Marco Dalmeijer

Marco Dalmaijer is strategy director at Clubgeist, an Amsterdam agency that builds employer brands from culture. He graduated in 2008 into the financial crisis and, although he already dreamed of working at a creative strategic agency, took a role at Deloitte where he could fully develop himself and ended up setting some of the earliest steps in employer branding before the term was even common. Over the next two decades he moved from permanent employment into freelance work at organisations including Just Eat Takeaway, Danone and Eiffel, always keeping one foot in the agency world he loved. At Clubgeist he now helps organisations uncover their culture and translate it into work that reaches people, driven by a deep conviction that talent should be selected on what it can genuinely do rather than on a CV or a motivation letter.

Q: How did Marco Dalmaijer from Clubgeist end up moving from the corporate world to an agency?

A: Through a long route that always circled back to his love of creative strategic work. Marco graduated in 2008 into the financial crisis and, although he dreamed of joining an agency, chose a role at Deloitte where he could fully develop himself and ended up setting some of the earliest steps in employer branding before the term was even common. From there he moved into freelance work at organisations such as Just Eat Takeaway, Danone and Eiffel, always keeping a foot in the agency world by selecting and collaborating with agencies himself. After roughly twenty years on the corporate side, he finally followed the voice that kept asking what it was like on the other side of the coin and joined Clubgeist.

Q: Why did Marco Dalmaijer from Clubgeist choose Clubgeist specifically?

A: Because Clubgeist already worked from culture and culture-forming, which is exactly what has fascinated him throughout his career. Their line branding by culture matched his own conviction that you first have to find the culture inside an organisation and then translate it into iconic communication that reaches the heart. Marco was drawn to the question of how you build a community that genuinely wants to grow together, rather than treating an employer brand as a marketing exercise. After many conversations he wanted to work for an organisation that puts culture at the centre, and Clubgeist did.

Q: Why does Marco Dalmaijer from Clubgeist believe an employer brand should never be just a marketing story?

A: Because a purely marketed brand sells a vacancy without honestly serving the talent behind the application. Marco's core belief is that you have to offer people a place that truly fits them, since bringing in talent that does not match your organisation only creates a misfit and sends you back to the start of the process. He feels strongly that giving talent a promise that does not match reality robs them of their time, which he considers far too valuable to waste. For him honest employer branding and thorough selection reinforce each other, and when either one is dishonest the damage to inflow and retention is severe.

Q: Why does Marco Dalmaijer from Clubgeist believe skills predict long-term fit better than a CV?

A: Because people can adapt to a role for three to six months, but a lasting match only shows when the work genuinely suits their talent and passion. Marco points to the order pickers at Carrefour, where highly innovative and performance-driven people do well in the first months but leave soon after, because the repetitive target of boxes per hour stops being a challenge. People who are more task-oriented turn out to fit that same work far better over time. With enough data you can distinguish top, medium and low performers and see which competencies keep the top performers on board, something a CV or motivation letter could never reveal.

Q: Why is the shift to skills-based hiring so hard for organisations, according to Marco Dalmaijer from Clubgeist?

A: Because asking recruiters to change everything overnight creates real stress, and any move away from traditional selection is a transition that simply takes time. Marco sees a clear divide between frontrunners, organisations in the middle of the change and those still working the old way. He notes that the skills-based transition has been underway for a while now, and that the right tools can guide recruiters through the phases faster and help them see what they can get out of it. His experience at Eiffel taught him how much patience it takes to bring an organisation along.

Q: How does Marco Dalmaijer from Clubgeist think about remote versus office work and its effect on culture?

A: It depends entirely on the organisation and the work, and he is neither a strict supporter nor an opponent. Marco notes that a hospital cannot be run remotely, while plenty of fully remote organisations have a strong culture as long as they keep investing in it. Clubgeist itself chooses to be in the office at least four days a week because it helps people find each other and grow together faster. He also points to research linking isolation to more depression among young people, and believes that early in your career you should be present as much as possible to learn from others.

Q: Why does Marco Dalmaijer from Clubgeist worry about companies hiring fewer starters because of AI?

A: Because the routine work that used to train young people is now being accelerated by AI, and some companies are responding by hiring fewer starters. Marco warns that this creates an enormous problem fifteen to twenty years down the line, especially with an ageing labour market, since a whole layer of talent would never get the chance to develop and grow. He believes learning from one another across generations on the work floor is essential. For him the answer is not to stop hiring starters but to keep giving them room to learn.

Q: What does the culture scan that Marco Dalmaijer runs at Clubgeist involve?

A: Together with partner Ton Rodenburg he dives into an organisation's vision, mission and culture using a culture-values model Ton has developed over twenty years. The scan draws on everything visible about the company, on conversations across the whole organisation from the work floor to the board, and on existing data such as employee satisfaction surveys and exit information. All of that is plotted into the model to produce a fast, clear picture of the culture, which then briefs the creative team to develop what is truly iconic for that organisation. A typical trajectory runs three to six months, from culture scan to an employer value proposition to finished creative, and Clubgeist is now extending this into a more advisory role across the whole talent journey.

Q: What are Marco Dalmaijer from Clubgeist's most important tips for organisations that want to start with culture and skills-based hiring?

A: First, take the time to truly understand your own organisation by talking to your people and, just as importantly, by observing and listening like an anthropologist rather than rushing through the ratrace. Second, treat talent and culture as a boardroom-level, organisation-wide topic rather than something confined to talent acquisition or learning and development, because your people are your greatest capital. Third, put the human central instead of only the money, and make authenticity something you genuinely live rather than a term you use, because AI is making everything more transparent and people quickly see through a story that does not match reality.