Farshad Labib on his Workday traineeship at SuccessDay:“It’s great that staff wellbeing comes first here”
A new group of trainees started at SuccessDay in April of this year. The young professionals will learn the finer details of the HRIT profession – and of Workday in particular – and immediately put their new-found knowledge into practice with prominent clients. In this blog, we introduce our new talent Farshad Labib to you.
Farshad Labib (27) was born in Afghanistan, but was forced to leave the country with his family at a young age. Due to his father working for the Red Cross, he lived in various places all over the world throughout his youth. “I have lived in Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Indonesia and the Philippines. To be able to live in so many different countries and get to know different cultures was a wonderful experience.”
After finishing high school in the Philippines, he wanted to study and chose a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. He has family living in the south of the Netherlands and his sisters studied in Maastricht. “I’d heard good stories about the quality of education in the Netherlands. And my family told me that the people here are really open and outspoken. I’ve experienced this for myself now and I like it.”
Outdoor gym
His least favorite things about the Netherlands are the weather and traditional Dutch food. “Luckily you can get just about every cuisine here, so there’s plenty to choose from.” He still lives in Nijmegen, in a shared house with students and graduates. “We have a garden with our own outdoor gym, so it suits me fine”, Farshad explains. In his spare time he often goes climbing and bouldering, preferably every other day. He also likes to read and has two rabbits that run free in his room. “It’s their space, I’m just a guest”, he jokes.
While studying for his master’s in work and organizational psychology – also at the Radboud University – he secured an internship at Stork in Utrecht. This was where he first encountered HRIT. “This aspect wasn’t really addressed during my studies, so it was good to get some experience with IT systems and tools within the field of HR. I was able to work with global HRIS and People Analytics. The HCM system they used there was from SuccessFactors. I quickly realized: this is super interesting; I’d like to know more about this.”
Love for travel
Just before graduating, he decided to go travelling. “I love to travel. In a few years I’d like to travel through South America for a while. I want to learn more about the Inca and Mayan cultures, and I love the mountains.” On the exact day he returned, he received a message from a recruiter on LinkedIn asking whether he was interested in talking about a job at SuccessDay. “Brilliant timing, right?”, he laughs.
Farshad was not yet familiar with the company, but because SuccessDay works in HCM and HRIT, he decided to give it a go. They clicked immediately and after talking to the recruiter he was invited back to talk to various consultants at SuccessDay. “What immediately appealed to me was their enthusiasm and the vibe within the company. There’s a great culture here. Everyone works hard and is constantly striving to improve themselves, but relaxation is also really important. The wellbeing of the staff really comes first. And you are given a lot of freedom and responsibility.”
Dutch lessons
It’s great that the main language at SuccessDay is English, because people of all nationalities work here, and the clients operate internationally and are sometimes even based abroad. “I already speak a little Dutch, but there’s room for improvement. So I’m planning to take Dutch lessons”, says Farshad. His class speaks mainly English because two trainees are from Spain. “And one of the trainees has been living in Norway for years, but he’s originally from the Netherlands. So we’re an international bunch, ha ha.”
He’s happy that his first real job is a traineeship. “I want to continue developing my skills, so the combination of working and learning is perfect. In the coming years, I can learn lots of new things and try different roles.” He currently works as a Project Management Officer (PMO) at BDR Thermea in Apeldoorn. The company is going to roll out Workday and is now at the implementation stage (Phase 1). Farshad was initially only going to stay for a few months, but he may extend this if he can remain in the same position as PMO, so that he can be there for the go-live and the initial period afterwards. “That will enable me to experience the whole process up close, and I think I’ll learn a lot.”
Client case in Antwerp
The first months of his traineeship have been very instructive and intense. “We’re learning all the ins and outs of Workday, but there is also time to further develop our soft skills. These are equally important for an HRIT consultant. The best thing up till now was the week in Antwerp, where the whole group worked together on a fictional case. We worked really well together and joined forces to solve the problems we encountered. Among other things, I worked on the Compensation module. A really great experience.”
He first wants to get a better overall overview before making a choice about which HRIT field to specialize in. “I’m a sponge and I soak up all the information. I’m learning a lot from shadowing the senior consultants here.” He does not yet know what the future will bring. “I want to work on my skills in HRIT for the time being. But maybe at some point I will look further. I want to keep on challenging myself, and I hate routine. I like to keep all my options open. Nothing is set in concrete.”
