The TOPdesk
annual report 2022

Hi Wolter. How did your TOPdesk journey begin 25 years ago?

Frank and I originally worked for the company that spun TOPdesk off. While there, since I was pretty good at programming, together we built the foundations of the software that would later become TOPdesk. We ended up as an independent company!

We consciously chose our own journey. Starting your own company was not particularly cool in those days. Good Delft students were supposed to pursue a corporate career. While all our friends were driving nice company cars, we had second-hand cars and were not saving for retirement. We didn’t do things the usual way, but we quickly saw TOPdesk take off. We grew and hired our first employees.

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How did you come up with the name TOPdesk?

We polled our friends and families, and it came out as the favourite. I wasn’t keen on it myself, but ultimately, it’s not the brand’s name that matters. It’s about what the name stands for. We had a clear idea about that from the start: let people do the work that makes them happy. That’s how you get the best results. We’ve always made room for experimentation and it’s often turned out well. I think we’re a bit too cautious about that today. We could think bigger.

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"It’s not the brand’s name that matters. It’s about what the name stands for. We had a clear idea about that from the start: let people do the work that makes them happy."

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TOPdesk is focused on growth in product value and in both employee and customer numbers. How will we preserve our particular culture and attitude along the way?

When we were a small company, it surely was easier to have that family spirit. Now that we keep on growing, we must make a conscious effort here, and we do! Locally, it is definitely there, but I did feel a great sense of togetherness during the International Week and at the Summer Party. We all still share the same fundamental attitude. We’re on the same page. We respect each other and find each other’s nutty quirks charming rather than weird. So, we’re still a bit like a family in that respect.

Working towards common goals and having clear communication – that’s a challenge when you’re continuously growing. How do we deal with that? We tried our best to set clear goals for 2023 so that TOPdeskers can have no doubt about our priorities. We continue to develop in this area as well. These three goals are new customer growth, tangible product value, and employee growth.

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As CEO, you visit all of TOPdesk’s branches. What stands out to you on those visits?

That despite having different cultures, we share the same norms and values. As a Dutchman in Brazil, you might get more hugs than you would like. And Americans even take a ‘European Business Style 101’ course. But essentially, we all want the same thing: help each other move forward, and do the same for TOPdesk. We have a kind of founders’ DNA. Some of the choices Frank and I made in the past still influence the organization today. For example, we preferably don’t give customers our mobile phone numbers, and that’s based on the principle that we don’t want anyone working outside office hours.

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"Despite having different cultures, we share the same norms and values."

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We can’t manage everything centrally, so each branch manager has independent control of things, like salaries and fringe benefits. The principles we establish for this are implemented globally. For example, instead of competing on the amount on a pay slip, we focus on things like offering a good work-life balance and opportunities for personal development.

10 to Grow was an idea we came up with in the Netherlands: TOPdeskers are given 10 per cent of their contract hours and a budget worth 10 per cent of their full-time gross salary to devote to personal development. This became 5 to Grow in the USA. I’m confident that similar plans will be developed for other branches too.

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How have you invested in your own personal development to become the CEO you are today?

My background is in Physics, then I started writing code and for the past 25 years I have been running this software company. It goes without saying that I have always been learning and developing myself. I’m inspired by meeting other business leaders. That’s where I get new ideas. I use 10 to Grow to attend networking events.

Alongside that, I’ve always kept a good balance between my work and my private life. I go home at 5 p.m. and don’t do anything for TOPdesk at the weekend. It wasn’t always like that in the early days, of course, but that was more a question of bad planning. Everyone knows that working late into the night doesn’t get you the best results.

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Since we’re talking about an epic journey: where do your travels take you in your free time?

I’d rather be in nature than in a city or at the beach. I like outdoor activities like hiking in the mountains, skiing, and sailing – things that are fun to do in a group. I love wide open spaces and mountains, and I discovered during the pandemic that the Netherlands has some beautiful places too. For example, I cycled from Delft to Enschede in the summer holidays with my family.

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What do you always pack in your suitcase?

‘Travel light’ is my motto. Everything has to fit into a cabin bag. Besides, I don't need much. Whenever I visit a TOPdesk office, my life is taken out of my hands to a degree. My diary is filled with appointments and my evenings are filled with social events, so there’s not much time for anything else. I work on the way there, and I usually sleep on the way back.

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Where do you hope that TOPdesk’s epic journey will lead us and our organization?

Our goal is growth, but not at the expense of the planet or the quality of our product. For TOPdesk, success means proving that our software is improving every day and that we’re attracting and satisfying more customers as a result. Our goal isn’t to be the biggest or most powerful company on earth, but the fact that we continue to grow means we are still doing well and making the right decisions to stay relevant as a provider of ITSM software.

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"Our goal is growth, but not at the expense of the planet or the quality of our product."

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TOPdesk’s success will also lie in having pursued social change and having inspired others along the way. That’s how we see our Corporate Social Responsibility. Convincing just one owner of the importance of making their premises energy neutral could be the domino that sets many more in motion.

Every TOPdesker in the Netherlands can spend 2.5 per cent of their contract hours volunteering. In our American branch, it’s five days a year. In terms of recruitment, I’m hoping that decisions like this will make people choose to work for us.

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Corporate Social Responsibility is a hot topic. What are we doing well at TOPdesk, and what are we working on improving?

We’re already doing a lot, but not nearly enough. Staff and customers are asking us to do more. We have three main pillars: diversity & inclusion, the environment, and giving back to society.

Initiatives like our Diversity & Inclusion Week and having an iftar dinner at the office make people feel safe and welcome at TOPdesk. We are inclusive, but we’re not diverse enough yet. That’s going well in some of our branches, like Brazil, Australia, and the United Kingdom. However, here in the Netherlands, we’re still a long way from reflecting Dutch society. We have to broaden our scope and tap into other sources to find new people. We need a diverse recruitment department in the first place, so people recognize themselves in our company when they apply for a job.

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"Initiatives like our Diversity & Inclusion Week and having an iftar dinner at the office make people feel safe and welcome at TOPdesk. We are inclusive, but we’re not diverse enough yet."

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As for the environmental pillar, we want to be even more resolute in choosing sustainable solutions. Our lunches are made with local products, and our fleet is going fully electric. We’re working with our landlord to make our premises in Delft greener. It’s not enough anymore just to offset our electricity; we have to go for truly sustainable options.

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But at the same time, TOPdeskers from all over the world fly to the Netherlands for our International Week. How does an international company justify that kind of decision?

You’re right, it’s a difficult balance. We’ve grown into quite a big club, but I’m going to keep pushing for our international colleagues to meet each other. I’d rather encourage people to eat less meat, for example. We always have a good selection of vegetarian, vegan and halal options at lunch. Our catering team is very flexible that way.

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That leaves one pillar: our role in society. TOPdeskers get paid time off for volunteering, but what else can we do?

If you’re involved in a project with a non-profit as a volunteer or board member, get TOPdesk on board! There’s a budget available as long as TOPdeskers participate actively. I’ve noticed that people often still think too small. We really can make a big difference, but you have to take action and organize it.

Ultimately, it all ties into our epic journey philosophy. In my experience, we’ve grown big because of our focus on job satisfaction. When what you do makes you smile, everything else falls into place. We can’t make it fun for everyone all the time. But most of the time, we can be proud of what we’re doing.

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That feels like a good place to end this interview. Is there something else you’d like to tell anyone reading this?

Have faith and be good to each other. That’s a heart-warming message, isn’t it?