The criticized female director of the Tuinland garden center remains a member of the company’s management. Despite the many reports of transgressive behavior and a critical report from the Dutch Labor Inspectorate, she retains her position on the board.
The director came under heavy fire last year for cursing and threatening staff. Employees pointed to her as the main driver of a culture of fear at the company.
Until now, together with her husband, Girbe Drenth, the woman formed the management of Tuinland. Two new directors will be added as of next month. Constante Roman, a cousin of the female board member, then becomes operational director of Tuinland and Erik Scholte financial director. The Drenth couple will have an advisory position. “We are convinced that this is a good development for Tuinland”, write Girbe Drenth and his wife in a statement.
Last year, employees of Tuinland sounded the alarm at RTV Drenthe and the CNV union because of a diseased working atmosphere at the company. They spoke of a culture of fear caused by the female director. According to various employees, colleagues were abused and even threatened.
The Labor Inspectorate then spent months investigating the four different garden centers and the head office of Tuinland in Assen. According to the inspection, the company has done too little to prevent psychological pressure and undesirable behavior in the workplace. In addition, professional rules of conduct are missing and managers are not or not properly trained in dealing with undesirable behaviour.
After the transgressive behavior came to light, the female director largely disappeared from the workplace. According to the management, this was for private reasons. Co-director Girbe Drenth acknowledged that things did not go well in the past and promised improvement for the future.
The Central Works Council hopes to notice this improvement soon. “The works council has enforced a code of conduct and the management has said it will sign it before July 1. We hope to see improvement in the corporate culture in the short term.”
The management of Tuinland could not be reached for comment tonight.