leadership insights for students

For most finance and business undergraduates, classroom lectures and theory are the norm. But for a group of around 30 keen students from Brigham Young University in the United States, the classroom was recently replaced with a visit to MIFA, part of Aalberts specialised manufacturing, world-leader in aluminum precision extrusion.

leadership insights
To provide the group with a taste of business life beyond the textbook, Aalberts' CEO Wim Pelsma invited the students to spend a day at MIFA’s production facilities at Venlo, the Netherlands. This was the third consecutive year that students from Brigham Young University have visited an Aalberts company. Rob van Oene, Managing Director MIFA, explains why such visits are important. “Students typically don’t get to see and hear about the fundamentals that drive a company forward, day to day or year to year. Our aim was to provide the students with a glimpse into what goes on inside a thriving business. Wim Pelsma opened the day with insights into business fundamentals, the issues that really matter to stocklisted companies, and the key technology areas in which we are market leaders. I then explained to the students how this outlook impacts MIFA, that once we have co-developed our five-year business plan with head office, we have the freedom to execute the strategy and develop new ideas.”

student feedback
The group's supervisors said that the visit provided a number of valuable takeaways. "Aalberts set the stage and taught wonderful leadership concepts that we will continue to discuss and share with the students, including the emphasis that people are most important and that they have to be comfortable and safe to share with others."

Connecting with the next generation and showcasing the unique Aalberts culture and strength are crucial to facilitate future growth for our company. In the end it is all about winning with people.