School didn't mean much to him, but he wanted to learn. In this way Erik Geubbelmans climbed the career ladder at Nyrstar. A choice he absolutely does not regret. ‘I never want to leave here.’
As Superintendent Melting & Casting, Erik Geubbelmans heads the smelter and hydro department of the Nyrstar plant in Pelt. There he is responsible for the budgets, the quality of production and the safety of ‘his’ people on the work floor.
‘Those budgets were completely new to me’, Geubbelmans remembers. In 1986 he started as an operator at the plant. ‘I never really liked going to school, but I always had the feeling that being an operator was just the starting point of my career. I felt that I could still learn more.’ Like many people who left school early, Geubbelmans also sometimes regrets it. ‘I did miss some basics and would have been stronger at the start if I had studied longer. But I am happy that Nyrstar gave me the opportunities to get where I am now.’
As an operator he went through the entire production process and became team leader. ‘I felt good in that role for a long time because I enjoy working with a group of people and getting the best out of them.’
English with the Nuns of Vught
When he had the opportunity to move up another step, he grabbed it with both hands. And that was far from
I never really liked going to school, but I always had the feeling that being an operator was just the starting point of my career.
Erik Geubbelmans,
Superintendent Melting & Casting at Nyrstar
obvious. ‘I was someone who liked to stay in my comfort zone. At Nyrstar I have changed a lot as a person. I didn't like to take too many risks and preferred to stay between the lines.’
But then he was offered to go to Budel to work as a production coordinator. ‘Although it’s only twenty
kilometres from home, for me that was a huge step. I was confronted with things I had not mastered, such as English, the main language for communicating with the headquarters, then still in Zurich.’
To improve his English, Geubbelmans was allowed to take a course at the Nuns of Vught language institute. ‘If you indicate within Nyrstar that you need training to do your job well, that option is always available. For that course I had to spend a week interning at the language institute, but I didn't find that a problem.’
Putting people first
‘It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find people in every industry and that’s why we have to show what we stand for on a human level. You notice this very clearly at Nyrstar; both when we have successes to celebrate and when we’re setting up new projects and it’s all hands on deck. There’s always that willingness to support and help each other.’
Geubbelmans felt this well when his daughter became very ill in 2009. ‘I was not at the company for four months. The space I was given then to be with my wife and daughter has made me realise that I never want to leave this factory.’
