Laila Nafidi-Herrmann

Meet our passionate colleague Laila from the European IT team. She has two main drivers: people and projects. She's currently working on a complex project to move the company onto a new version of SAP. The project spans our European headquarters in Germany and as well as our other locations across Europe. This story is based on an interview with her in March 2022. 

I studied engineering in France and initially specialised in supply chain and logistics. After my Erasmus program in Lisbon, I started working as an SAP consultant in France. Then, to be closer to my husband and to try something new, I moved to Germany. In my new position, next to my tasks as a SAP consultant, such as writing specifications, coordinating with the developers, testing, etc., I also discovered and enjoyed very much project management. I decided to move on and in 2019 I joined Konica Minolta as an IT project lead. From day one, I felt free to use my skills; I could try out and propose new things, and I felt I was growing all the time. I can definitely say that I'm not the same person as I was three years ago. I've learned and grown a lot through other people and their guidance.
 

Balancing work and private life

I love both my job and my private life. As IT work comes in waves, there can be a lot going on during a certain period of time, followed by a quieter period afterwards.
 
The flexible work environment at Konica Minolta fits perfectly with my daily life and activities. When I have a private appointment or go to my weekly theatre group, I can start work earlier or finish later. Konica Minolta gives me the space and the framework to do that. Even before the pandemic, we had the option to work from home. At Konica Minolta, it's never been an issue. The expectation is simply that you deliver results.
 
My manager has a family and understands the need to harmonise work and private life. So, when I got pregnant, I didn't have any concerns about telling them.
 

An open, honest, and collaborative atmosphere

For me, the signs of a good job include open communication, teamwork, and a flat hierarchy. I like having a personal as well as a professional relationship with people. The office is a place where everybody is warm towards each other. When I need something from someone, I can contact them directly. The same is true of my managers. The atmosphere is friendly; people are nice, open-minded, and always ready for new things.
 
Every morning I wake up knowing I'll have new experiences at work that day. I find the international context highly motivating. I work with colleagues from the US, India, Bulgaria, Poland, and many other countries. People from all over the world come to the headquarters in Langenhagen. Working with people from different cultures leads to fruitful interactions.
 

To take advantage of all this energy and dynamism, it's important to listen to all these diverse people, open our minds to each other, and take everyone's point of view into account. Being able to understand where someone else is coming from and build something from what they say is a strength. So, if someone with a very different background joins my team, we always find ways to make effective compromises, and to learn from each other for better outcomes. It's about being mindful and honest.
 
Projects don't just comprise time pressure, requirements, budgets, and figures. People are always at the centre. That's why it's important to give everyone the chance to speak and exchange views and ideas without any preconceptions. There are experts everywhere at Konica Minolta.
 
We also have groups pushing diversity, equity and inclusion, such as the Business Women network and the LGBTQ+ network, VIBRANT. People make diversity happen and grow. At Konica Minolta, all these diverse groups and cultures have a lot of visibility. Including all these different ways of thinking, helps the company become truly innovative.
 

I enjoy having responsibilities and the freedom to act in my field. I need trusted people around me to accompany and coach me. On a challenging project with many external and internal stakeholders, you need lots of different feedback and opinions. Everyone can speak and align freely with internal and external customers without worrying about the consequences. In IT we have a good feedback culture. Sometimes we can be quite loud or direct. This informal approach can make some colleagues slightly uncomfortable, but it's never really a problem. Even with senior leaders, I can have an open conversation about things I'm not happy about.
 
Support from top management gives us the assurance that initiatives won’t be stopped, and that projects won’t have unrealistic deadlines imposed. Of course, this does still happen from time to time due to customers constraints or legal requirements. But ultimately, being open and honest in a respectful way makes the work environment so much healthier. Colleagues understand each other's roles and responsibilities and know they can get help at any time.
 

Meaningful work in the European IT team

With 140 projects on the go at any one time, we constantly have to adapt from both a planning and a people perspective. If the business has new requirements, they have to be discussed and priorities have to be shifted.
 
Delivering a project within the given timeline, budget and scope creates real impact for the customer and of course for Konica Minolta. Ultimately, the whole team shares in a project's success.
 
Customers are fully part of our projects. Without customers, IT doesn't exist. The IT team regularly runs workshops with customers to understand their needs and requirements. On every project, a business project lead and IT project lead work together. As customer needs continue to change and evolve, my team and I prioritise working on new, specific customer services, which are the basis for innovation.
 

Transformation and innovation

Konica Minolta as a company is transforming daily. I've noticed that over the last three years, the mentality has changed: Konica Minolta has gone from being mainly a manufacturer to being a provider of IT services.
 
To keep up with innovation and development, the European IT team does its own research and has also created the IT Unity Team, made up of 10 people from different business units. People feed their ideas into this team, which assesses them and presents the best ones to the CIO. Without this team, great ideas might not go anywhere. Now, when the IT Unity Team agrees that an idea has potential, we might get the chance to work on it.
 

Konica Minolta does a great job of creating a flexible and supporting working environment. There's always an opportunity to speak to someone in order to adapt to a new situation. We always find a way forward by sharing ideas and agreeing on the best solutions.