Article: Van Vulpen: culture you can feel in the room

Van Vulpen: culture you can feel in the room

How do you make culture tangible for 1,600 colleagues in six days? For Van Vulpen, we designed and facilitated an interactive culture session as part of their annual Safety Expedition — the company-wide event where safety, craftsmanship and collaboration take centre stage.

The challenge

Van Vulpen is growing fast. In people, in expertise and in the scope of work they deliver. With that growth comes the question: how do you hold on to the values that make your organisation special? After an intensive culture programme in which we co-created the culture story and core values together with colleagues from across the organisation, it was time for the next step: activation.

The Safety Expedition — six days, two locations, 1,300 participants — offered the perfect stage to bring the culture story to life.

Our approach

In a 45-minute session we took participants on a journey that goes beyond a presentation:

• Culture film — a specially produced film introduced the five culture themes of Van Vulpen, making the story visual and felt
• Ping pong ball vote — using green and red ping pong balls, participants voted on the core values: which do we live most strongly, and where is there room for growth? The transparent tubes filled up ball by ball, providing an immediate collective picture
• Table reflection — in small groups at standing tables, colleagues reflected on concrete questions: what can I personally do to strengthen our culture?
• Postcard to yourself — each participant wrote a personal postcard to themselves, with a concrete pledge to make the culture values visible in their daily work. The postcards are sent back later as a reminder

The result

The substantive assessments of the culture themes were largely positive, with clear areas for improvement that provide valuable input for the next phase. But perhaps more importantly: the event made culture a topic of conversation. Colleagues who work on project sites every day spoke to each other about what drives them, what can be improved and how they personally contribute to a safe and pleasant working environment.

The Safety Expedition shows that culture activation is most powerful when it is experience-driven — not as an abstract top-down message, but as a shared moment of reflection and connection.

Want to know more about how we activate culture? Read our story about Van Vulpen or discover our approach to culture development & employer branding.

Written by: Ayu Koene