Delegating key tasks that, for whatever reason, you can't devote enough time and energy to yourself, is key to running a successful business. That's why Hewlett Packard Enterprise relies on Projective Talent to find the right people for its organisation and guide them through the first crucial years of their careers.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise, or HPE for short, builds data centres for many large organisations. Their customers range from the EU and NATO to major banks and financial institutions such as Swift and Euroclear. HPE builds both on-premises and cloud data centres.
While attracting, developing and retaining top talent is the foundation of any successful enterprise, it's not the core business of organisations like HPE. That's why they rely on Projective Talent to help them with these important yet time-consuming tasks.
"One of our key challenges is finding new talent, and that's one of the things Projective Talent does very well," says William Boks, Compute Business Leader at HPE. "Attracting interesting, smart people is a good starting point, but there's more to our partnership. I love working with young people. Their learning curve is so steep, it really energises me. But let's face it - they're very demanding. They sometimes ask a lot, and I have too much on my plate to give them all the attention and mentoring they need and deserve. Projective Talent helps me to let these young talents grow in the first very important years of their careers."
I love working with young people. Their learning curve is so steep, it really energises me. But let's face it - they're very demanding. They sometimes ask a lot, and I have too much on my plate to give them all the attention and mentoring they need and deserve.
William Boks, Compute Business Leader - HPE
At Projective Talent, it is our core business to attract high potentials and to develop emerging talent. An important aspect of this is our coaching lifecycle and our extensive training programmes - the Start Smart, Grow & Lead Smart tracks in particular. These two-year programmes are designed to incubate young talent and exponentially accelerate their growth and development. At the end of the two years, our goal is for our talents to integrate with our clients.
We focus on finding a good match between our consultants and our clients, and we mentor them along the way, for a seamless integration and increased retention rates.
Coaching is an important part of our vision and mission to help emerging talent become better and happier at their jobs. The benefits of our coaching framework for our consultants are obvious, but having this dynamic in place also helps our clients in a number of ways. "The coaching sessions and regular assessments have really helped me stay connected with my team members. They kindly force you into necessary conversations, and provide a framework for those dialogues," says William Boks. "The Projective Talent Development Officers (TDO’s) have also really helped me to reframe my feedback during evaluations. I know I can be quite tough, but the TDO helps to put things into perspective."
The coaching sessions and regular assessments have really helped me stay connected with my team members. They kindly force you into necessary conversations, and provide a framework for those dialogues.
William Boks, Compute Business Leader - HPE
One of the consultants who completed the Start Smart programme and subsequently joined HPE as an internal employee is Hugo Braakhuis Luis. A few years ago, he applied for the NextGen Traineeship with Projective Consultancy, but ended up as a technical architect in HPE's compute division. Now that he is on the HPE payroll, he has moved to Barcelona to continue working for HPE as part of the Digital Sales team.
"I wasn't selected for the NextGen Traineeship, but that doesn't matter. It got me in the door at Projective Talent, and that was a necessary step towards something even better - my role at HPE," says Hugo.
Hugo enrolled in our Start Smart programme while starting his role as a Technical Architect in HPE's Compute division. The Start Smart track includes a number of mandatory trainings, but there's also room to choose individual courses tailored to each consultant's personal needs. As Hugo describes himself as naturally shy, especially when interacting with senior colleagues. So he opted for assertiveness training. "The training taught me how to initiate conversations, express my opinions and take the lead in professional situations. It really helped me move forward."
Projective Talent’s assertiveness training taught me how to initiate conversations, express my opinions and take the lead in professional situations.
Hugo Braakhuis Luis, Technical Architect at HPE / Projective Talent
The coaching and training that Projective Talent provides is essential, but it's not the only thing that makes a difference. Internal mentors, like William was for Hugo, are also important to the growth of our consultants. "It really helped me to have regular one-to-one meetings with William," says Hugo. "I could go to him with anything. When I wasn't feeling well or didn't know what to do in a certain situation. Having that time together really bridged a gap. William has taught me to speak up for the things I want and to take the initiative - not just to stand around and wait for things to happen."
William has also learnt a lot from being Hugo's mentor. "By investing time in Hugo, I have seen him grow from a sometimes shy guy to someone who stands up for himself and shares his opinions. Seeing that kind of growth in the people I mentor gives me great satisfaction in my work," he says.
Seeing that kind of growth in the people I mentor gives me great satisfaction in my work
William Boks, Compute Business Leader - HPE
Speaking of growth, we all know it happens outside the comfort zone. For Hugo, one of those defining moments was a daunting task that initially seemed impossible. "I had been working at HPE for a little over a year when William asked me to come up with a concept of what we could do as a company in the AI space," Hugo recalls. "He said: come up with a plan or an event, whatever you want, to put HPE on the map in the AI field. To be honest, I was scared to death. I didn't know where to start. But my colleague and I put our heads together and eventually we figured it out. It was a huge learning experience for me."
Not only is William pleased with Hugo's results, he is also full of praise for his work ethic. "Hugo is smart, dedicated and he gets things done. When I ask him to do something, I don't have to check to see if it gets done. I can trust him to make it happen, and that's very rare."
The journey from trainee to trusted professional can be challenging. But with the right support, we believe emerging talent can truly thrive. Projective Talent has a long track record as a talent incubator, nurturing growth through carefully designed training, coaching and mentoring programmes. We pride ourselves on ensuring that young professionals like Hugo develop the technical skills they need, as well as the confidence and leadership skills to set them on the right path for a promising career.
As our partnership with HPE demonstrates, investing in people creates a win-win scenario for both organisations and individuals. By providing the right guidance at the right time, we are helping to shape the future of talent in the industry, one career at a time.
As our partnership with HPE demonstrates, investing in people creates a win-win scenario for both organisations and individuals.
As part of Projective Group, Projective Talent connects ambitious professionals with leading financial services companies, opening doors to career-defining opportunities. Whether through traineeships that transition into long-term roles with our clients, or missions that offer flexible assignments, we ensure the right fit for both candidates and businesses.
With access to A+ clients, expert coaching, and a strong professional network, we help talent and companies grow together - fuelling careers, innovation, and long-term success.
