About | Reward Works

My Journey

‘As the founder of Reward Works, Dennis is a prominent figure in the field of rewards and compensation. Through Reward Works, he offers expertise and solutions to organizations seeking to enhance their reward strategies to better align with business objectives and employee needs. His contributions include thought leadership, consulting services, and publications aimed at helping businesses optimize their reward programs for maximum impact and effectiveness.’

My university offered a study combining mechanical engineering with business administration. A great combination for me as I learned about design, functional requirements, processes, contionuous improvement, constraints as well as, business planning, finance and the key drivers of business.
As an Executive Compensation Advisor at WTW, I learned to listen and how to work in an international environment, under pressure and to the highest possible standards as a trusted advisor.
As Global Head of Reward and Performance, full-time employed (at ING Bank, Royal Ahold, Royal Philips, Signify, Solvay, OCI, Bayer and Fertiglobe), I learned about restoring trust in the reward philosophy and the importance of that trust. I learned that design is just 10% of the work (at most). The implementation of reward policies, incentive plans, broad based employee equity plans, salary structures, performance management systems, governance models etc. requires strong project management skills, the ability to think cross function, cross level, cross generation in a multi stakeholder environment both internally as well as externally.
As a member and since 20219, Chairman of the Board of the Global Equity Organization, a globally operating not for profit organization, I learned about diversity, multiple perspectives, sponsoring and politics.
As Executive Director of the Global Equity Organization, I learned about thin margins and how to work with limited resources, combined with high expectations.
As a member of international think tanks I learned about the changing demands to the Reward function, about the needs of the (near) future on themes as the great resignation, (potentially followed by the great regret), disparate pay, ESG, the need to take a holistic approach to Rewards.
As husband and a father of four, I have learned far more than in all the professional roles I have had so far.

Throughout my career I was allowed to attend great programs at Harvard, The University of Michigan and Insead where I earned about new theories, provoking thinking and alternative approaches. I was allowed to interact with inspiring professors and co-participants.
In my role as an advisor at WillisTowersWatson, I learned about how Executives think, read, prioritize and decide. I learned about active listening, I learned how to work in multicultural, international teams and working under pressure in a multistakeholder environment.
As the head judge for the annual awards ceremony of the Global Equity Organization (GEO) to select and honor the best designed, most effective, best implemented broad based equity plans, I was allowed to read and assess the best (and worst) designs implemented all over the world over the last decade.
As the Chairman of the Dutch association of Heads of Reward I learned how similar our challenges, yet, how different our solutions are.
At IBM I learned about project management, implementation of ERP solutions, deadlines, changing (functional) requirements, reporting, management, people development and career planning.
At KLM I learned about risk assessment and management. Core processes and long-term thinking.
At Viamet I learned about Enterprise Resource Planning, design, configuration of software, functional requirements.
At TABA in Brazil I learned about culture and diversity, planning, yield management, pricing strategies and reliability.

Testimonials

“Dennis is an extraordinarily bright and knowledgeable professional. He has a particularly distinctive ability to link external business and social factors and corporate strategy considerations with compensation design. He is both creative and intellectually rigorous, and always brings a point of view which adds value. He’s also very effective at working cross-functionally, and at all levels of the organization up to and including the board level.”

Jim Lawler CHRO Royal Ahold

“I worked several years with Dennis. He is a very well-connected leader in the global rewards community. He combines sharp observations with new ideas and doesn’t shy away from challenging an existing situation in order to find possibilities for improvement. Supported by his network and experience, Dennis’ strength is to bring a broad range of available solutions to the table, to be subsequently implemented in conjunction with the organization he is part of.”

Michiel Thierry, Chief Legal Officer and General Secretary at Signify

“Dennis is a very reliable business partner, expert in the field of compensation and benefits with extensive experience of international issues both from his Ahold experience his ING experience and his Towers Perrin experience in both London and Amsterdam. It is great to work with Dennis.”

Damian Carnell, Principal at Willis Towers Watson

“I have had the pleasure of working with Dennis since March of 2005. Dennis is the consummate professional in all matters concerning compensation and benefits. He is able to create new and innovative program designs that effectively consider the value proposition for all internal and external stakeholders. Most importantly though he is a man of great character and I value his friendship and comradeship.”

Ward Kraemer, Head of Rewards Americas at Signify

‘I have had the pleasure of working with Dennis since March of 2005. Dennis is the consummate professional in all matters concerning compensation and benefits. He is able to create new and innovative program designs that effectively consider the value proposition for all internal and external stakeholders. Most importantly though he is a man of great character and I value his friendship and comradeship.’