On September 26th, the Leadership Team at GenDx welcomed 13 new employees who joined the company over the past six months.  

“I created this visit card using Excel.” 

“Our team loves cookies and includes them in our weekly meetings.” 

“I am terrible at riding bicycles.” 

These are just a few interesting details you would never learn about your colleagues through casual conversations. However, at GenDx, everyone gets the chance to learn more about their coworkers during the bi-annual Starters Day. This tradition, which began three years ago, has become one of the most beloved events at GenDx. 

“We kick off with a presentation about the company by Maarten Penning, our General Manager, and then you will present your visit cards,” announced Ellen Joziasse, Director of HR, as she opened the event on Thursday morning. After a warm welcome and a deeper dive into the company’s mission, vision, and core values, the newcomers had the chance to introduce themselves through DIY business cards, sharing their professional backgrounds and hobbies.  

In addition to creating their visit cards, the new GenDx-ers were given another “homework” assignment by the HR team: they had to create a presentation with facts and fables about their teams. This sparked fun and laughter as little-known details about colleagues and managers were revealed! 

Next, Jop Voorhoeve (Director of Finance), Hanneke Merkens (Chief Marketing Officer), Larissa van Tuil and Eleni Draina (from the sustainability team) spoke about the company’s overall processes in their departments. It was a fantastic opportunity for the newcomers to get an overview of the company’s history, culture, and workflows and to ask essential questions. 

This year’s group of 13 new employees hails from 10 countries: the Netherlands, Cameroon, India, Vietnam, South Africa, Libya, Syria, Slovenia, Colombia, and Ukraine. But this Starters Day was particularly special not only because of the large group but also because it was the first time the event was held in our new office at the Alexander Numan Building in Utrecht. 

To wrap up the day, the newcomers participated in a quiz to test their knowledge of GenDx and shared their thoughts about the event.  

“I feel the atmosphere here is easy-going. Everyone is approachable, open for conversation, and you feel very welcome,” said a new member of the support team.

“It feels like we are complementary parts of the same puzzle, despite our different backgrounds and origins,” said our new colleague from the Marketing team.

Overall, the event was filled with positive energy, laughter, and smiles. As an added surprise, all the newcomers received Dom tower Candles as gifts, and the day ended with a group lunch at a traditional pancake restaurant — a perfect way to close the event.