In 2024, Select HR celebrates its 20th anniversary. An important milestone, not only for us but also for our long-term clients and partners. One of them is Guylian, the chocolatier based in East Flanders. We spoke with HR Manager Christel Thys to reflect on this long-standing partnership.

What does Guylian do?

Guylian is a chocolate manufacturing company that sells 100% Belgian chocolate in more than 100 countries worldwide. Production takes place in Sint-Niklaas, and the company also has two sales offices in Germany and the United Kingdom. Guylian products are often found in international airports. You probably know them best for their famous chocolate sea shells.

The company was originally founded as a family business by Guy and Liliane (hence the name Guylian) and was acquired by a Korean holding company in 2008. Today, around 200 employees work at Guylian, including approximately 110 blue-collar workers.

Christel Thys has been HR Manager at Guylian for 27 years. Together with her colleague Hilde, she manages daily HR operations such as recruitment and selection, onboarding, payroll, budget management, training and, this year, also the organization of social elections.

How did you start working with Select HR?

“That happened through Marije (Regional Manager West-East Flanders). We had already worked with Marije when she was still working at Unique. When she moved to Select HR, we contacted her for the recruitment of white-collar profiles, and that’s how our collaboration with Select HR started.

Whenever we need a white-collar profile, we contact the Select HR office in Ghent. These are mainly customer service roles.

Today we have less direct contact with Marije because she is less active in the offices and more involved at management level. I mainly work with Fien and Karen now. However, I still see Marije occasionally at events such as the HR Gala, where Select HR is always present. We have known each other for almost 20 years. It was a pity when she left Unique, but we quickly reconnected.”

What makes Select HR different from other HR agencies?

“The people make the difference. You don’t choose an office, you choose a person. Of course, it’s important that an organization has a clear vision and strategy, but everything ultimately depends on the people working there.

Select HR has consultants with strong expertise in their field. The intake conversation when starting a vacancy is very thorough. The job content is well understood and the company culture is already familiar to them. That’s the advantage of a long-term collaboration. You know our structure and culture, which allows you to quickly sense whether there is a match.”

Do you have a recent example of a successful collaboration?

“We recently hired Natasja as Office Manager. That is a good example of how Select HR can move quickly while maintaining the right level of quality.

A lot of work was put into that assignment and candidates were presented quickly. Fien screened the candidates for us and regularly updated us on the progress. In her feedback you could clearly see her academic background. She was able to assess the candidates well and provide strong feedback.

The combination of speed and quality in this case was once again a good example of how smoothly the collaboration with Select HR works.”

Thank you for your time, Christel!