A rock-solid team and people-centric approach

By: Lana Yatci

People are the pillars of every company. An organization which cares about its employees and offers opportunities for development, is on a path to success. Add to that, a factor of true passion and a wide spectrum of possibilities to implement creative ideas, and you get a remarkable place to work in. I have found such a company, and I have the pleasure to be a part of it. Here, in HeidelbergCement, everyone is playing an important role, and the company constantly works on optimizing the processes.

Woman and man in the countryside on a path, hills in the background

My journey with Heidelberg Materials started in summer 2019. I was a working student then, and I didn’t know how this journey might look like. It didn’t take long for me to realise that I’m in a place where I can absorb knowledge and develop within the company. Soon after, I was partnering with Heidelberg Materials on my bachelor’s thesis and getting acquainted with the HConnect products and strategies. After finishing my studies in Mannheim, I joined the team as a Quality Assurance Engineer in January 2021.

As a QA engineer, I work closely with developers in an agile development process, as well as with stakeholders across the world. I provide the necessary Testing Suite to verify and validate the implementation of features within one of our most important products—the OnSite App. The main goal is to make the application meet the customers’ needs. User experience (UX) is crucial to stay ahead of the game in going digital — and testing is a vital part in that process. You see, the only constant thing in the market is change.

Our organization is fully aware of that, so we work in a cross-product team alignment. Contributing to our goals means to work in an agile way. This often requires change: change in order to become fast product teams, to deliver technical excellence and to become the first industrial tech company in our sector. That also requires an appropriate approach—the people-centric approach. It’s happening here in Heidelberg Materials, and it makes a difference.

The cross-team alignment and lean team structure makes communicating and collaborating so easy.

Clear and precise communication is fundamental. We work in a dynamic environment, where change is a constant part of it. As a QA engineer, you are playing an important role from the beginning of the development cycle, participating in the requirement analysis until handing over the features to the different target groups.

This does not mean that ‘fail is not an option’, it’s quite the opposite. Fails happen, and these are lessons that deliver knowledge and experience. The point is that we have to identify gaps and risks before the customers do. It would not be possible without the appropriate approach from the management level and without these diverse and amazing teams within the company.

Each team member makes a change. Together, we deliver outstanding results.

The team spirit at Heidelberg Materials is unique and extremely motivating. Working together with so many high-skilled performers that truly really care about progress, is a fascinating experience every day. Combine that with the fact that we use agile project tools (i.e., JIRA & Confluence) which make the daily work straightforward to follow, and you get an employee-friendly environment.

I must also emphasize that the leadership — and team building activities — help spread motivation and excitement throughout the teams constantly.

These factors altogether result in motivated teams that deliver outstanding solutions. One particular highlight comes to mind: We have delivered the first transactional use case within OnSite called the “Plus Load”. Being able to give the customer the opportunity to order a plus load (the last ready-mixed concrete load delivered by truck at the end of the day) by themselves with just one click is quite an outstanding milestone that we've reached together. The business processes are getting much leaner and faster.

We stay in touch with technologies, as well as with people

Networking is essential — especially during the Corona pandemic this got much more important. We use the newest technologies on the market for both delivering the solutions that meet the needs of our customers, and helping our employees expand their knowledge and maintain a good work-life balance.

We have countless opportunities like in-house training and in-person and virtual events. As an Heidelberg Materials employee, you can nearly get any additional training possible and are supported through the entirety of our careers.

At Heidelberg Materials, you are motivated that you can actually make a change. It is also communicated from the top management that if you have a great idea, make it happen. I think this is crucial for an organization to stay on top and be the number one in its sector. We focus on people — both within and outside the company. We support each other and share knowledge (it’s mandatory!), and thanks to that, we can deliver products that solve the pain points of our customers. It is magnificent to see positive feedback from a customer's smiling face at the job site when they realise we’ve made their job easier. This is a great reward and motivates me to deliver more great customer value.

Tips for the working world

Attend networking sessions to get to know the team—both within your department and the whole organisation.
Build knowledge outside your scope. This will benefit you, your team, and the whole organisation.
Be aware that fails happen and draw experience from these situations.