Trudy Onland (Stedin): ‘Accelerating with tomorrow’s technology’

What have been your highlights since your appointment as CEO?
‘I have only just started, so there has not been much time for highlights. The first day as CEO was special, but it was also just a normal working day. The transition from my previous position on the board of directors was gradual. I knew for a long time that this was coming and how much needed to be done. So it was full steam ahead from the start.’

Looking back on your time as COO, what are you most proud of?
‘I am proud of several things. We are about to take a huge step forward with the introduction of a ‘plug connection’ for cables. This will make the work, currently requiring a great deal of labor-intensive craftsmanship, as easy as connecting your garden hose.
I am also proud of the strategic shift we have made as a company. In the past, we were very focused on finances. With the previous board of directors, we turned that around. Our strategy describes what we need to do, and we were confident that the financing to enable us to continue to make our investments would follow. That is what happened.’

What disappointed you and what did you not achieve that you had set yourself as a goal?
‘Some things are taking longer than they should. Such as the pluggable connection: we worked on it for two and a half years. I would have liked to have introduced it earlier. Another example is a project where we wanted to help people released from detention to be employed at Stedin. We started a project but were unable to succeed in finding suitable candidates. Technical positions with us are not particularly accessible; it requires extensive training. The feedback was that the long training was too high a threshold.’

How do you deal with unrealised goals or results, both for yourself and those around you?
‘I am strict with myself. At the same time, I think it is important that the goal is based on something. If I set a deadline that is too tight, that is not a problem, but if the goal has no solid purpose, that is not leadership.
With the project for people released from detention, we did receive applications, but people dropped out, sometimes already after the first or second interview. Establishing contact with the institutions went well, but we always ran into something which prevented it from going ahead. We gave it a valid attempt.’

What goals have you set for yourself as CEO of Stedin and what impact do you want to make?
‘Stedin is at the forefront of the energy transition. Our primary task is to maintain and also upgrade the existing gas and electricity grid so that wind, sun and new carriers such as hydrogen can be connected without problems. The energy sector is currently at a crucial turning point: at the end of one S-curve and in transition to the next. In other words, the traditional fossil fuel energy system has reached its limits, while a new, sustainable energy system is still under construction. My goal is to ensure that we take major, concrete steps towards that new system in the coming period.
The impact I want to make is mainly about advancing society, not only Stedin. As we grow, the problems in society should become smaller – that is my ESG philosophy.
Stedin has around 6,000 employees in three provinces of the Netherlands, and we have a social duty to contribute to livelihood security, inclusion and education. Through accessible vocational training, support for personal issues and mentoring systems, we are restoring confidence in the labor market and in grid management. Our company’s soft core is trust.’

How are you addressing staff shortages?
‘We currently have only a third of the number of technicians needed to get the planned grid expansion on track. At the same time, we are actively recruiting new staff, including status holders, and offering accessible training and language courses. Stedin is a large employer, and we are committed to being a good employer that contributes to high employee satisfaction and commitment.
But we cannot solve the shortage by attracting people alone – the labor market is too tight and there is too little enthusiasm for vocational training. We are therefore taking a multi-pronged approach. First, we are making the work of technicians less labor-intensive. There is sufficient technology to make the work three times less strenuous. I already mentioned the pluggable connections that speed up this labor-intensive work. Technicians will maintain their normal work rhythm but will benefit from more efficient tools that allow them to get more done without having to work harder. This increases productivity without increasing the workload at the individual level. Making the work more ergonomic also helps to keep people in good health until they reach retirement age.
In addition, we are fully committed to other forms of technological innovation. This includes new forms of storage in the network to reduce the need for upgrades but also the use of data from our distribution stations to better regulate traffic on the grid. We are considering how technologies such as AI can help us find solutions. It is important not to get stuck in yesterday's technology, but to accelerate with the technology of tomorrow.
Collaboration with other parties is also crucial. Especially with the market, as it is geared towards fast development. Collaboration with other grid operators has intensified in recent years. We exchange all kinds of knowledge and experience, share knowledge with each other and divide tasks. For example, we are responsible for setting up basic knowledge and language training for status holders for the entire sector. Alliander and Enexis do other things. We collaborate as Netbeheer Nederland because we do not want to spend public money on the same thing three times.’

You hire hundreds of new people every month. How do you keep upscaling manageable with such a large influx?
‘That is a really good question. When you hire hundreds of people every month, you have to keep looking and thinking about whether all those new people can get off to a good start right away. Where is it not necessary to hire aggressively, as it is not a growth market? Or is it better to stop hiring new people for a while because of dependencies? If you hire 13 people for a specific project, but they have to wait for ten others, the question is whether you want to hire those 13 right now.
And then there is the question of how everyone stays involved and takes responsibility with such rapid growth. Stedin tests the employee engagement annually and scores highly, with an engagement score that is rising and well above the benchmark for the sector. A lot of effort is put into onboarding, and we do everything we can to make people feel at home here. The culture at Stedin, where people quickly feel part of a team, helps with this. The challenge is to ensure that this culture does not become diluted by the influx of the huge number of new people.’

What is your view on the current legislation and regulations? To what extent does it hinder a smooth energy transition?
‘The existing regulations often date back to the fossil fuel era. We are noticing that this is really changing and that the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) and other parties are willing to experiment, if you involve them in good time and it fits within certain broad frameworks. It would be great if companies that are flexible about when they use energy were given even more leeway. The fact that this leeway does not yet exist is not due to unwillingness on anyone’s part, it is simply new territory.’

The world around us is changing rapidly, with geopolitical shifts and digital vulnerabilities. How does Stedin strengthen the resilience of the grid?
‘We are caught in a geopolitical force field. For example, new risks are emerging because countries that are not always well disposed towards us hold leading positions in critical infrastructure components. To counter these vulnerabilities, we are diversifying our technological choices: we are working on alternative supply chains and keeping analogue backup facilities ready so that we can quickly fall back on them in the event of a large-scale cyber or physical threat.
In addition, we are investigating whether decentralised storage solutions can function as local buffers. Before investing tens of millions in network upgrades, we will first examine whether smart storage can be used to absorb peak loads. This would give us a few years of breathing space.’

What experiences have you gained as a leader that you apply at Stedin?
‘At KPMG, I learned to write, and learning to write teaches you how to organize. It was also great that I worked in information security there. Now, as CEO of Stedin, I am glad to have that background.
At NS, I learned what it means to work in a public company. As head of customer service, I realized that nobody really wants to call customer service. There, I learned how to see things from the customer’s perspective, something that is super important if you are a monopolist.’

What makes you the right leader to achieve this?
‘I think I have the ability to let ideas that have not been thought of yet, come to me, or to think of them myself. In order to achieve the energy transition as quick and smooth as possible, we need to look beyond existing paths and ways of thinking. It is about thinking about what everything that comes your way could mean for your organization and society. It is about being able to properly assess innovations or new developments and knowing how to apply them to devise new solutions for the complex challenges that the energy transition brings. A small, concrete example is thinking about the contribution that technicians could make in the event of a major power outage during the NATO summit in The Hague, such as freeing people from elevators. They have the tools to do so.
Furthermore, we live in a time where you cannot achieve anything on your own. The leadership I advocate is in line with this: investigative and connecting, with room for multiple perspectives, with a modest ego, but also with the courage to set tight deadlines when they are achievable.’

Do you have specific role models that you look up to?
‘I do not have one person in particular. But I have been very lucky with my managers. Such as the partner at KPMG who returned my first report covered in red ink and corrections. He taught me how to write well – how to organize your thoughts. In addition to former managers, I look up to Femke Halsema, for example. On Buitenhof, a Dutch current affairs program, I see her explain how she is able to do something, while demanding so much from herself and still managing to provide a clear narrative. I learn from that.’

What do you do to clear your head and relax?
‘I exercise a lot. I just find that it is good for me. And I like pottering around, reading newspapers, and listening to podcasts. I enjoy gathering lots of information about broad social issues. And then thinking about it in peace.’

This interview was published in Management Scope 06 2025.