Meet Bianca van der Woude, Client Lead and Talent Community Lead Account Leadership at Avanade. After finishing the 3-day onboarding program online, she was excited to start to work immediately. Redesigning the account team, understanding the overall solution areas, and making account plans for the company's new fiscal year. She now leads the account team that works on the best solutions that meet the clients’ needs, helping them make better business decisions.

Deep dive from the start

“Before joining Avanade, I worked as a Retail Industry Lead at a similar IT company and Microsoft partner. I developed the capacity to translate business strategy into IT solutions that support daily operations. I am a true people person and wanted to explore new job opportunities more focused on building relationships when Avanade reached out to me. I will never forget that conversation. The recruiter was really involved with my well-being and current situation as I was not ready to leave my former employer yet. After a while, I decided that the time was right for something new. I still had this pleasant conversation in my memory and I contacted the recruiter again. We talked about my ambition of focusing more on the client-side and building quality relationships and she told me they had a job for me. I started the first of May 2021 as a Client Lead for a big supermarket chain. Together with a new leadership team I helped bring people together for the account team and became a Talent Community lead for Account Leadership. I see myself as the linking pin between sales and delivery. In other words: making sure we deliver what we promised to the client.”

Providing support

“We needed to bring multiple disciplines together for the redesigned account team. With the help of the change management team at Avanade, we developed a workshop for the team to really get to know each other. My goal was to inspire the team members and take them along on the journey. Next to that I planned a lot of calls and met people outside for a walk to introduce myself to the team. To make sure everyone understands the account plan and how to build a relationship with the client we created a plan with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) goals. I find it important that everyone knows their contributing role within the account. All employees at Avanade are assigned to a buddy and career advisor but I wanted the team to know that they can always come to me or the other leadership members with questions, for feedback and support. In this way, you truly form a dedicated and committed team.”

Organizational dynamics

“Data analytics is one of our strongest domains on the account, but we are also getting stronger on other domains too. Something we are proud of. All the teams work hard: we bring people together who are committed, with lots of expertise and willingness to help each other and our clients. We do not give up easily and always work our way through challenges. Usually, we are not the only IT partner of the client. It is interesting to see how we are all focused on our own expertise to provide the client with the best possible solution. Besides matching people with the right skill set to the client, we also are interested in organizational dynamics. With the help of Advisory and workshops, we really focus on the clients’ data journey. Showing tangible results and implementing feedback provide added value for the client. I want to make sure that the people working within the team are doing projects they love. Projects that allow them to learn and grow.”

Prepare for the job

“I live with my husband and daughter in Hilversum. Something I really like to do besides work is walking my dog. Or walking in general. It keeps me fit and I like to surround myself with nature. A hobby I share with my husband is motorcycling. I own a revised English motorcycle from the ’50s and together with my husband and daughter we are enjoying the surroundings of Hilversum riding on our bikes. Next to that, I love to cook while experiencing various kinds of flavors and making use of my own grown vegetables from our garden. I played hockey for quite some time and have taken that team spirit back into my work as I like to be a team player. We all work together to achieve our team, personal, and our clients' goals. We are in it to win it. Something that will shine through in the results. My advice for someone who wants to pursue a career in IT: reach out to people of the company you want to work for. Do not solely follow the traditional route via recruitment and the corporate website. You can always ask about the job without obligation.”

Click here for more information on careers at Avanade.