Beiersdorf Exclusive: Nathalie Awisus

Nathalie is currently responsible for the project management of the annual international employee survey at Beiersdorf’s Center of Excellence (CoE) Development / Employee Engagement. She works part time and is very interested in job sharing. We talked with her about the benefits of flexible work and about two:share.

Before you had your two children, you worked in other areas. What did you do exactly?

Before joining CoE Development in 2014, I worked in various HR functions, from support of personnel for R&D on cooperation concerning the introduction of SAP-based E-Recruiting, up to the switch to the Global Mobility Center. As a Global Mobility Expert, I was, among other things, partly responsible for staff assignments. Between my periods of parental leave, I was responsible for designing a Global Mobility Training program for our HR colleagues in the subsidiaries.

You are currently working part time (26 hours). What have been your experiences with it?

Basically, I have had very good experiences with my part-time work at Beiersdorf, from being able to work part time in a straightforward way to the flexibility that I get from my work in general. This includes the possibility to work from home or to switch my work days.
However, there is also a new challenge for me: the boundary or balance between working hours and non-working hours. I have made a conscious decision to reduce my hours and thus my income so that I can dedicate this time entirely to my family. Due to the flexibility described above and my enjoyment of working, these sometimes conflict, which requires careful attention from me.

Why are you interested in job sharing?

Job sharing excites me because it creates the opportunity to fill posts designed for full-time employees with combined part-time positions. In my opinion, this can lead to twice the power in one place with a well-functioning tandem.

What advantages or differences do you expect from job sharing compared with classical part time

I read the following saying the other day: “If you dream alone, it’s just a dream. When people dream together, it’s the beginning of a new reality.” (Helder Pessoa Camara)
For me personally, this statement gets right to the heart of what benefits job sharing can bring and what I hope for. The exchange with others inspires me immensely – it helps me to concretize ideas and dreams in such a way that they become feasible. Exchange is not a one-way street – it benefits both sides and, in the end, the job.

You also signed up for two:share. What would your perfect tandem partner look like? How many hours would you like to work? Which position would be exciting?

I would like to find a suitable tandem partner with whom there is mutual trust and who complements my individual strengths and experiences. As far as working time is concerned, I am open to the opportunities that come my way. Or at least 60% of them, anyway.
My passion is “People Topics” because I am fascinated by how people interact with each other, why they do things, and how relationships can be positively changed. Therefore, every job that involves questions of human behavior is exciting for me.

What are the biggest advantages of flexible working for you

A clear advantage for me is the compatibility of different life stages with my work. We all go through times in our lives where different areas of life demand different prioritization from us. We might be free and want to invest passion and a lot of time into our job, or our family members may need us, or maybe we just decide to devote more time and attention to our free time. If that can be flexibly reconciled with work, then for me it is one of the biggest advantages of flexible working.
For example, I sometimes like to work one more day a week, knowing that I can spend a different day with my children down the line.