Today is International Women's Day. On this day we pay special attention to the women among us, who are 100% just like men - part of our society. At DPD Switzerland women and men are absolutely equal. This starts with recruitment, which is decided regardless of gender and only on the basis of requirements and qualifications and goes all the way to salary. We took a look at the remuneration at DPD Switzerland: Here our equal pay analysis showed that there is no statistically significant value at DPD Switzerland that would show pay inequality.
We are extremely proud of all our employees - we are the DPD family and value everyone exactly the same.

For today's International Women's Day we would like to present you 4 power women with different points of view. The focus of this interview series is to show what roles as women look like in a male-dominated work environment:

DPD: How long have you been working for DPD?
Sandra: "In mid-January it was actually already 7 years. I came from a multinational pharmaceutical company as a senior manager in the finance team. At this company, I was working in a rather smaller action environment at the European level. At a certain point I wanted to change this to be closer to the business and to cover a broader spectrum. That's how I ended up at DPD Switzerland. Here I originally started my journey as Head of Controlling and I had the pleasure of continuing as the new Director Finance & Administration (Director F&A) from March 2017 until today."

DPD: What activities do you perform as Director F&A and how would you describe your job in one word?
Sandra: "To be honest, the range of tasks in my position is difficult to put into a few words, but I'll give it a try. I cover 3 areas. These areas are Finance, Admin and Legal. Finance covers all payment transactions, from working with creditors and debtors to all postings. The term Admin covers the points that are not directly related to finance, such as the entire facility management, claims or purchasing. The third area Legal, includes, as the name suggests, the work with our lawyers and all the clarifications that go with it. As you can see, very diverse and varied."

DPD: What is your experience of working in a male-dominated environment?
Sandra: "First of all, I have to say that I gained my first experience in finance at a time when everything was still "male". Almost every management position was held by a man and that was quite normal. Over time, however, this image became more diverse, so that even in companies I had the opportunity to visit throughout my career, there were also women in management positions. In my experience, however, where I have had practically the same number of female as male bosses, how the cooperation works has less to do with gender and more to do with the type of person themselves and their associated mindset. Fortunately, I can say that the trust in each other has always been there in my career and they are also still very interested in finding a solution together."

DPD: Do you feel that you have had to work hard to gain respect/recognition in a different way to how it might be with a man?
Sandra: "In a nutshell - No, I never had that feeling. It was respectful interaction and a feeling of being with each other at all times."

DPD: What do you like most about your job?
Sandra: "From the perspective of being a member of the management team, I have to say that it's already a huge leap of responsibility that you do feel there. I like having that responsibility and being in charge of shaping the future with the whole team. Asking questions like what do we want and where do we want to go and being in such a decision-making role motivates me a lot. 

From a Director F&A perspective, what I like most is the versatility, this cohesion and the very close relationship of working together. Everyone pulls together."

DPD: Name 3 qualities that someone in your position should definitely have.
Sandra: "To be honest, I find it very difficult to limit it to 3 qualities. But the qualities that someone in my position should definitely have are communication skills, solution orientation, strategic thinking and the ability to motivate a team. I know there are 4 qualities mentioned, but I can't cross any of these off."

DPD: Is there anything you would like to share with the women out there?
Sandra: "In this case there are two perspectives of me speaking. One says stay as you are, the world is changing and 'being a woman' in the world of work is becoming normality. Stay a woman, because the world needs the other voice and the influence of other perspectives and priorities. Nevertheless, be brave! Don't doubt yourselves and your abilities.

The other half says that as a company you can't be considerate of every sensitivity and aches and pains either. How strict do you want to be as a woman?"

 

 

DPD: How long have you been working for DPD?
Ilka: "My time at DPD Switzerland began on 01.12.2010. I started in customer service for key account customers and worked in this position for a total of 2.5 years. After working in customer service I moved to sales for a period of 4 years. After that, I moved to the OPS Excellence Team, where I accepted the position of Quality Supervisor after 1.5 years within the team."

DPD: What do you do as Quality Supervisor and how would you describe your job in one word?
Ilka: "As part of the OPS Excellence Team, I monitor quality, from the points of contact with our customers, to the delivery processes, to the overall process execution. I look at which processes are not running smoothly or where there may be potential for optimisation. In addition, I also act as a liaison between sales and our depots. One of the main tasks in the position is to proactively gather information and thereby understand the so-called pain points of the customer precisely and to be able to act through targeted measures. This ensures that the client is satisfied at the end of the day. The question of where we really made the mistake, or where it only looks that way to the customer, thus accompanies us every day. The top priority for me is to have open communication with the customer and to always tell them the truth. The interaction between sales and OPS is very important in our work. For this reason, we also have a set meeting with the sales team every week to exchange important information and thus always find the common language regarding the customer.

How would I describe my job in one word? That's a very good question. I think there are a few words that would describe my job, however the word "challenging" sums up all the explanations very well."

DPD: What is your experience of working in a male-dominated environment?
Ilka: "I must honestly say that I have never felt it difficult to be employed in a male domain. In my opinion, it can also have advantages as a woman to work with many men. For example, I have experienced that I was often treated more considerately, regardless of my position, and that male colleagues paid more attention to me or listened to me more. In addition, there was never the problem of typical "girl trouble". 😊 I think it's basically less of a "man - woman thing", but rather depends on the intuition of the person himself."
In other words, how you call into the forest is how it comes back."

DPD: Do you feel that you have had to work hard to gain respect/recognition differently than how it might be with a man?
Ilka: "I don't think so. I think it depends on the performance you bring. You have to do your job with your heart. If you perform well, it is appreciated. I always had a good feeling among my colleagues and also female colleagues and also every possible freedom."

DPD: What do you like most about your job?
Ilka: "What I like most is the variety, that I never know what's coming and the fact that I always have to find new solutions. Mastering the challenge of ensuring that the customers are satisfied with our service at the end of the day gives me great pleasure and energy every day. You are the link between sales and the depot, and the other way round. It's about the give and take between everyone somewhere and working together."

DPD: Name 3 qualities that someone in your position should definitely have.
Ilka: "Definitely keeping calm, being friendly but firm and very important, honesty. For me, those are the things I would emphasise."

DPD: Is there anything you would like to share with the women out there?
Ilka: "Always stay the way you are. Don't let anyone bend you and stay honest. Always stay true to yourself and don't try to pretend to be someone else."

DPD: How long have you been working for DPD?
Yvonne: "I have been working for DPD since February 1995, when the depot was still run by a depot operator. When DPD took over the Vilters depot again on 01.03.2007, I was given a unique opportunity to manage the depot as depot manager, I was given the unique opportunity to take over the depot as depot manager."

DPD: What do you do as depot manager and how would you describe your job in one word?
Yvonne: "As a depot manager of a rather small depot, as is the case here in Vilters, the job is very versatile and requires a high degree of flexibility. Whether it's dispatching or the warehouse, I have to be ready to help out in all areas, which also makes the job very interesting and varied."

DPD: What is your experience of working in a male-dominated environment?
Yvonne: "I personally think that men have a harder time taking instructions from women. In my opinion, the 'hammer and tongs' principle doesn't help at all.Direct communication and above all respect is the most important thing and that is based on absolute reciprocity."

DPD: Do you feel that you had to work hard to gain respect/recognition in a different way than it might be with a man?
Yvonne: "Yes, I do think that women in a male-dominated profession have a harder time being respected."

DPD: What do you like most about your job?
Yvonne: "The variety. No day is like the other, there are new challenges waiting to be solved every day. In an office job I would absolutely drown."

DPD: Name 3 qualities that someone in your position should definitely have.
Yvonne: "Flexibility, organisational skills, communication skills and empathy for the other person."

DPD: Is there anything you would like to share with the women out there?
Yvonne: "Be open to change.
Don't dream your life, live your dream. (Thommaso Campanella 1568-1639)"

 

DPD: What did you do before DPD and what are the main differences to your new job?
Patrizia: "Before DPD, I worked for Swiss Post for 39 years and got to know many different areas in various jobs. Among other things, I was a post office manager, helped to build up SME sales and worked in sales for 12 years. For the last 7 years I was Head of Production, in a very similar position to the one I hold today as Depot Manager at DPD's Wittenwil depot."

DPD: Have you already gained experience as a depot manager and what activities will you be performing in the future?
Patrizia: "As I have spent my entire professional career in the logistics sector, I have already been able to gain a lot of experience in similar jobs."

DPD: Do you see it as a big challenge to work as a woman in a male-dominated environment and if so, why? Have you already been able to gain experience in the past?
Patrizia: "It is definitely challenging from my point of view. Especially in my last job as head of production, I had to prove myself. This means especially the technical knowledge. The smoothest interaction with male colleagues was through honesty, involving them in issues and listening to them carefully. I had to prove again and again that I could do it. Because of the experience and knowledge I have acquired over all these years, I could and often had to prove to male colleagues that I had some competence in the field."

DPD: Compared to previous employers and DPD today, do you feel that you have to work hard to gain respect / recognition in your position in a different way than it might be for a man?
Patrizia: "No, I have never had the impression that I am not taken seriously, despite the many different cultural backgrounds. It has never been an issue that because I am a woman I can't do something. I have always been absolutely respected as a woman."

DPD: Name 3 qualities that someone in your position should definitely have.
Patrizia: "Trustworthiness, honesty, being appreciative on the road and owning up to mistakes."

DPD: Is there anything you would like to share with the women out there?
Patrizia: "Nothing is impossible. Really believe in yourself. Have the courage to take a step and do it. Make yourself noticed, because you have nothing to lose."