Check out our open roles in Product & Technology, Customer Experience, Sales, and more on our careers pages.
We're hiring! Explore our open roles.
Apply Today24. March 2023
Leading Through Challenge: Preparing & Adapting to Unexpected Change
“We make sure to lead through example and show that it is possible to deal with life, but still reliably deliver great results on the basis of transparency, communication, and the flexibility Personio offers.”
Desiree Kielenz is a Learning Specialist Lead within our Customer Education team at Personio. Based in Munich, she heads a team of Learning Specialists and Experience Designers. Together with the Learning Partners, they’re enabling our team of Customer Experience experts each day.
“We support our internal CXers by providing impactful learning programs, during onboarding and throughout their whole Personio journey. We develop and drive these learning programs across all of CX, setting our learners up for success as they build role-related competencies, skills, and knowledge,” says Desiree.
As Lead, Desiree’s role is all about being a sparring partner for her team, driving projects, and aligning with stakeholders across CX and Personio. “My schedule is packed and my days are busy. I’m a mother to a nearly three-year-old son, and I work. I love both parts of my life very much, but it can be a challenge to live up to them! Sometimes I need to be creative, flexible, and really lean into our company value of #SolutionsOverProblems.”
“Especially this last winter, my husband and I faced some difficulties. Our son is at the age where children pick up every virus they can get, and sometimes our child care has unexpected closures. When our son needs to stay at home, my husband and I switch off between working time and taking care of him. It’s great for making sure we get dedicated focus time, but it does make for some long, and, honestly, pretty exhausting days.”
How does Desiree solve for these unexpected schedule changes, especially when her team needs her? For her, it’s all about awareness. “I keep a high level of contextual awareness around my job. Knowing what is happening and how prepared I am for it enables me to prioritize in tight situations. My theory is that the more adaptable I am, the more prepared I will be in my job to pivot around any challenge.”
In addition, Personio’s people and culture have provided the foundation for Desiree’s flexibility and adaptability. “I consider myself very lucky for three main reasons: first, my husband and I are a great team and support each other; second, because Personio empowers me to be super flexible; and third, because my supervisor is 100 percent understanding and supportive.”
PersonioFlex is our office-led, remote-friendly framework for flexible working, enabling our teams to decide where they work best. Personios can spend about half the time in the office, and the other half working almost anywhere else in the world – from home, from another Personio office, from their hometown, and beyond. Flex also means that Desiree can shift her hours throughout the day to accommodate her family’s schedule as needed.
But that’s certainly not all. Desiree’s direct team and supervisor – who is also a working mother – have been extremely supportive. “In our team, two leading mothers set the tone. We know that our team members are more than just their working selves. Sometimes things happen in life that need to be dealt with, like unexpected child care issues during a packed business day.”
And after nearly six years at Personio, Desiree has soaked up the culture. “We nurture an open, understanding, and appreciative culture in our team. This is what I have absorbed from our Personio leadership and now I am able to cascade this culture through my team.” Given this, it’s no surprise that Desiree and her team continue to perform at such a high level – despite the challenges that life can throw in the way!
Interested in joining a team like Desiree’s? Personio is hiring in multiple teams, including Customer Experience! Check out our open roles on our careers page today.
