It’s true that you can’t choose your family. But when you choose to work together as a family, it does attest to something special.
“We noticed that customers reacted positively to my son, Christopher, accompanying me to client meetings”, Luc says. “Somehow, the fact that we were a family business helped forge a bond with our clients and enhance the credibility of our company. We understood that our family bond could become our USP. Levaco is a SME, and a large part of our customers are SMEs too. The family structure and familial atmosphere creates a feeling of trust and reliability.”
Not only Christopher followed in the footsteps of his father, so too did his sisters Alycia and Lyanne. While Alycia is part of the Levaco team, Lyanne works for their sister company Atlas, an international network organization, that works closely together with Levaco and is located on the same office floor. Teambuilding activities for example, are always organized across the two companies to promote cohesion and commitment.
Advantages
According to Alycia one of the biggest advantages of having a family business is that they are very proactive and that there’s always someone available to consult in case of emergencies, or to brainstorm a possible solution, regardless of office hours. There is a big commitment to provide the best possible service both with respect to customers, partners, and suppliers. Because we’re a family business we all chip in where and when needed and we all take on a lot of different tasks. Because we work closely together, we can also easily provide backup to the different departments when required.
Family affair
Even if Luc still bears the title of CEO, the day-to-day management and operational control is largely in the hands of son Christopher. In addition, Christopher also manages the contacts with oversees agents, and prepares and undertakes the international business trips.
Daughter Alycia, who has been with the company for four years, is team leader for import logistics. As head of the import department, Alycia manages international agents and negotiates prices. In addition to import, Alycia also manages HR-tasks, team administration and plans the quarterly team building activities, which are always great fun. The plan is for her to take over some of the international relations and business trips from Christopher because the demands of family life and increasing workload make it difficult for him to cover all aspects. It also makes perfect sense, since international relations and travel have always appealed to Alycia, who is greatly interested in discovering other countries and cultures. During her studies as a nurse, she spent time in Denmark and Ecuador. And even if she traded in the medical world for freight forwarding, she still volunteers at the Red Cross where she holds an official position as economist.
Lyanne, who studied Executive Management Assistance, also went abroad for her internship, where she did research into quality and accreditations in hospitals. She started out at Atlas to cover team shortfalls when someone resigned, but stayed on for the interesting contacts, projects, and amical atmosphere at work.
Christopher, who studied logistics, did his internship in Ho Chi Minh and travelled to Korea a couple of times along with his father on business trips during his studies. He also started out at the import department, then moved on to sales and has taken over the operational management since 2020.
“The fact that all three are passionate about different countries and cultures, is definitely an added value”, says Luc.
One big family
These days Luc is handing over more and more control to his children, who will take over full control of the business in a couple of years. At the moment Luc still manages some long-standing client relationships as well as HR matters such as employee hires and is in charge of the end-of-year financial reporting.
“We all get along well, and we like to spend time together both during and outside of work”. The loose, casual, and professional atmosphere at Levaco appeals all three of them. But it reaches beyond the family. “It’s not because we are related that we work well together. External employees also really feel part of the family. The team spirit is very good and we’re often enjoying each other’s company. As a team we mostly have our lunchbreak together, we use that opportunity to communicate and reach out to all our members of staff. Because of COVID things have changed a bit but we’re planning to refurbish our office, including a new kitchen, eating space, relaxation area and a multipurpose room that can also be used for fun activities”, says Christopher.
All fun and games?
“Well, I wouldn’t go as far to state that”, (all three siblings laugh and agree). “We do have our difficult moments too”, says Alycia. “When we’re at the office we try to see each other as colleagues, rather than brother and sisters”. “Even at the best of times our business is very stressful. Tension can easily rise, especially when we are overworked. When you work with your relatives you have less constraints as with other coworkers, so it’s easier to cross established boundaries. But luckily those moments pass quickly, and we don’t let it get in the way of our job”, Alycia continues. Christopher agrees and adds: “we still hang out a lot after work and go on holidays together, so I guess that illustrates that we don’t let work tension interfere in our family relationship”. Christopher shares a little fun fact that illustrates the siblings’ relationship: “Alycia is dubbed ‘small CEO’ at the office; to which she quickly adds: “That’s because I do everything around here”, (they all laugh).
“There is a lot of commitment within the team, and there’s a good mix of people with different backgrounds, profiles, and ages”, says Luc. “At Levaco we are very future minded, and focus strongly on digitalization, modernization, and innovation. At the same time, we can benefit from the knowledge and network of the older generation who teach the younger employees the tricks of the trade”, says Christopher. “The cultural diversity within our workforce not only reflects the society we live in but is an added value with respect to client relations”, Luc concludes.
