Ever heard of job crafting? No? Time to find out!
Actively shaping your own role and areas of responsibility is a core value in personal development at Galaxus Deutschland and Digitec Galaxus. The skills employees acquire as a result help them reshape and grow in their respective functions. The example of Mahela Haab and her two-week exchange with the Business Intelligence team shows what job crafting looks like in practice.
Job crafting is about taking the initiative, designing your role and picking tasks suited to your strengths and interests. It’s a developmental approach that’s catching on. And it also helps fight the frustration that can be triggered by routine.
We all know the feeling. You start a new job, feel highly motivated and are raring to go. All forces are mobilised. Over time, that enthusiasm subsides and your daily tasks suddenly seem less fulfilling. What can you do? How about getting out of that comfort zone and take matters into your own hands! Although many employees like the idea of a change of scenery – or a flight to the moon, to make a comparison with the picture – the reality of leaving your comfort zone (planet earth) often seems just a little too uncomfortable. But not to Supplier Management Specialist Mahela Haab. She wanted to gain deeper insights into the work of the «Business Intelligence» team and ventured a two-week exchange in their department. Brave as she is, she boarded Apollo 11 and landed on the moon. Now that she’s back on Earth, she’s happy to share stories of her adventure.
Mahela’s tasks in Supplier Management include checking supplier contracts, managing supplier data and creating various evaluations of the each product category. For starters, the Business Intelligence (or BI) team has a totally different set up to what Mahela’s used to. The data specialists from BI generate reports. For example, to find out which devices customers used to access our homepage or how long they stayed on a particular subpage. To Mahela, landing in BI felt like arriving on an alien planet. Or like discovering a completely new universe made up of databases and charts.
The camomile tea deal
Mahela had been toying with the idea to temporarily join the Business Intelligence team for a long time. In line with her self-reliant personality, she taught herself the programming language SQL. For all you database ignoramuses: The abbreviation SQL stands for «Structured Query Language» and describes a language for communicating with databases. In addition, she ambitiously acquired knowledge about databases in online courses. Equipped with this new know-how, Mahela's journey to planet BI began. There, she learned more about the structure of databases and that there are many more ways to visualise data than she thought. What’s more, the exchange has led to greater understanding on both sides. Mahela now knows what to look out for when she needs something from BI. On the flip side, the data specialists better understand what Mahela needs. She now speaks the language of planet BI and knows the preferences of its inhabitants. Take Danny Hollandmoritz, for example. The local pharmacy has stopped selling him camomile tea because of its addictive properties. That’s good to know for Mahela. She’ll already have a little something ready for him when she needs the next report.
In short, Mahela redesigned her position and can now take on new responsibilities. Mahela ignored the sceptics and proved that any kind of courage is worth the effort and uncharted territory should be entered in true pirate fashion. In addition to expanding your expertise, a change is also always a perfect opportunity to expand your network. The greatest benefit for Mahela is that this exchange has enabled her to grow in her own function. She now sees a huge future potential for her role. This has given her a massive motivation boost. Mahela offhandedly did what HR and organisation developers recommend.
Job crafting
At Galaxus Deutschland and Digitec Galaxus in Switzerland, we don't see development as an elitist affair available only to a select group of talented individuals. On the contrary. We want to encourage everyone to try something new. With our agile approach, we pursue employee development for everyone at all times. The individual is at the heart of what we do. Although Master’s, PhD’s and Bachelor’s are nice to have, they’re not crucial to personal progress. We don’t want development to be a boring annual mandatory talk with the boss but something that happens at work every day. Regular challenges, ready to be tackled and mastered. Like Mahela’s challenge. Just one more thing for now: we love exchanges to the moon and back. All it takes is courage and personal responsibility – just like our values state.
Fabienne Gsponer
People & Organizational Developer
Fabienne.Gsponer@digitecgalaxus.chPowder snow and Baileys coffee make me happy. As a small business punk, I make sure that work is fun and that employees can develop. My work includes piratical maneuvers towards more personal responsibility and creative new ways of thinking. Keeping me fit and alert are our well-stocked team snacks drawer, risky Nerf gun battles with team members, and various shopping adventures at Galaxus after work.
