People & innovation are at the core of TomTom's success

In an exclusive interview with People Matters, Arne-Christian van der Tang, SVP - Group Human Resources at TomTom narrates the organization’s transformation journey, the company’s continued focus on diversification & how HR is customizing employee experiences By Ester Martinez and Vikas arora.

- Ester Martinez and Vikas arora

Arne-Christian van der Tang heads the HR function for the TomTom group, a $1 billion-plus Dutch company that provides consumer, automotive, navigation, and mapping solutions. Van der Tang has been credited to have secured significant investments in HR to execute large-scale change management.

TomTom has recently adopted Workday’s HCM solutions for its HR & talent management operations.

Product companies have undergone massive transformation due to the technological advancements happening in the industry. How has TomTom transformed to keep pace with the industry? What has been your transformation journey like?

Tom Tom started as a software company back in 1991 and in our 25 years of operation, we have diversified and transformed many times. We started with developing software for B2B mobile applications and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for consumers. We have since then diversified into other avenues – navigation software, software for organizers, etc. – but we have been all about software development. It was then that we connected with a digital mapping company called Tele Atlas. And for the first time in 2002, we started applying our knowledge of software and content creation with GPS network. GPS was open to the general public which created a fantastic opportunity for locating people through their GPS position on the map,which led to our navigation product; and that navigation product turned into our story.As good as that was, we were also hit very hard when the market crashed in 2009-10. We had planned for diversification of our revenue long before that though and moved from the consumer space towards business to business, fleet management and automotive solutions.