We were met at the ADP office in Capelle aan den IJssel, near Rotterdam, by Rose Tsounis, who is the Chief Financial Officer of ADP's Netherland's operation. After having a cup of coffee or tea, Rose introduced Hein Brockhoff who is the Managing Director.

Hein gave an overview of ADP's critical Netherland's operation.

Next Sjoerd van Tussenbroek, Director New Business Development & Strategy, gave an overview of ADP's business strategy.

Finally Rose gave an informal talk about what it's like to work in a foreign office. Rose began her ADP career in Roseland and in 1995 moved to Paris to help with the financial consolidation when ADP acquired GSI, Europe's largest payroll provider. After successfully completing that assignment she was offered the CFO position in the Netherlands, where she has been for the last 3 years.

Rose's considerable international experience made her an ideal speaker to talk about what it's like to work as an American expatriate working abroad. She said the most important thing to remember when working on a foreign assignment is to keep an open mind. There are customs that you may be unfamilar with and you need to remember that you are in their environment. For example, in ADP's Paris cafeteria they serve wine and beer with lunch. This is a clear departure from the policy in ADP's American offices. However, in ADP's Dutch office the favorite lunchtime drink is milk.

As an example of how cultures are different even within the European community Rose told us that in the Netherlands associates arrive at the office around 7:30 or 8:00 AM whereas in Paris they arrive more around 9:30 AM. In neither office do associates normally work weekends although that is common in US offices.

Another difference is the amount of vacation time offered. In Europe 4 weeks is a minimum and 5 weeks is very common where in the US most employees start with 2 weeks vacation. After a year or two you get a third week. At ADP's Corporate Headquarters you get a fourth week vacation only during anniversary years that are divisable by 5, in other words your 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, etc. anniversaries.

After the talks ended it was back on the bus where we headed for lunch at Restaurant Johannahoeve, a converted farmhouse. We had to cross a very small wooden bridge to get into the restaurant and bets were taken as to whether the bridge would hold the weight of the bus (it did!). At the end of our lunch we heard briefly from Keith Douglas Wallace a Scottish citizen who formed an internet business based in the Netherlands. You can visit his company's web site at SeekSonic.com.

Restaurant Johannahoeve where we all had lunch after our meeting with ADP.

With a good meal under our belts (Thanks Rose !!!) we are ready to move on. Our next stop is Amsterdam.

Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
Lylantse Baan 1
2908 LG Capelle aan den IJssel
The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 (0) 10 - 459 89 11

Web Address:

ADP's Netherland's web site (in Dutch)