Our Name
Long before the use of our characters, the Scandinavian cultures had runes. This script was a whole set of symbols that served as a guide for the questions of life, and every sign had a symbolic value. Kenaz is the rune of controlled fire, the royal will and craftsmanship. As such, the symbol refers to openness, creativity and inspiration. These are the values that our agency wants to spread.
Our Mission
Focus on strength
Kenaz is a training and consultancy agency geared towards the increased performance of organisations and individuals within these organisations. As to the achievement of this goal, we believe in a solution-oriented approach to people management.
We always start with an analysis of what is good and what can be strengthened. We do not focus on faults and shortcomings but rather on talents and strengths.
This approach really works. It is applicable at all levels: to the individual, to the team, to the whole organisation. The advantage to this approach is that it offers practical, innovative and suitable solutions. After all, they rest on the people themselves. Our customers include companies as well as social profit organisations and public organs.
Our Approach
Sustainable Business Results
Our ambition is to support organisations, teams, projects and employees in achieving better results. ‘Sustainability’ is the central concept in doing so. Sustainability means that we share our knowledge with our customers, so that they can continue using this knowledge in their organisation. This is why a partnership and intense collaboration with our customers are crucial to us.
Desired Performance
We share your concern for the performance of your employees. In many organisations, the potential of the organisation and its employees remains underused. We always aim at full utilisation of this potential and, in doing so, we strive for a synthesis between the needs of the employees and those of the organisation. The key to success lies in a balanced rapport between these two.
Development Potential
Performance increases through developing skills, strengthening motivation and/or changing the mindset of the employees. We create an analysis of opportunities for improvement, both with the employees and in the organisation. We formulate recommendations for this and then implement the intervention that we have selected along with you. Afterwards we measure whether added value has effectively been realised for the organisation.
Aligned Performance Architecture
We avoid ‘one-shot’ interventions. Our goal is to create a context that has a lasting effect on your employees’ performance. This we refer to as the creation of an ‘aligned performance architecture’.
Growth of Performance
Our tools are always available to measure the contribution of our interventions.
Our Particularities
Added value
Customers use our services because our analysis, advice and interventions contribute demonstrably to the improved performance of organisations. They have a direct effect on the achievements of companies.
Scientifically founded
All our interventions are built on recent scientific insights and successful practices. Our trainer-consultants therefore spend at least 20 percent of their time on follow-up of new developments and on practical research. Our cooperation with Harvard researchers is an important source of inspiration in this.
Innovative
We keep a close eye on scientific developments in our field of expertise. We continuously translate the insights into tools and concepts for our customers. This way, we guarantee them the most innovative solutions.
International orientation
We offer services in Europe, North and South America and Asia.
Our Team
- Dr. Jan Van der Vurst
- Els Colruyt
- Kris Decraemer
- Jasper Deneut
- Cedric Henrion
- Kathleen Howard
- Julie Laloo
- Greet Moons
- Diederik Vancoillie
- Marinette Vanden Wyngaert
- Adri Van der Vurst
- Dr. Rachel Yan Lu
- Thomas Geusens
- Ivan Vanooy
- Dr. Gwenda Dispersyn
- Eduardo T. Hidal
Dr. Jan Van der Vurst
Jan holds an MA in Adult Education from the Catholic University in Leuven (Belgium) and a Ph. D. from the Rijksuniversiteit in Utrecht (Holland). He has taken extensive postgraduate training in behavioural and attitude change methods, both in Europe and the U.S. As a specialist in leadership development, Jan Van der Vurst worked as a trainer and consultant for major international companies throughout Europe, North America and Asia, since 1985.
Els Colruyt
Els holds a degree in Computer Sciences and in Group- and Psychodynamics. She has worked extensively in both the financial and the distribution business. Face-to-face communications between individuals and in groups is her prime area of expertise.
Kris Decraemer
Kris got an MA in Psychology from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) and took extensive postgraduate training in Gestalt, System Theory and EMDR. She specializes in Conflict Management (incl. mobbing), Crisis Handling, Influencing Skills and Individual Coaching. She works mainly in the Social Profit Sector.
Jasper Deneut
Jasper studied Educational Sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven. He is particularly interested in cooperation processes. He works mainly in the Services Sector.
Cedric Henrion
Cedric studied Psychology and Social & Cultural Anthropology at the Catholic University of Leuven. He first worked as project manager and then specialised in planning, monitoring and evaluation processes of (multi)stakeholder projects as a trainer/consultant. He has built up experience in Europe, Africa and India, particularly in the public, semi-public and non-governmental sectors. He takes an interest in the ‘drivers’ of effective organisational changes.
Kathleen Howard
Kathleen holds a BSc in Human Kinetics from the University of Guelph (Canada) and an MA in Developing Human Resources from the University of Toronto (Canada). She took extensive postgraduate training in Personal and Organizational Change, including the Real Time Strategic Change Methodology. She specializes in Leadership Development, Team Coaching and Organisational Transformation. She works mainly for Healthcare, Telecommunications, E-Learning and Forestry. Kathleen coordinates the Kenaz activities in North America.
Julie Laloo
Julie studied developmental and social psychology at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-neuve. She spent several years abroad. Now Julie specialises in Human Resource Management and individual coaching.
Greet Moons
Greet has broad experience in the publishing industry. At Kenaz, she is responsible for billing and accountancy.
Diederik Vancoillie
Diederik holds an MA in Adult Education from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). Specialized in Outdoor training methods, he has vast experience in applying these to Team Development and Inter Departmental Cooperation. He has extensive experience in working with Governmental Organizations.
Marinette Vanden Wyngaert
Marinette holds a degree in Adult Education from the Catholic University in Leuven. She is human resources manager at Kenaz.
Dr. Rachel Yan Lu
Rachel obtained a Ph.D. in Educational Sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven, in which she focussed on mentorring. She works for colleges and companies in Belgium and the Netherlands. She works in the field of intercultural management and doing business with China. She is in charge of the Kenaz programs in Asia.
Thomas Geusens
Thomas studied Social Pedagogy in the KUL. He has been pedagogic worker in the Limburg’s branch of KSJ-KSA-VKSJ where he gave tailor made trainings for youth movements. He then moved to the world of the enterprise as a consultant for Randstad, where he recruited technical profiles and insured commercial work. Thomas is driven by a tremendous creativity and passion for the job.
Ivan Vanooy
Ivan holds a Master degree in Applied Economics from the Catholic University of Louvain. He started his career working in advertising in the banking sector. He then worked for a long period in a major international human resources consultancy firm, starting out in recruitment and gradually becoming more involved in organizational consulting, after an MBA training at the Rotterdam School of Management. He discovered coaching and training to be his true mission and certified to an ICF (International Coach Federation) level. He is strong advocate of integrating intuitive thinking and personal energy management into business life.
Dr. Gwenda Dispersyn
Gwenda holds an MA in Biochemics and obtained a PhD in Sciences at the University of Antwerp, in cooperation with Janssen Research Foundation. She also holds a teacher training degree. Gwenda has a vast experience with international teams and people management. Her interest lies mainly in coaching.
Eduardo T. Hidal
Eduardo holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Pauloand and an MBA from The Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. He started his career working in finance and manufacturing industries as a consultant. He then worked for a long period in a major international commercial bank, specializing in corporate credit and problem loan management. As he became more involved in the restructuring of problem loans, his interests progressively evolved towards negotiation and conflict resolution. Eduardo trained at top internationally recognized negotiation and conflict resolution centers and currently teaches negotiation at business and law schools in Brazil, his home country.