people with very diverse backgrounds. What we find important, is that our people are not only professionals, but also team players.”

How do you personally like it at Uniqare?

“It’s great, I feel right at home here. This is not only due to our beautiful team, but what I personally like very much is the freedom to schedule our day the way we want. Of course we need to keep the production going, but it’s about products whereby quality is of great importance – they are used to lift people, after all – and this means that every product must be of the highest quality. We are given the space and freedom to do our job well.”

How do you see the future of Uniqare?

“In a very positive light. We are a young company that is growing rapidly. Seeing the development of our orders and our market position, I predict that we will soon double the numbers of employees within Uniqare. I can see myself working here until my pension.”