Interview

1. Martin Krüger, aged 35, a financial branch manager in Essen, Germany,
has worked on both sides of the fence, in both operational and support roles.
INTERVIEWS
WITHOURSO’SPIEPEOPLE
“Changing jobs
gave me a much broader
view of our operations”
What have the milestones in your career been?
Martin Krüger: After doing business studies, I joined the company in 2008 in
Frankfurt, as a commercial project manager. Eventually, I also began to do some
financial and process-related control at branch level. Then in 2011, I was asked
to work in the controlling department at SPIE Germany’s headquarters in Essen
for two years. After that I stayed in Essen, but went back to operational duties
as a financial branch manager in 2013. That’s what I’m still doing.
What was it like to switch between operational and support roles?
M. K.: Wonderful! It gave me a much broader perspective. When I was part of the
controlling team, I could explain the figures to my colleagues from an operational
standpoint. Then when I returned to an operational role, I could understand the
“bigger picture” so much better because of my experience at headquarters,
and I knew how the processes I handle will connect with processes on other levels.
What was your experience as a participant in the SPIE Talents programme last year?
M. K.: This is a scheme at Group level for 20 to 25 persons each year from all the
countries and divisions. We spent three weeks of interesting seminars together,
but the most challenging aspect was working in transversal teams of 3 or 4 for half
a year on finding innovative solutions for current company issues that eventually you
present to an audience of senior management members. This year I’m taking part in
the IMP (Internal Mission Programme): the idea is to work for two weeks during the
year alongside the audit team in other Group subsidiaries on specific topic that are
sometimes far from our area of expertise. I found it a very enriching experience and
an excellent opportunity to share business and internal knowledge for the continuous
improvement of SPIE.