At advanced mechatronics we believe that welcoming different perspectives helps us be more innovative and develop the best possible solutions for our customers. One colleague who is using her unique point of view to drive change within the company is Veronika Zjiroecha, Project manager NPI at Mogema.
From early on Veronika became accustomed to having an outside perspective. Born in the Ukraine, she came to the Netherlands to study at 18 and has lived here ever since. While pursuing her technology management masters in Groningen, she says, “I was the only woman and the only foreigner, but I actually fit in quite well.”
Veronika worked at various technical companies before coming across a vacancy at Mogema early last year. She applied, and within 48 hours she’d been hired. Why the whirlwind recruitment process? She had the analytical background the company was looking for in order to better meet client expectations. The company had the ambition and openness she was looking for in order to be able to make an impact. She explains, “I had very good conversations with the hiring manager, Robert Vehof. I thought he believed in me and I believed in the company.”
At Mogema Veronika works in a team with two other project managers. Though they all focus on setting up processes to introduce new products, their styles and experiences are very different. Fortunately, their manager Brian Brady sees this as a strength. “Brian appreciates that we are different and manages all of us individually,” she says. “He gives us a lot of freedom and trust to run our projects the way we want and always supports us with our decisions.”
Veronika has found that her open approach is an asset. “This is a big company but it feels small. Making connections is extremely important,” she says. “When I came here, the biggest challenge was that I don’t have an engineering background. So I asked for help. And people were happy to help. This is my favorite part of working here. You can be transparent, you can trust people, you can ask for help and you will get help.”
Her first year at Mogema has been eye opening. She explains, “I’m somebody who usually gets bored really fast, but during this past year I learned a lot and I encountered things in projects and in the company that were totally unexpected for me. Beyond that, I’ve made personal connections with colleagues I can trust and with whom I can share the challenges of my job and even my personal life.”
Not one to rest on her laurels, Veronika is looking forward to another stimulating year. “I am eager to learn more about myself as well as the business we are in,” she says. “Our processes have a lot of variations and I would like to learn how I can contribute as a project lead to controlling these variations. We also have a lot of new people joining the company and I’m looking forward to hearing their ideas on how to get more stable processes, make better products, and better meet our customers’ needs.”
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