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TU/e OPERATIONS STRATEGY 2026-2030

PERSONAL, SEAMLESS AND CONNECTED

TU/e Operations in 2035

Imagine it’s 2035. You walk across the TU/e campus and feel it instantly; something is different here. Students feel truly seen. From their first orientation to their return as alumni, everything is personal, seamless, and connected. They find their way without frustration, receive timely answers, and feel part of a community that challenges and supports them to make an impact on the world. Researchers and teachers can fully focus on what they do best and where their hearts lie: researching, inspiring and creating impact for society. Together with the professional staff they experience a shared sense of ownership for smart, reliable, and proactive services. Everything is aligned and designed to help them thrive. As TU/e Operations, we are proud. We feel joint ownership, are valued, and make a difference every day. We work in multidisciplinary teams that take full responsibility for entire TU/e value chains, from start to finish. We collaborate, aren’t afraid to experiment and learn from each other. We are a strategic force that makes a difference and a national example of how operations can drive excellence in education, research, and impact for a better world.

TU/e Operations Strategy we make a difference FOR ALL ACADEMIC STAFF

More time for core tasks Stronger professional support and career development Increased collaboration and internal cohesion Simpler, clearer and more supportive systems and processes

PROFESSIONAL STAFF

Improved well-being and reduced workload Strengthen professional growth and career development Increased collaboration and internal cohesion Streamlined processes, systems and resources

STUDENTS

Stronger well-being and personal support More supportive education experience More connected student community Simpler and more accessible facilities, processes and practical support

TU/e Operations Strategy 2026-2030

INTRODUCTION

CURIOUS - OPEN - RESPECTFUL - RESPONSIBLE

TU/e Operations comprises the university’s professional services, organized in different areas of expertise. By providing high-quality professional services, we ensure that the primary processes run efficiently and effectively, enabling the university to achieve it’s academic and societal goals. With the Institutional Plan 2026-2030, TU/e presents its renewed strategic direction. By 2030, TU/e wants to be a key driver of innovation ecosystems, European competitive ness and resilience, and sustainability transitions. TU/e joins forces under the motto ‘One TU/e’. TU/e strives to function as a close-knit community, breaking down silos and further fostering collaboration across departments and disciplines. Our jointly developed strategy explains how TU/e Operations contributes to this new strategic direction, building on the improvements already initiated in recent years. TU/e Managing Directors Council, December 2025

Our vision

Seamless From integral commitment, we offer our users a seamless experience by ensuring all operational services collaborate seamlessly.

Core competencies

Higher goal In collaboration with our TU/e partners, we enable One TU/e in the advancement of Research, Education and Impact for a better world.

Audacious goal TU/e Operations wants to become the most personal, seamless & connected university operations in the Netherlands by 2035. Personal The ‘Brabantse gezelligheid’ is the distinguishing feature of our region, of TU/e, ánd of our services. We prioritize the user’s perspective and tailor our services to their needs and expectations. Connected We are connected to the outside world AND have strong internal connections within TU/e Operations and with our partners throughout the organization to jointly set the right priorities and create better results for everyone.

We are focused We prioritize together and make demanddriven choices. We help our users in making strategic choices. We dare to say ‘no’ and explain this well. We get things done. We celebrate successes. We are co-creative We listen to understand and show empathy for other interests. We work together in TU/e value chains to serve our users. We work user centric and start with the end in mind. We share our lessons learned. We are effective and efficient We drive our joint goals by defining the desired outcome upfront and follow-up to ensure we deliver as per definition. We standardize to scale up and to be cost efficient. We work through trade-offs: cost vs quality, customize vs standardize. We are pragmatic, work agile, and are focused on a 80/20-ratio between standardized and customized.

TU/e Operations Strategy 2026-2030

Strategic directions

License to operate For most of our personal, seamless and connected services, we strive for a license to operate. This means we aim for a Customer Satisfaction Score of 7, which means that our basic service delivery is reliable, professional, clear and accessible. If the score is under par, the service requires improvement.

World class services on selected strategic priorities In line with the priorities of the Institutional Plan 2026-2030 we choose four key differentiators for world class services. This means that the quality, reliability and effectiveness of the services are excellent and innovative and, due to a high degree of adaptability, are of great value to users, enabling TU/e to distinguish itself from other universities. Talent attraction students and staff TU/e attracts a diverse and talented group of learners by offering a welcoming and inclusive learning environment that enables students to work on relevant societal, technical and scientific challenges in a flexible way. TU/e offers authentic and activating education in close collaboration with partners within and beyond the Brainport ecosystem.

TU/e is the employer of choice as a leading university of technology in the Brainport innovation ecosystem, known for its inclusive, innovative, and impactful environment. We attract a diverse, international workforce using advanced attraction, selection and onboarding processes providing a candidate-centric experience. Talent development and retention We cultivate a culture of continuous learning, where every employee can grow and develop to meet current and future organizational ambitions and employee aspirations. To retain and develop talent, we focus on a new balance to recognize and reward our staff members, among others, through diversification in career paths. Research infrastructure The research facilities, laboratories and machines that TU/e can give access to, are an important factor in the attraction of academic staff, impact of research and quality of education. TU/e needs to optimize investments on selected strategic priorities in research infrastructures and access to the infra for researchers on campus, in Brainport and in our partnerships. Engaged community In TU/e, we are all colleagues in creating impact together. Students, academics and professionals all contribute to this one goal. In communities in- and outside our university we meet, discuss, align, learn and make it happen.

TU/e Operations Strategy 2026-2030

Our way of working

Working in value chains User-oriented way of working Collaboration to Improve alignment between Departments and Services Prioritize, focus, and co-create Place more ownership where It belongs: with the departments

Departmental ownership We align the resources and services provided with the actual needs and requests of the primary process in terms of timing, quantity, and quality. In an open conversation between services and departments, we work on forecasting demand, decide on resource allocation based on urgency and strategic importance. Through continuous evaluation, we ensure that services meet expectations and strategic direction in order to enhance user satisfaction and operational effectiveness.

TU/e value chains We develop a new way of organizing work: TU/e value chains. A TU/e value chain consists of all the processes, activities, and interactions (across service, departments and systems) that deliver a personal, seamless, and connected service experience from input to final delivery. Cross-service, interdisciplinary teams have clear responsibilities for an entire chain of services. Each team member brings expertise from their service area to complete the task together, taking small, targeted steps to meet the user’s needs effectively and efficiently. The strength of these teams lies in starting with the end in mind: what does the user need? By 2035, all of our employees will be part of a TU/e value chain team. We align our working methods, processes, and systems and set priorities together. And we are professionalizing the way we use data to monitor our progress and make adjustments where necessary. This way of working will make our daily work enjoyable, personal, and effective.

TU/e Operations Strategy 2026-2030

Implementation

In line with this Operations Strategy, we are developing an Implementation Plan in an interactive process with our employees and partners within TU/e. By 2035 we have gained strength as TU/e Operations and are highly trusted because we collaborate well with each other and with all partners and users within TU/e.

Joint ownership MDC

Progress over perfection

To be effective, we explore ways to strengthen the mid-layer support in departments that frees the managing directors from operational overload so we have the time and space to lead the change together and focus on the strategic level.

For TU/e Operations, the coming years will be dominated by change. We choose an approach where change takes place through collaborative learning, experimentation, and continuous reflection on what works and what doesn’t. This is a dynamic process of co-creation and adaptation, where progress over perfection prevails. We prioritize talent management and development opportunities to facilitate this way of working. We feel safe and free to speak out, demonstrate ownership, and take initiative from within our professional space; together, we foster a culture of open dialogue in accordance with TU/e’s COre values.

The Managing Directors Council (MDC) jointly owns this TU/e Operations Strategy and collaboratively directs the change process. We focus on strategic issues with clear agenda discipline, adopt a pragmatic working style, and address structural ‘pink elephants’ openly.

As MDC we embrace diversity and foster a culture of learning by doing and progress over perfection. Within our leadership program we work on trust, safety, vulnerability, true listening and deferring judgment.

WE AIM TO DRIVE Innovation ecosystems

European competitiveness & resilience

Sustainability transitions

WE BUNDLE FORCES AS

One TU/e WE PROMISE TO SCIENCE & SOCIETY TALENT

SCIENCE | ENGINEERING | DESIGN

Attractive community

Beethoven targets

Research excellence & technology leadership

PROMISES

Engaged community

Valorization

PROMISES

OBJECTIVES

Talent attraction, development and retention

Responsible engineers

VALUE FOR SOCIETY

Leadership and organization development

Responsible engineers

PROMISES

OBJECTIVES

Technology leadership

Collaboration

Infrastructures and capabilities

Open, responsible and secure science

WE PRIORITIZE

OBJECTIVES Co-creation with society

Involved alumni

Collaborative and open campus

Entrepreneurship ecosystem