Eveline Bakker

Your best-performing executive may also be your biggest people risk. The numbers are excellent. Targets are being met. The business is growing. But people keep leaving the executive's team. HR receives informal concerns about leadership style. Employees say they do not feel comfortable speaking up. There is no formal complaint. No investigation. No established misconduct. So when should the board become concerned?

Cyberattacks targeting hospitals, municipalities, critical infrastructure and other public service providers are no longer exceptional. Organisations therefore need to strengthen their resilience against digital threats. On 15 August 2026, the Cybersecurity Act (Cyberbeveiligingswet, Cbw) entered into force. With this Act, the Netherlands implements the European NIS2 Directive. The aim of the Cbw is to require organisations to take their digital resilience seriously and ensure that it is properly addressed. For management boards, this is primarily a compliance issue. However, a closer look at what these obligations mean in practice shows that the works council also has an important role to play.

ABN AMRO made headlines this week in the Financieele Dagblad. The bank wants employees to work from the office more frequently and is currently negotiating this with the trade unions. ABN AMRO is not alone in this – a broader trend is emerging across Dutch businesses. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home has become the new normal. But the tide is turning. An increasing number of companies want employees to spend more time in the office again. Reasons cited include higher productivity, stronger connections with colleagues, greater creativity and a better work-life balance. This may sound logical. However, changing a work-from-home policy is more than simply a management decision.