Interview
IT Application Finance & Order Anja Grohnert

Anja Grohnert talks to us about her responsibilities as Team Leader in the Department of “IT Application Finance & Order.” She is responsible, together with her team, for supervising and developing the SAP Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP).

In 2003, Anja Grohnert began her dual studies at WAGO. She has since spent time at various stations in Customer Service Management and IT, preparing for her current leadership responsibilities with the WAGO Junior Leadership Program and the Professional Project Management Program.

What are your responsibilities as leader of the IT Application Finance & Order Department?

Basically, my team is an integral part of Application Management for monitoring and developing the SAP ERP system. Our focus lies in the SD (Sales & Distribution), FI (Finance) and CO (Controlling Accounting) modules. The three fundamental pillars include:

Daily support and ensuring the functionality of the SAP ERP system in the SD and FI/CO modules, as well as the legacy system in the companies in which the SAP has not yet been rolled out,
developing and optimizing the processes, that is, in the areas of order processing, condition determination, bonus and provision, transfer pricing, cost calculating, accounts payable and receivable, and
international projects, like the SAP rollouts in the remaining subsidiaries, document archiving, implementation of eInvoicing and eReporting.

My responsibilities include typical managerial functions, such as organizational tasks, prioritizing topics, the strategic alignment of the department together with the other team leaders and our department manager, and, naturally, all organizational personnel topics.”

Women managers are rather scarce on the ground in IT. What, especially, do you like in this area, and in particular related to your position?

SAP is a very integrative system. If someone changes a setting upstream in the process, it may have an impact on colleagues far downstream. As a result, you always have to keep your eye on the bigger picture, and not be limited by your own “root module.” However, because you have a good overview of operations in the company, you can optimize processes and create added value – we can directly contribute to the company's development. This makes the technical work incredibly interesting. Due to the complexity of the system and the various requirements that we receive, the work is also extremely varied from day to day. In addition, we also interact with a lot of different people and personalities; over the course of a project, we can learn a lot about different cultures, characters, and societies. They all have their own stories and are often part of the WAGO history for many years, which also increases the interest in our work.

In addition, I have the opportunity, due to my leadership position, to support, assist, encourage, and promote my colleagues on their development paths. I enjoy this aspect of the job so much, that I recently participated in the OWL cross mentoring program as a mentor, in order to support another young woman in determining and following her own personal development path.

The exchange of ideas with other women professionals and managers is also quite important to me. The women's network, women@wago, which includes more than 50 women professionals and managers, provides a wonderful platform for networking, exchanging ideas, and for tackling specific challenges, if necessary. Of course, I also try to introduce my personal experiences into these discussions.

You took part in the “Junior Leadership Program” (JLP). What were your experiences with this program?

The JLP had a big influence on me, both professionally and in my private life. With regards to career: you are given so many methods and tools over the course of the 18 months, that you are optimally prepared for later leadership responsibilities.

In addition, the values and leadership guidelines that WAGO prefers are communicated clearly in the JLP, so that you have to opportunity to embody these right from the start. The JLP helps to develop a mutual understanding of managerial methods, and I am ecstatic that WAGO offers its employees this type of possibility to advance. I am convinced that this also has positive effects on the leadership culture here.

You also receive a lot of input related to your own, personal development. This includes, above everything else, active contemplation and reflection on impacts, so that you can continue to develop, yourself.

The JLP only increased my desire to embark on a leadership path.

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