”There are many career development opportunities”
Source: DairyNews.today
Jana Höppner, Manager Facility & Maintenance Service, was seeking a new challenge and joined DeLaval in 2017 where Site Management is a key focus in her daily work.
Before joining DeLaval, Jana worked as an Office Manager in an international law firm, but she reached the point where she was open to a new challenge. By coincidence, she came across DeLaval and the vacancy in Gallin, Germany. Situated near her hometown in combination with an opportunity to make a difference, Jana applied for the job and got it. “I had never heard of DeLaval before a colleague approached me about the job vacancy. I did some research and found both the company and the offered job interesting, where I would get the chance to manage a team of people, which made me change jobs,” she says.
The change of jobs also meant a change in industries and learning new skills. “I had never been involved in logistics before – I come fr om a legal background – so I had a lot to learn from day one. This was, however, made easy thanks to the great support from my team and colleagues from other departments. I witnessed solid teamwork and collaboration, and there were many opportunities to sign up for training sessions and courses to help me get started.” Jana explains.
A diverse work role
A workday for Jana is never the same – which is something she enjoys. Jana and her team ensure a smooth and safe running of the Gallin site. Key responsibilities include health and safety, regulatory compliance, risk and environmental management, contract management as well as maintenance and repair. Managing these many things requires occasional training sessions to stay on top of things. “I appreciate the opportunities we have to expand our knowledge and learn new skills here at DeLaval. One of the most rewarding courses I have attended was the Advanced Leadership Program to improve my leadership skills. During that training that was held digitally only, I got to meet colleagues from across the globe and learn new tricks and share experiences,” Jana says.
Jana’s team is built upon a service-oriented way of working with colleagues who possess both the qualities they seek as well as a variety of skillsets. “We are the first point of contact when it comes to site-related topics like e.g. facility and maintenance issues, health and safety equipment and training, emergency procedures, visitor service, and office materials. We have to ensure that we are available and if we encounter an absence, each of us step up and cover for that person. It is great to see such teamwork to make everything run smoothly,” says Jana.
Occupational Health and Safety is of high importance for us at DeLaval and is something that Jana and her team also address daily in their job to make the workplace as safe as possible. “Our Site Service Team got a request from the warehouse to make the intersection in the hazardous material storage between pedestrians and forklifts safer. A system was developed to warn the forklift drivers. If people are detected in the area, a stop pictogram is projected onto the floor so that the driver is warned before passing through the gate. This allows pedestrians to pass the footpath more safely. This new safety feature is one part of planned safety measures for pedestrians, such as permanent floor markings and footpath separation using ram protection. We could instantly see that it was having a positive effect on the overall spirit in the warehouse. People felt safer moving around and operating the vehicles, which was amazing to witness.”
Focus on development and driving change
Throughout her time in the company, Jana has gained a lot of new experiences and skills. “One of the key takeaways from my time in the company is that there is a healthy and positive culture here. We have an open-door policy wh ere all employees can feel safe to ask anyone for help or advice. This policy is something that I have experienced myself in a very positive way and it gave me a good start on my career in DeLaval. This is not something you see everywhere, so I appreciate it a lot. Also, the room for development and career opportunities in the company are many. Anyone who joins DeLaval can look forward to a workplace with varying job tasks along with solid support from training and colleagues,” Jana says.
The team, led by Jana, has driven several projects that have had a positive impact on DeLaval as a whole. “Our Gallin site managed the pilot project for our Ariba platform. Thanks to the excellent collaboration between my team and other colleagues, many errors were identified and rectified before the tool was implemented across the global organisation. We were also heavily involved in the ISO certification and re-certification process for quality and environment in Gallin. Once again, we saw great collaboration and teamwork between different teams and colleagues, and we can owe the great results we’ve seen to that team spirit,” she says.
Jana has a project coming up soon, for which she is extra excited. “We are looking into installing a photovoltaic in Gallin next year as part of reducing our carbon emissions in our operations, in line with our sustainability strategy. We have not yet fully decided on the size of the installation and that is something we will address here soon,” Jana concludes.
The change of jobs also meant a change in industries and learning new skills. “I had never been involved in logistics before – I come fr om a legal background – so I had a lot to learn from day one. This was, however, made easy thanks to the great support from my team and colleagues from other departments. I witnessed solid teamwork and collaboration, and there were many opportunities to sign up for training sessions and courses to help me get started.” Jana explains.
A diverse work role
A workday for Jana is never the same – which is something she enjoys. Jana and her team ensure a smooth and safe running of the Gallin site. Key responsibilities include health and safety, regulatory compliance, risk and environmental management, contract management as well as maintenance and repair. Managing these many things requires occasional training sessions to stay on top of things. “I appreciate the opportunities we have to expand our knowledge and learn new skills here at DeLaval. One of the most rewarding courses I have attended was the Advanced Leadership Program to improve my leadership skills. During that training that was held digitally only, I got to meet colleagues from across the globe and learn new tricks and share experiences,” Jana says.
Jana’s team is built upon a service-oriented way of working with colleagues who possess both the qualities they seek as well as a variety of skillsets. “We are the first point of contact when it comes to site-related topics like e.g. facility and maintenance issues, health and safety equipment and training, emergency procedures, visitor service, and office materials. We have to ensure that we are available and if we encounter an absence, each of us step up and cover for that person. It is great to see such teamwork to make everything run smoothly,” says Jana.
Occupational Health and Safety is of high importance for us at DeLaval and is something that Jana and her team also address daily in their job to make the workplace as safe as possible. “Our Site Service Team got a request from the warehouse to make the intersection in the hazardous material storage between pedestrians and forklifts safer. A system was developed to warn the forklift drivers. If people are detected in the area, a stop pictogram is projected onto the floor so that the driver is warned before passing through the gate. This allows pedestrians to pass the footpath more safely. This new safety feature is one part of planned safety measures for pedestrians, such as permanent floor markings and footpath separation using ram protection. We could instantly see that it was having a positive effect on the overall spirit in the warehouse. People felt safer moving around and operating the vehicles, which was amazing to witness.”
Focus on development and driving change
Throughout her time in the company, Jana has gained a lot of new experiences and skills. “One of the key takeaways from my time in the company is that there is a healthy and positive culture here. We have an open-door policy wh ere all employees can feel safe to ask anyone for help or advice. This policy is something that I have experienced myself in a very positive way and it gave me a good start on my career in DeLaval. This is not something you see everywhere, so I appreciate it a lot. Also, the room for development and career opportunities in the company are many. Anyone who joins DeLaval can look forward to a workplace with varying job tasks along with solid support from training and colleagues,” Jana says.
The team, led by Jana, has driven several projects that have had a positive impact on DeLaval as a whole. “Our Gallin site managed the pilot project for our Ariba platform. Thanks to the excellent collaboration between my team and other colleagues, many errors were identified and rectified before the tool was implemented across the global organisation. We were also heavily involved in the ISO certification and re-certification process for quality and environment in Gallin. Once again, we saw great collaboration and teamwork between different teams and colleagues, and we can owe the great results we’ve seen to that team spirit,” she says.
Jana has a project coming up soon, for which she is extra excited. “We are looking into installing a photovoltaic in Gallin next year as part of reducing our carbon emissions in our operations, in line with our sustainability strategy. We have not yet fully decided on the size of the installation and that is something we will address here soon,” Jana concludes.
