Welcome to episode 130 with Paul Ter Wal

In this episode we have a distinguished guest joining us on the show. Paul is a business professional hailing all the way from Holland. With a wealth of experience and expertise in the field of preventative healthcare in the workplace, Paul brings a unique perspective to our conversation. As the founder of Andare, an intriguing business with an Italian flair, Paul has captivated our attention. We are delighted to have him here to share his insights, background, and the fascinating story behind his business.

I began the interview by asking Paul more about himself and why he’d called the business Andare. This came from his love of Italy and that the word stands for forwards or moving on in Italian. His background was as a lawyer who worked initially to support people with their claims for managing their ill health. As he developed his interest in this field, he wanted to make a difference to people. This prompted a need to be involved in avoiding ill health. Preventative healthcare as he sees it comes from keeping people happy and engaged. Sick leave is about 6 % in Holland and hovers around 1.9% for small businesses. He believes everything above that is down to lifestyle and choices.

What else did we discuss?

Preventative healthcare in business is about how leadership behave he believes, the culture we develop and the effort we make to take care of people. He doesn’t like the word ‘human resource’ because of the mindset that people are therefore expendable as a resource. He thinks true leadership is about being supportive, flexible, and open with people so that they are asked how they are and cared for.

More involvement and engagement achieve results. We know that as practitioners. He feels we need to look at the way we organise businesses. We are top-down typically in set up and as he feels it, we look down on the people who are really doing the job. The people who turn our businesses in to profits are as much at lower levels as they are at the top

Paul offered some real food for thought and his 7 P’s model which he explains, has resulted in positive improvements for the businesses he’s worked with.

You can find out more about Paul from his website, Team Andare and LinkedIn