How VEB turned negotiation into an organizational capability
Negotiation at the heart of everything VEB does
VEB, the Flemish Energy Company, operates at the intersection of public service and commercial reality. With a mission to guide the public sector toward more sustainable and efficient energy management, VEB navigates complex stakeholder relationships every day.
Negotiation is not a peripheral activity at VEB. It is central to everything they do: with governments, suppliers, partners, and across internal departments and project teams. As Seppe Lenaerts, Talent and Acquisition Manager at VEB, put it: “Negotiation is actually a very broad concept. And the problem is that negotiation means something different to every person.”
That gap, between individual interpretations and a coherent organizational approach, was exactly what VEB set out to close.
The hidden cost of negotiating without a shared approach
VEB’s leadership recognized that Negotiation Intelligence (NQ®)was not equally developed across the organization. The assumption that only sales professionals need negotiation skills was holding the organization back. Buyers, team leaders, and project managers all negotiate constantly, yet lacked a shared framework and common language.
The goal was clear: create uniform ways of negotiating for the key figures within the organization, across commercial profiles, purchasing roles, and team leadership functions.
When CEO Frederik Hindryckx followed a program where he encountered Prof. Dr. Katia Tieleman’s work, he was immediately convinced of its value. He completed the full trajectory himself and saw the potential for his organization firsthand. That conviction became the starting point for what followed.
Theory that lands in practice
NegotiationWize and VEB designed a journey for a core group of 15 people, built around the NQ® model. Participants completed individual NQ® scans, followed a self paced online journey, and engaged in group coaching and live sessions, including practice with professional actors. Every participant received a personal copy of the book Negotiation Intelligence, Onderhandelen Omdenken.
What distinguished the program was its balance of depth and immediate practical relevance. Theory was consistently translated into practice. The trajectory was spread deliberately over time, giving participants the space to absorb, apply, and reflect between sessions.
The NegotiationWize program is very manageable for every professional, even alongside a full-time job. It gives you the space to look back, to process, and to truly make it your own.
Seppe Lenaerts, Talent and Acquisition Manager, VEB
Growth you can measure, change you can feel
What participants noticed first was not a new technique. It was a different way of entering a conversation, more curious, more attentive to what the other side actually needs. Over time, that shift became visible in their work and beyond. Post-program feedback showed a consistent rise in confidence, with participants moving from ‘slightly confident’ to ‘confident’ or even ‘very confident’ in complex negotiations. As one participant put it: ‘I now step into negotiations with more confidence, taking the lead where I can, while staying curious about the other side.'”
Growth was made measurable through NQ® scores at the start and end of the trajectory, turning something that can feel intangible into a concrete point of reference.
And perhaps most importantly: the program reached people across roles and levels. As Seppe Lenaerts put it, the NQ® model is not designed for the top of the organization. It is built for everyone who wants to negotiate better.
What this could mean for your organization
VEB’s trajectory illustrates what becomes possible when an organization commits to negotiation as a collective strength rather than an individual skill.
The building blocks, the NQ® scan, learning journeys, group coaching, live sessions, are consistent across every engagement. The combination, timing, and ambition are always shaped to you.
If you recognize VEB’s challenge in your own organization, let us explore what that could look like for you.
