Mieke van Baalen

“For me, people are the measure of all things. My passion lies in developing individuals and groups. This must be focused on deploying the right qualities in the right place at the right time!”

Mieke was a highly valued colleague of ours; some of us in the CT²-team worked with Mieke for more than 20 years, others for just under 20 years. But sadly, Mieke is no longer with us.

Mieke started suffering from a cough around Christmas 2024. In February 2025, she facilitated her last Works Council retreat, after which she became too ill and began treatment, which unfortunately was unsuccessful. Mieke passed away peacefully on Saturday, 7 June 2025.

Mieke believed in good preparation and keeping everything in her own hands; together with a few colleagues, we read the texts she had written to commemorate her.

Below is one of Mieke's own farewell texts, entitled ‘Love for my profession’:

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In the 1980s, I came into contact with the profession of “training” and “employee participation”.

Training was important to enable people to do things themselves, at their own pace and at their own level. It didn't matter how high or how low. I was proud when I saw people doing it themselves. Proud when someone finally dared to tell a story in front of a group.

But the basis of my work (and I want to say this one more time) is the principle:

“people are the measure of all things”.

This has always been my starting point in guidance, training and coaching. That is where I drew my strength and inspiration, and that is what I have worked on all these years.

With this in mind, I worked and developed models that made it visible. I always called this “the liveability of the organisation”.

How often were liveability and the human dimension forgotten in organisational proposals, and how logical was it for employee participation bodies to take this up or respond to it as a matter of course?

How special and how grateful I am to have practised a profession based on passion and love for so long. That is also what enabled me to do it for so long, with passion and love. Sometimes with grumbling and struggling, but also with strength (and love).

I hope that I have infected at least one person with this idea that “people are the measure of all things” and that there is at least one person who will find a way to pass this on, in whatever profession or activity they choose.

Nothing is more important than people and love for people; the measure of all things.

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Thank you, Mieke, for your commitment to the work of Works Councils and the professionalisation of employee participation. Inspired by you, we will continue to use “people as the measure of all things” as a yardstick in our lives and work.

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