Fietje Vaas

Dr. Fietje Vaas is affiliated with TNO Quality of Life, department Work and Employment as programme manager. The programme she currently manages is named: Innovation that works. In this programme senior researchers from several core areas are participating and cooperating. Her focus is on smart and flexible work organizations and room for the innovative powers of staff.
Fietje started her career at TNO in 1986. Before that she was employed by the Dutch trade union (NVV, FNV) for thirteen years. The first period of ten years at TNO she has been project manager of various complex projects in which she performed research and consultancy for large and medium sized companies and for governments. The themes she elaborated in these projects were: the quality of working life, new forms of work organization, sociotechnical systems theory, lean production and BPR, productivity, work load, stress and proactive stress management.
The second period of approximately ten years she performed line management jobs at various levels. The recent period Fietje operates as senior strategist managing the mentioned research programme and playing a role in the – by her and other partners founded – Dutch Centre for Social Innovation.
She published many articles and books, mainly transferring research findings to users: managers and workers.

Fietje is a generalist, with a broad network and able to connect people from different diciplines and with different orientations, at different positions in the knowledge creating process; thus creating new research topics as well as new applications in companies and public organizations.

Selected publications:

  • Pot F, Vaas F. Social innovation, the new challenge for Europe. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 2008;57(6):468-473.
  • Pot, F.D., Vaas, S. Social Innovation: The Dutch Experience. Integrating Productivity, Innovation, Employment and Flexibility. In: Themenschwerpunkt Personalfuerung 7/2008.
  • Vaas, dr. F., Kraan, drs. K.O., Ruimte voor innovatief gedrag van werknemers, pp. 245-259 in: Dhondt, dr. S. & Vaas, dr. F. (red.), Waardevol werk; Van arbeidskwaliteit naar sociale innovatie, Den Haag: Uitgeverij LEMMA, 2008.

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