Behind Human Centric is a team of committed professionals from a range of backgrounds. What unites us: the conviction that inclusion, safety and trust aren't abstract ideals, but concrete preconditions for success.
Our mission
Why we do what we do
Effective collaboration requires a culture where everyone feels safe and included. Yet, many teams lack the systems or the environment to make this a reality. Human Centric bridges that gap, helping you develop both the culture and the processes to support it.
We do this through training, coaching and consultancy, drawing on our years of experience, a systemic perspective and scientific insights.
We work with a pool of committed professionals, united by the conviction that organisations only truly thrive when people feel seen, heard and valued.
We don't shy away from uncomfortable conversations: instead we approach them with curiosity, empathy and openness. We don't have all the answers, but we're happy to look for them together, within your context.
We share gladly what we learn along the way. That's how we keep building organisations where everyone feels safe and at home.
What sets us apart
Four principles that guide our work
Scientifically grounded
Our expertise is based on behavioural science and organisational studies. We offer well-founded insights instead of opinions.
Systemic
We look beyond behaviour: instead we look at culture, structure, policy and leadership where the real levers sit.
Experienced and diverse team
Trainers, coaches, researchers and actors, each with their own expertise and background.
Not afraid of discomfort
We make it safe and respectful to talk about the hard things.
Clients & partners
A selection
We work with Dutch universities, knowledge-intensive firms, healthcare organisations and government, often for years. The common thread: organisations that take collaboration, inclusion and safety seriously. Click a logo to read more about our collaboration.
Sectors
Where we work
Higher education
Knowledge-intensive services
Healthcare
Government & semi-public
Let's get acquainted.
In a no-obligation call, we'll discuss where you are and how we can help.
Blindspot — starting the conversation on unconscious bias
Together with Frisse Blikken, SHV, ABN AMRO, KPN and NS we developed Blindspot. Blindspot is an interactive game that brings unconscious bias to the surface as an essential part of diverse and inclusive organisations. It's an engaging way to start that conversation within an organisation. Since then we've played the game with groups at many organisations and had meaningful conversations about bias, diversity and inclusion.
“Working with Human Centric was both enjoyable and instructive. The depth the team brought to the game and the accompanying workshop lifts the experience to a professional, impactful level. Human Centric stands out from the many providers in this field by going beyond standard exercises — they find the spot where the tension sits in a group and start the conversation right there.”
Maarten Molenaar
Lead Game Designer · former director of Serious Game studio, Frisse Blikken
Collaboration
Working with the Dutch national government
Human Centric has worked with several ministries on confidential projects in the areas of inclusion & social safety and decision-making.
Collaboration
Utrecht University — a university-wide programme on inclusion and social safety
When Utrecht University was looking for a partner for a university-wide programme on inclusion and social safety in late 2023, they came to us. More than two years on, we've now had over 1,000 staff and managers in our workshops, from faculty boards to support services.
The collaboration now spans five training tracks for staff:
Inclusive leadership for managers — four-hour workshop with actors
Social safety for managers — four-hour workshop, with or without actors
Inclusion and social safety — two-session foundational training with actors
Active bystander: responding to inappropriate behaviour — three-hour workshop with actors
Inclusive recruitment and objective selection — four-hour workshop
Alongside the training, we advise different parts of the university on social safety and coach teams where working relationships are under strain.
“Since 2023, we at Utrecht University have been working with Human Centric on equity, diversity, inclusion and social safety.
They deliver both organisation-wide and tailored training, such as Inclusion and social safety, Social safety for managers, Inclusive leadership for managers, Active Bystander, and Objective recruitment & inclusive selection.
The training is very positively received. Human Centric creates a safe learning environment with plenty of room to practise real-life situations.
We appreciate their professionalism, flexibility, and the way they actively think along with our organisation. They also continue to develop their training with new insights and up-to-date knowledge, which makes the collaboration all the more valuable.
We warmly recommend Human Centric to organisations that want to seriously strengthen inclusion and social safety.”
Linas Čepinskas
Advisor Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Utrecht University
Collaboration
Leiden University — a tailored training programme that keeps evolving
We have partnered with Leiden University since 2020. Together we built a tailored training programme that continues to evolve. It started with a series of short film scenes, developed with staff, that portray the dilemmas people actually encounter. Those scenes now form the core of our diversity and inclusion training at the university.
Our work in Leiden today includes diversity & inclusion workshops for faculties and support services, training on inclusive recruitment and objective selection (including for appointment committees), tailored leadership programmes on inclusive communication and decision-making, and support for the development of a diversity and inclusion vision for one of the departments.
“We work with Human Centric because they support an important objective of the university's D&I policy: strengthening staff expertise on diversity and inclusive leadership.
The Recruitment & Selection training was developed to support our Inclusive Recruitment & Selection tool. We value the option to offer tailored training to teams and departments, so a shared frame of reference can take root.
The collaboration runs smoothly: Human Centric is knowledgeable, thinks along actively, and connects well with the context and needs of the university!”
Michèlle van Wijk
HR policy advisor, Leiden University
Collaboration
Inclusieve Haven — supporting employers to become more inclusive
The Inclusieve Haven project supports employers in the Port of Rotterdam in their ambitions to become more inclusive. We contribute in two ways: we make our free tools available in their toolbox, and we have delivered several workshops on inclusive strategy development, intercultural communication and Blindspot.
“For Inclusieve Haven, we organised several workshops for employers in the port together with Rutger and Human Centric. Rutger is an experienced trainer and facilitator who makes the subject accessible and easy to talk about. The workshops on blind spots and on how to set up D&I policy were super interesting & relevant. I look forward to continuing to work with Rutger and Human Centric!”
Holtara — building inclusion and social safety together
Holtara is an international ESG advisory firm and part of the APEX Group. The organisation wanted to take a meaningful step on inclusion and social safety, but the goals and interventions had yet to be defined.
We supported the management team and working group through a sentiment analysis and the development of a strategy. We deliberately chose a co-creative approach: it strengthened the organisation's capacity for change, made sure all perspectives were heard, built broad support and allowed learning along the way.
The sentiment analysis consisted of a four-hour session with around 30 employees at the Amsterdam office, interviews with colleagues from Amsterdam, London, New York, Madrid and Sri Lanka, among others, and a document analysis. We brought the findings together in an anonymised report. That report became the foundation for a co-creative process to develop a strategy on diversity, inclusion and equity (DIE). It was agreed to develop this as a standalone strategy, separate from the broader organisational strategy for now. In a series of two-hour sessions, we worked it out together with the working group.
The result: a strategy that the working group can carry out themselves.
