Bettina Gruber works in Augsburg, Germany, as Executive Assistant to Winfried Schaur, Executive Vice President, UPM Paper ENA.
Bettina Gruber
What is best in your work? My profession is full of variety. It’s very inspiring to work for UPM, an innovative and international company that allows me to constantly be in contact with colleagues from so many different countries and departments.
What makes you happy? In my job it’s on one hand the positive feedback from my boss and his appreciation of my work, on the other hand it’s the nice people, the colleagues, I work with.
What have you learned in your job that you would like to share with others? Try to think one step ahead and to be proactive. It means a lot in being good and efficient in your job and in giving trustworthy support. It also gives room for flexibility and creativity.
Lorena Viazzi works for UPM in Uruguay maintaining an integrated management system to meet the requirements of international sustainable forest management, quality, environment, safety and occupational health standards.
Lorena Viazzi
What is best in your work? Working closely together with people that contribute in a significant way to UPM’s sustainability agenda. Together we find the best ways to do things – it’s one of the challenges I enjoy the most. I am very proactive in seeking for solutions in management and process optimization.
What makes you happy? Working in different areas and diverse projects - ranging from software design and development to being a part of different teams when they need to update their best operating practices.
What have you learned in your job that you would like to share with others? I’ve learned to recognize and understand that the diversity of people in education, gender, age, experience, beliefs and views is one of the most important values in creating a solid sustainable management system that is inclusive for all. Observing and listening are examples of skills I need to improve continuously.
Heli Laumola works as the Health, Safety, Environment and Quality director at UPM Biofuels in Finland. The versatile job includes tasks ranging from occupational safety to insurance check-ups and everything in between.
Heli Laumola
What is best in your work? Collaborating with different people. It’s rewarding to be a part of a team that achieves concrete results – such as setting up the UPM Biorefinery in Lappeenranta.
What makes you happy? Family, friends, interesting projects at work and hobbies. I actively make an effort each day to be grateful for the good things in my life.
What have you learned in your job that you would like to share with others? I’ve learned that so long as people work together and treat each other with respect everything will be alright. It’s always a good idea to spend a little time on thinking about the consequences before springing into action – this applies to safety issues but also to everything else in life.
Sun Yan has worked in many departments at UPM over the past decade - from the production department to IT and the Panda Project. At present she works as admin supervisor at UPM Changshu mill in China.
Sun Yan
What is best in your work? In my work I feel it is most important to make a good plan for long term and short term, and implement the plan accordingly.
What makes you happy? At work I feel happy when I get things done properly and in the right order. When there is a problem or a difficult situation, I try to find the right solution to get it solved timely. In my personal life time with family makes me happy.
What have you learned in your job that you would like to share with others? As admin people, our responsibilities and value lies in providing full assistance and support to our staff so that they can focus on their jobs. It might all seem like minor details and quite trivial, but everything is important. There are always some difficulties at work, communication and cooperation are the best tools to solve them. We are extremely grateful for the support we have received from all departments and people.
Susanna Rinne leads the business development of UPM Plywood in Finland including e.g. strategy, product management and development, competitive intelligence, marketing and sales development.
Susanna Rinne
What is best in your work? My current job offers a wide view to both our own business and our customers’ business – it gives a great opportunity to develop both my own skills and the operation of my area of responsibility at UPM Plywood. It’s great to work with skilled colleagues all sharing a genuine interest in UPM Plywood’s success.
What makes you happy? The foundation of happiness is a good balance between life at home (husband and two children) and work. Not forgetting the importance of good friends and physical exercise. I find it important to live in the moment and to notice and appreciate the small good things in life every day.
What have you learned in your job that you would like to share with others? The processes and tools chosen must be as simple as possible if you want them to actually be used. Understanding our customer’s business and producing quality services that make their operation more efficient keeps us in the game.
Did you know?
The focus of the Women’s Day celebration is different in different regions of the world. It can either be a celebration of women in general or the economic, political and social achievements of women. This year the United Nation’s theme for the day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. You can use #IWD2016 in your tweets to participate in the conversation in Twitter.
Read our story about participating in the Dialogue program for diversity in leadership here
Saara Töyssy
