Patrick Vermeren

Speaker
Moderator
Dutch
English
Patrick Vermeren

Who is Patrick Vermeren?

Patrick Vermeren is a consultant, trainer, coach and science journalist. He is also a board member of SKEPP, the independent Belgian sceptical organisation and works for the Belgian HR service provider, PerCo.  Before that, he was an internal trainer and coach at the Dexia banking group in Brussels and commercial director in the automotive sector. Vermeren has written several books in Dutch. He recently published the controversial book ‘A Skeptic's HR Dictionary’. The good, the bad, and the partially true. 

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    Will HR ever be taken seriously? Why Evidence-Based Working Matters.

    Human Resources is a discipline that is closely related to the field of psychology. However, there are many cowboys out there, ranging from outright charlatans to pseudo-scientists who promise you heaven on earth while simultaneously costing you a lot of money. 

    Patrick Vermeren helps us to 'separate the wheat from the chaff': He discusses how he, on the basis of the scientific literature, set about evaluating 55 models. He takes us through ancient but persistent popular myths such as the Enneagram, NLP and MBTI, as well as partial truths such as Positive Psychology, Mindfulness and Self-Determination Theory. Fortunately, he also shows the way to valid theories, such as Evolutionary Psychology, the theory of metamotivation, the interpersonal circumplex, the five- or six-factor model of character traits and motivational goals. Not for sensitive souls: what can you expect? Very many sacred cows will be refuted, with facts that may make you uncomfortable.
     

    Motivational Leadership: From the Pleistocene to the Present

    Patrick adopts an unusual approach in the search for 'good leadership'. We start with our own history and then go back to the era of our early ancestors who lived as hunter-gatherers. Insight into our primal needs can teach us about what motivates and demotivates people and, on that basis, we can summarise what makes up 'motivational' leadership.

    How do you lead a large organisation? From mismatch to solution.

    Our human brain has evolved to deal with groups of about 100 to 150 people. Yet our modern organisations are often many times larger. To manage such situations, we have created control mechanisms that help us manage large organisations: objectives, performance management, KPIs, SPI annual evaluations, bonuses, etc. The question we will ask ourselves in this session is what these practices actually have to do directly and indirectly with human motivation, our ability to innovate and the commitment of our employees. A look into the scientific kitchen of the human mind will reveal that these practices often have 'perverse' effects. But how can things be done differently, and above all ... better? 

    The evolution of leadership: can we manage without leaders?

    Every now and then, some believers start shouting that organizations would be better off without leaders. But how realistic is this? We will take you back in the evolution of mankind and the evolution of mankind and show you the empirical data. Spoiler alert: people have a need for leadership and leadership is indeed very necessary. The substitute for bad leadership isn’t no leadership, but good leadership. 

A fascinating, refreshing and compelling speech! I caught many positive echoes, you clearly inspired people.

Lie Verrijssen

Unia (Interfederal Equality Centre)

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