people
'We need more focus on
what customers want...'
I
Surfers at work
didyou know?
Although he is offïcially retired, we caught up with Henk Gentis just as he was
leaving for Latin America. He continues to sit on a number of advisory
supervisory boards, including Argentina and Australia. And he will also remain
our ambassador in the international hockey world until further notice. From this
unique position, we asked him for a brief history of Rl
Unique position
Rapid growth
12. Whats NewS Issue 3 April/May 2000
t is almost 30 years
since the young Henk
Gentis joined Rabobank
as an assistant secretary
to the Executive Board.
It was an exciting time
for the bank. After 70
years, the Netherlands'
two major cooperative
organizations had hnally
decided it was time to
join forces and Gentis
was in the thick of that
process. He was also a
close colleague of the
now almost legendary
Harry Klarenbeek who
pushed for international-
ization at a time when
Rabobank was still very
much a domestic organi-
zation. Gentis was soon
inspired bv a similar vi-
sion of international ac-
tivities. 'We'd have a
brief flirtation with Bank of America,' he
recalls, 'hut we were still pretty much pas-
sive players in the cross-border arena. I re-
member seeing Rabobank ads announcing
rather proudly that we had 2,000 corre
spondent banks for international payment
Rik van Slingelandt and Henk Visser on
strategies for future expansion.
For Gentis, two elements would be crucial
in that strategie development, not least be-
cause he believed firmly in both: food and
agribusiness and customer orientation. it
wasn't called focus then,' he laughs, 'that
would come later. But 1 have always been
convinced that as a cooperative organiza-
tion we are ideally placed to be there for
our customers. We do not have sharehold-
ers in the traditional
sense. So we are
uniquely positioned to
add value for our cus-
Where do you go when you surf
the Net? What's NewS wants
to know. We're looking for useful
and informative websites to include
in upcoming issues. Please contact
Mirjam Diepenbrock by e-mail with
your web tips and a brief descrip-
tion of the site.
A brief look at a collection of Henk
Gentis' memories during his years
at Rabobank: clockwise, from left -
sharing his views in an interview
for What's NewS: working hard at his desk at the London office;
celebrating 25 years of service to Rabobank: dispiaying the 1998
PIA Championship Trophy with hockey players Stephan Veen
(team captain) and Wiilemijn Duyster.
traffic - this at a time when other Dutch
banks had huge networks.'
But internationalization gradually picked
up speed in the late 1970s and really took
off in the 1980s. By this time, Gentis had
been working on international issues for
some years. 'From being an assistant sec
retary,' he says, 'I had gone into what you
would now call a management training
program. The idea was to spend six
months in each department. I started with
international and never left.' He would
become the bank's first ever ex-pat when
he opened the rep office in London in
1982. International grew rapidly in the
I 980s and by the early 1990s Gentis was
back in Utrecht working with people like
tomers because we can
bring a pure focus to
what we do for them.
Our goal should always
be to focus on what cus
tomers want.' It is this
same spirit which has
led Henk Gentis to con
tinue his commitment and efforts for Rl
around the world, even after retirement.
Look out for him at advisory and supervi
sory board meetings in various parts of
the network and at hockey internationals,
at least for the foreseeable future.
The Managing Board and kcy
Support Units have relocated
from the Croeselaan to the
Sijpesteijn building (abbreviation
US), locatcd 300 meters from
main office. This is a first step in
the separation of Rabobank
International's operations from
those of Rabobank Nederland.
External mail can still be directed
to the Croeselaan. For internal
mail changes, please check your
Outlook address book.
