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  Failure Friday: Learning & Leading Through Feedback

  Personio's culture of innovation and impact means that our team members are constantly challenging the status quo, moving fast, and seeking to improve. And, sometimes, this means we fail. But it also means that we’re failing fast, learning fast, and growing fast. This was exactly the case for Maria, who joined Personio three years ago as Customer Growth Lead. “My role as Team Lead is to coach and develop a team of Customer Growth Managers, guiding them through complex decisions and challenges. As a team, we’re responsible for retaining our largest customer base by identifying their individual product needs, demonstrating our product value, and providing recommendations on our product portfolio.”   Maria’s time in her current role, as in any other, has been a learning experience. “From day one, my focus as a leader has been to support my team and enable them to reach their full potential. And providing regular feedback to them, and requesting it in return, is key to success.” Maria (sixth from left) and teammates enjoying a team outing at a ropes course. For Maria, this feedback provided one of her biggest lessons as a leader. “I was given feedback from a team member who had confided in me with their challenges and struggles. But when they did that, I wasn't being a good active listener. They let me know that I wasn’t taking the time to really listen to them, and therefore I couldn’t and wasn’t providing the support that they needed.” “In that moment, I felt that I had failed in my core role as a leader by failing to providing the support that my team member needed from me.” After that conversation, Maria took some time to gather more feedback and process what she had learned. “I applied the lens of this feedback to past conversations, remembering how I had handled them and considering what I could have done differently.”  This self-reflection paid dividends. “I realized that I’d often jumped quickly into solution mode whenever I heard a problem or challenge that this person was facing. I wanted to solve it right then. But what I didn’t understand at the time was that this person hadn’t opened up just to solutionize – they had opened up to me to be heard and acknowledged by a person they trusted.” Working together during one of their regular Growth Power Days. Maria has since invested in her growth as a leader, working to find the right balance between a solutions-oriented mindset and taking the time to listen and acknowledge. She not only took advantage of the resources provided by Personio’s Great Leaders Do program, but also our annual personal development budget and paid day off.  “Since that day I’ve sought out development opportunities, especially for my active listening and communication skills. I try to take learnings from every book I read and implement them into conversations and the way I interact with my team.” In particular, Maria enjoyed “Words That Change Minds” by Shelle Rose Charvet, “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott, and “Crucial Conversations” by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler. After that first conversation with her team member, Maria made sure to circle back and share her reflections and learnings. Together, they aligned on next steps and how Maria could best implement the feedback moving forward.  Maria (center) with her team celebrating the holidays. “Now, I make sure to ask relevant questions to ensure I fully understand a given situation, and dig into the reason it’s been brought up in the first place. In this way, I can make sure I’m giving them the support that they need from me, be that an open ear, a solution, or a nudge in the right direction.” And at the end of the day, Maria knows she’s not alone. “Of course I failed! Everyone makes mistakes in their career – little ones, big ones. What matters is owning it, making it right, and learning from it so we don’t repeat it again.”  Interested in hearing from more Personios? Check back for the next installment of our Failure Friday blog series, coming soon, or join the team yourself! Head to the careers page to see our open roles.

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  Other

  From Dublin to Amsterdam: The Start of Something New for Anita, Account Executive

  Back in September of 2021, Personio expanded from locations in Munich, Madrid, Dublin, and London, to a fifth, new office in Amsterdam. Anita Bax, an Account Executive in the Dublin office, was tapped to be part of the first wave of Personio employees to relocate.  While most relocation stories involve the person moving to a brand new city to start a new adventure, this was only half-true for Anita. Because although she had spent the last seven years in Dublin, she is a native of The Netherlands, and her move was more of a homecoming.  Before joining Personio, Anita spent nearly five years at Airbnb as an Experience Market Manager, first for the Nordics and then for The Netherlands. She first heard about Personio during a casual conversation with friends, and later realized that a previous colleague now worked at Personio in Dublin. She reached out to learn more, and what she learned only made her more curious! “The recruitment process was so smooth, and I liked that I had the opportunity to speak to so many different people across the organisation.”  Anita captaining Personio’s boat in Amsterdam. At the end of the day, it was an easy choice. “I loved the enthusiasm that everyone showed during all of my interviews. It was obvious that the Personio team was driven by a shared vision and passion, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.” When she joined, Anita was only the sixth person in the Dublin office. “Personio was just starting to get into the Benelux market. It was a great opportunity to join at the very beginning and have a real impact on Personio’s international growth.” And that growth has only continued. By the time she moved to Amsterdam in late 2021, the Dublin office was nearing 150 employees.  Settled into the Amsterdam office. Now, Anita continues her role as an Account Executive for the Benelux region (Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg) – just now she’s doing it from Amsterdam instead of Dublin. As an AE, Anita’s role is all about speaking with HR teams at companies who could benefit from Personio’s SaaS product. Her typical day starts with an hour of inbound and outbound calls with those HR professionals, talking through the problems they face in their jobs and ways Personio can help solve them. She’ll then dive into project work or meetings with potential customers before taking a break for lunch. The afternoon sees her back supporting customers in their search for an HR solution, taking the time to understand their needs and how Personio can help them achieve their goals. And then she ends her day with 30 minutes of prep for the next day. But, as she says, it’s an ever-changing experience. “No day at Personio is the same as the last!”  Anita presenting at All Company Culture Week 2022. Making the move to Amsterdam was a process, of course, but it all worked out for Anita and her girlfriend (and their dog, Niko!). “It was quite a challenge to figure out the move with our dog, but everything else was smooth! Personio was so supportive, and some of my teammates had already made the move, so we all shared tips and tricks with each other.” At the end of the day, moving from Dublin to Amsterdam with Personio was both a new adventure and a homecoming – and Anita wouldn’t have it any other way. “Personio is unlike any other company I’ve ever worked for. I love that my role here lets me help make my customers’ lives easier, and that I get to make a concrete contribution towards our journey of enabling better organisations.” Interested in joining Anita and her fellow Personios in the Amsterdam office? We’re hiring for multiple roles! Check out our careers page today to find the next right job for you. 

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  Company life

  Great Leaders Do: How We’re Evolving & Empowering Personio’s Leaders

  Leadership styles in business have changed over the decades, and no doubt will continue to do so. What many now consider to be “modern” leadership has, instead of focusing purely on commanding respect and obedience, shifted to a more human-centred approach. It emphasises trust and psychological safety, creating an environment of transparency and flatter hierarchies.  At Personio, leadership is a hot topic: not just because we have ambitious goals and need great leaders to help us achieve them, but because providing quality leadership to our teams is deeply aligned with our core values and operating principles.  In 2021, when Personio hadn’t yet reached 1,000 employees, our leaders shared in a survey that they needed more clarity around the responsibilities and expectations we had of them. As we were heading into a period of prolonged hypergrowth, with plans to nearly double in size over the next year, this was a red flag. It was clear that we needed to rethink the way we trained and supported our leaders in order to set them and their teams up for success.   Our People & Organisational Development team, affectionately known as “POD,” is dedicated to developing our people and leaders at Personio. From the team’s inception they’ve been working to bring training content and facilitation in-house, hosting educational events and providing digital resources while sustaining and fostering the company’s growth through leadership.  When the engagement survey results flagged this opportunity to improve, the POD team dived in head first. They conducted extensive rounds of interviews to better understand the needs of Personio’s leaders, what was going well and where they saw gaps in training and support. Based on this research, working together with other People teams and stakeholders, they built up and launched the Great Leaders Do Framework. The overall goal of Great Leaders Do is to provide tangible expectations and resources for our leaders, enabling them to better support their teams each day. Established with a user-centric approach, the team used design thinking and a product mindset to create a new programme that would cater to the many unique leaders at Personio. Some of the key initiatives POD created include the Leadership toolkit, a series of live leadership events, and the Personio Leadership Academy.   Personio leaders attending the 2022 Leadership Summit during All Company Culture Week Live Leadership Events The Leader Connect Live series is a monthly event, both in-person and live streamed, designed to bring the Great Leaders Do framework to life. Our leaders use this time to shape the shared understanding of what it means to be a great leader at Personio. The optional sessions feature a mix of internal and external speakers, bringing fresh perspectives as well as the ability to learn from their own collective experience.  The POD team also hosts the Leadership Summit once per year during All Company Culture week. This summit brings together all 250+ Personio leaders into one room to network, learn from each other, and celebrate our successes. The event wraps up with a series of awards, voted on by employees, that highlight the leaders who have best lived up to Personio’s pillars and values.  The Leadership Toolkit The Leadership Toolkit is a comprehensive, digital collection of resources for Personio managers. It ensures leaders have on-demand access to the information they need to effectively support their team members through each stage of the employee lifecycle. Curated for a variety of learning styles, the toolkit includes bite-sized and in-depth videos, playbooks, articles, podcasts, and more.   Leadership Academy The Academy is a six-month development journey for both new and experienced leaders. It covers topics like interview skills, the basics of modern leadership, driving performance and growth, and fostering great feedback over the course of multiple trainings. With four different tracks, the Academy now serves leaders at every level of experience and time with Personio: Exploring Leadership, for those interested in exploring leadership topics and preparing for a future as a leader. Emerging Leaders, for Personios who have been promoted internally into a leadership role. Launch for Leaders, for those who have been hired externally into leadership. Open Enrollment, an offering for Personios who have been leaders for 6+ months and want to continue their leadership learning journey.  In addition, POD is also launching a mentorship programme geared towards developing existing and aspiring leaders.  People Organisational & Development team in the Munich office The Outcome As 2022 comes to an end, the impact of the POD team’s work can be felt throughout the company. Since the Great Leaders Do launch, they’ve hosted three Leader Connect Live sessions, one Leadership Summit, and nearly 60 Leadership Academy trainings.  Recent survey results are also showing remarkable success, with a 37 percent increase in the number of leaders who feel that Personio clearly communicates its expectations of leaders. Moreover, 89 percent reported that they now feel recognised and celebrated as a leader at Personio. And, last but certainly not least, Personio was recently shortlisted for the HR Excellence Award based on our Great Leaders Do framework.  What's Next As we’re continuously working on our operating principle #SeekToImprove, the POD team is always seeking feedback and iterating on the trainings and resources available. The team has also hired a new Employee Listening Partner, who will focus on the overall impact of the company’s engagement efforts with leaders and all employees. Our initiatives are always a direct result of employee feedback, which allows us to tweak and tailor policies and processes to ensure they are providing maximum value. It is our long-term plan to continue journey-line expansion and to integrate our leadership framework into how we evaluate leaders.  Because we know that by enabling them to act as multipliers of success, we are equipping our leaders with the essential skills they need to help Personio succeed – now and in the future.  We’re looking for leaders to join our teams across Europe. Head to our careers page today to explore your options! 

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  Company life

  Womxn in Tech: Embracing Experience and Taking Ownership in Engineering

  As an HR software company, it’s not surprising that many Personios have an HR background – even when they don’t work in HR. Laura Kirwan, an Engineering Manager based in our Dublin office, is one such example. “I definitely have an unconventional engineering background. I started my career in HR, and, ironically, that’s when I discovered my passion for technology.” Her work on an HR systems project initially sparked her interest, prompting a move into the tech industry as a Quality Assurance Engineer. “I started practicing in my spare time, leveling up my technical skills so I could apply them more in my work.” Laura worked her way up from Functional to Senior QA Engineer, and then QA Manager, over her six years at software giant Workday. “I started to take on leadership responsibilities, eventually moving into a people leadership role. Turns out that I really enjoy building and supporting high-performing teams!”   But those early years weren’t always smooth sailing for Laura, a woman in the male-dominated tech world. “I remember feeling pretty daunted at first, and hesitant to take on big projects. Luckily I had some great female role models and a company that supported women. Both of these had a big impact on my own career growth – I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.” The experience showed her first hand the impact that female role models and sponsors can have on the success of women in the tech space. “I’ve seen the value that diverse teams can bring to the business, especially in terms of innovation, problem solving, and an overall diversity of thought. It’s a game changer.”  When she first joined Personio, it was clear that there was room for improvement. “Quite early in my Personio career, I saw that hiring women in tech was an area we could do better in. So I partnered with a few colleagues who were equally passionate about this topic, and we started getting involved in initiatives to enact some change.” Together with the Diversity Committee, Laura and her teammates reviewed Personio’s technical recruitment processes, championing internal education to help reduce unconscious biases and creating more diverse hiring panels. “I’ve enjoyed having open conversations with my colleagues in the engineering space. Even a chat over coffee helps increase awareness of the barriers and biases that women in tech face.”  These improvements haven’t just come from individuals and committees, but have also been supported at the top levels of Personio’s leadership. “It’s been awesome to see the response of our senior leadership team, how they’ve really championed this area and supported our ideas on how to improve.”  Members of the Product, Design, and Engineering team at an offsite. Given this, it comes as no surprise that a strong culture was a major factor in Laura’s decision to join the company. “The more I learned about Personio, the more I knew that this company was aligned with my own values and the way I wanted to work.” And the more familiar with our values she’s become, the more they’ve resonated with her. “One of my favorites is #Transparency. It’s something I value so much from my peers and leaders, and one that I aim to live every day with my own team. By being transparent, together we can collectively find the path forward from any problem, and everyone can then play a role in executing on the solution.”  Choosing Personio was also an opportunity to get back to the HR roots of her early career. “I was first excited about the mission of Enabling Better Organisations, and helping to free up HR teams from manual and repetitive tasks. I love to work on products and projects that have an impact, and Personio’s is one I really believe in.”  Switching to Personio also enabled her to continue growing her career, both as a people leader and an engineer. “I knew this was a company where I could work on challenging engineering and product development projects. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.” Now she’s an Engineering Manager in the Recruiting tribe, helping to build the products that enable our customers to find and attract the right talent to their organisations. “My team is responsible for the Job Posting and Promotion space. We develop the product that allows Talent teams to attract candidates efficiently, so they can get the most out of their recruiting budgets and efforts.”  In fact, one of the first projects Laura and her team worked on was Personio’s auto-posting feature. “It was a high-impact feature for our customers, automating manual processes and helping them save money. On the engineering and product development side, it was very complex and involved multiple teams, both internally and externally. It was a great way to build relationships and kick off my time at Personio.”  Enjoying a team dinner in Munich during All Company Culture Week 2022. Now, after nearly a year and a half here, Laura has settled in. “My engineering teammates are an incredibly smart, passionate group of people who are constantly innovating and solving problems in unprecedented ways.” And, together, they’re tackling the many interesting challenges that come with working at one of Europe’s fastest-growing and most valuable tech companies. “We work in a highly collaborative product development environment, with engineers, product managers, product designers, and UX researchers all working together to define what we want to build and then bringing it to life.”  “We’re empowered to take full ownership here – there are no handovers. Engineers are involved in every step of the process, and can have a big influence on both the technical and functional design of the product that we build. It all plays into our culture of ‘You build it, you run it.’” For Laura and her team, it’s an opportunity to take ownership and make an impact as they all continue growing their careers.  Now that she’s established in her tech career, what advice would Laura give to women who are just starting out in the tech world? “Get as much hands-on experience as you can, particularly if you’re working in engineering! Trying – and failing – will teach you more, and faster, than anything else.”  If you’re looking to start or advance your career in tech, take a look at Personio! We’re hiring multiple roles in our Product, Design, and Engineering teams – explore our open roles here. 

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  5 Key HR News Stories in the UK You May Have Missed This Month

  As we head towards the new year, your HR teams are probably starting to think about the challenges that it inevitably will bring with it. And if you didn’t make it to HUG on Tour, our five-stop future of HR event, we have rounded up some other important developments to have a think about. From cost of living initiatives to pay rises to how four-day weeks are impacting attrition, here are our five must-know news developments from the dynamic world of HR. Are you ready for what lies ahead in 2023? Read our latest HR study to see how HR professionals around Europe are preparing. Contents Majority of Companies Are Launching Cost of Living Initiatives Pay Rises Are Coming For 91% of Employees Two Thirds Would Move for a 4-Day Week HR Profession Grew 4x Faster Than Workforce More People Are Quitting To Care for Family What You May Have Missed From Personio 1. Majority of Companies Are Launching Cost of Living Initiatives (Personio) Have your employees been impacted by the cost of living crisis yet? Some 81% of companies either have initiatives in place to help (51%), or they are planning to launch one (29%). That’s all according to our brand new HR study of 7,000 employees and 3,500 HR managers across Europe, of which less than a third of HR teams felt prepared to help their business remain resilient. Read more here. 2. Pay Rises Are Coming For 91% of Employees (HR News) On the topic of the cost of living crisis, there is actually good news coming for us all – 91% of us are set to receive a pay rise next year, with the median basic pay award set to climb by 5% by August 2023. In fact, only 2.5% of companies are anticipating a pay freeze and 85% of employee groups have received a higher pay award this year than last, which will be positive news for HR teams around the UK. Read more here. Is Your HR Team Prepared for 2023? Find out how HR managers and companies around Europe are preparing for upcoming crises. Read It Now 3. Two Thirds Would Move for a 4-Day Week (HR Grapevine) Wondering how you can ensure that you retain your best talent in the coming months? One of the biggest draws elsewhere may be the companies who offer a four-day working week (68%). Meanwhile, being able to work flexible hours (64%) and the opportunity to earn overtime (63%) also emerged as tempting reasons to jump ship. Currently, only 10% of employees surveyed work four-day weeks. Read more here.  4. HR Profession Grew 4x Faster Than Workforce (HR Magazine) In the last decade, the HR profession has grown by 42%, with the general UK workforce only growing by 10% in that time. This included a 47% rise in junior roles and a 40% increase in senior roles, along with 172 D&I director roles. However, the same report unfortunately found lower levels of diversity in people management roles, with no black Chief People Officers in any of the FTSE 100 companies. Read more here. 5. More People Are Quitting To Care for Family (The Guardian) The portion of people not working due to family care is at its highest since May 2020, with an increase in stay-at-home parents and carers after 30 years of decline. This has been predominantly women (84% of 1.75 million who have given up work), a 3% increase on the previous year. Last summer alone, 27.6% of women weren’t working because of family commitments, compared to just 7.4% of men. Read more here. What You May Have Missed From Personio… Finally, our brand new partners have been busy at work making Personio even more useful for HR professionals across Europe. This month, we have unveiled ten new integrations. Check them out below to unlock more time for what matters – your people. BITE: Supports companies with the complete recruiting process from job vacancies to candidate selection by reviews and task management. Capdesk: An all-in-one equity management solution for private companies in Europe. Run compliant and efficient employee share schemes. e2mod (Facts&Figures): A connector that synchronises information between Personio and on-premises AD to reduce, standardise and simplify IT operations. GFOS: A connector to a comprehensive workforce management system with time tracking, employee scheduling, workforce analytics and more. Lawpilots: E-learning provider for innovative online training in the areas of data protection, compliance, occupational health and safety and information security. Learningbank: Learning platform that enables companies to onboard employees faster, supercharge productivity, and cultivate company culture.  LearnUpon: Learning management system that champions simple, learner-centric experiences and results-focused support. Monster: A source for jobs and career opportunities. Search for jobs, read career advice from job experts, and find hiring and recruiting opportunities. Omnipresent: Simplifies employing, paying, and providing support for global teams across 160 countries without having to set up a local entity. Shiftbase: Staff scheduling and time tracking that enables you to create online staff schedules, register hours and manage your personnel administration. 

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  Company life

  Personio’s Commitment to Supporting Sustainability

  Way back in 2019, Personios carried a banner proclaiming “There Is No Planet B!” at the Munich Climate Strike march.  Organized by our employee-driven Sustainability Committee, attending this march was just one way we supported our value of #SocialResponsibility. Since then, this Employee Resource Group has expanded in size and impact. Today, with almost 300 members in its Slack channel, the Sustainability Committee works toward a dedicated mission: to enable greener organizations, brands, and products.  Here’s a short look at some of the major initiatives our committee has been working on to support environmental and social causes: 1. Personio’s 1% Commitment & Personio Foundation Personio’s commitment to social good comes straight from our co-founders, starting with their pledge to put 1% of Personio’s equity towards charitable causes. In 2021 we launched Personio Foundation, which uses that 1% – now worth $85 million – to support organizations in the fields of education and climate change. The Foundation offers long-term support and unrestricted grants. 2. Personio Kitchen & Bar According to the research on the environmental impact of food production, plant-based products produce much fewer greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram and are more beneficial for human health. Therefore, to serve our employees and the community healthy food with regional ingredients in a sustainable environment, we opened Personio Kitchen & Bar in 2021. Our menu only contains vegetarian and vegan dishes that are prepared fresh daily, with locally sourced ingredients. To be even more environmentally friendly, we also suggest cashless payment and encourage reusable to-go containers.   3. Our Carbon Footprint Planetly helps companies measure their CO2 emissions and identify levers to reduce and offset those emissions over time. After partnering with Planetly to get a full analysis of Personio’s carbon emissions, we addressed the main drivers of our footprint by implementing more sustainable solutions wherever possible. For example, we increased the energy efficiency of our office spaces and implemented new travel guidelines, encouraging our employees to travel in a more sustainable way. Personio also compensates for unavoidable emissions, like using electricity, sending emails, and traveling by plane when trains or other methods aren’t possible. For example, this year we partnered with Small-Scale Hydro and Wind Energy projects in Turkey. Thanks to these partnerships and our reduction efforts, Personio is now is one of the first carbon-neutral unicorns in Europe.  4. Personio Green with Planetly Seeing the success of our partnership, we also integrated Planetly into our product system. Together, we can now make a positive impact by helping other organizations make progress towards their emission reduction goals. And, to encourage and empower our customers to use this integration, we provide a discount to organizations that work with Planetly.  Click here to see more about Our Commitment to Sustainability and Social Responsibility @ Personio 5. Green Mobility To minimize our corporate carbon footprint, we continuously incentivize our employees to choose the most climate-friendly commuting options. Therefore, we offer each employee a monthly subsidy of where they can choose between public transport, e-scooters, or personal bicycles. 6. Annual Impact Days In addition to annual all-Personio Impact Days, each employee has the opportunity to use an additional paid day to support a charity of their choice. Our employees have the freedom to choose their cause either from a list of recommended organizations provided by Personio or any other project that speaks to them personally. So far this year, 243 employees have volunteered in support of their chosen cause. Personios planting trees during an impact day We are on a continuous journey at Personio towards becoming a greener organization, brand, and product. We are proud of everyone’s efforts on this mission and excited to see the ways our Personios and Sustainability Committee implement even more positive change in the future!

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  Company life

  Pride at the Workplace: Actions We Take to Educate Ourselves and Become Better Allies

  Pride is something that should be acknowledged all year around, and we’ve been making an effort to do just that. This summer in particular we’re focused on reigniting the momentum we have around educating people on the adversity faced within the LGBTQ+ community and how we can all be better allies. Are you interested in bringing that same focus to your own company? We’ve outlined below a few of the actions we’re taking at Personio. Take a look and see if any of them would be a fit at your workplace as well! Changing our logo, email signatures and social media banners to show our solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. Hosting Ask Me Anything sessions with panelists from other companies in the tech space. We used AMAs to learn from each other about fostering inclusive environments at work and areas we can all improve in. Hosting internal AMAs with Personio panelists, giving them the platform to share their own stories and the opportunity for their fellow Personios to ask questions in a respectful, safe environment. Celebrating Pride in each of our office locations to build connections and live out our value of #Fun with charity fundraisers, art workshops, pride parades, and 90s pop tributes. Creating a variety of content – by and for Personios – to share what Pride means to them. But this is just the beginning. Our efforts continue as we focus on our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion vision of embracing uniqueness, educating around individual needs, and creating a safe space where everyone can belong. And in that vein, let’s take the opportunity to learn more about the Pride flag! Do you know what each color of the flag means? The rainbow flag was originally designed for San Francisco’s 1978 Gay Freedom Celebration by Gilber Baker, a an American artist, designer, and activist for the LGBTQIA+ community In the original eight-color version, pink stood for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for the soul. Today it’s also becoming more and more common to see the Progress flag, which adds black and brown to represent people of color, as well as pink, baby blue, and white to include the trans flag in its design. The placement of the new colors in an arrow shape is meant to convey the progress that is still needed. While you may not see the Progress Pride Flag everywhere yet, it continues to gain traction as the new flag to represent Pride. And, perhaps as no surprise, this flag is continuing to evolve even more! A new spin-off of the Progress flag now includes a yellow triangle with a purple circle for intersex people. The ‘Progress Pride flag’ with the new addition of the intersex flag. Do you want to join our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion evolution together with us? Then come join our team! We’re hiring now – head to the careers page today to see our open roles. Happy Pride!

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  Company life

  “It’s A Balancing Act:” Manager, Mother, Mentor

  Marielle is in a position that many young female leaders find themselves in: being a passionate executive while also managing a small family. Because this is a matter she cares about deeply, she spends much of her time as an advocate for working moms, both at Personio and through her pro bono engagements outside of the company. At Personio, Marielle is the Head of Customer Success and looks after the company’s largest, most complex clients. To get her there, she’s gained experience from various high growth technology companies, and brought it all into her role here at Personio. Now she campaigns not only for her customers, but also to help Personio create a culture that is welcoming and supportive to working parents. (Already curious? Head to our careers page to find your next role!)  Marielle began her career in the communications industry before being recruited into Google’s publisher solutions team and moving to Google’s European headquarters in Dublin. After moving on from Google, she continued to expand her skill set in various ecommerce SaaS start-ups in San Francisco and New York, before being asked to run the European expansion of NY-based Sailthru.  When she first considered moving back to Germany, she wasn’t sure that she could find an organization with the same innovative, open-minded, and diverse professional culture she’d been experiencing in Silicon Valley start-ups. The way that companies treat working mothers was particularly relevant, given that she’d just had her second child a year earlier. But Personio’s rapid growth and strong focus on an inclusive company culture drew her in.  Now, after nearly two years at Personio, Marielle has settled in. She manages a team of around 25 people as Head of Customer Success Management, with multiple team leads reporting directly to her. The team works closely with Personio’s largest customers (companies with 500 to 2,000 employees), all of which are at different stages in their HR journey. “The audience we work with is so diverse, it is truly refreshing.”  Marielle and her team in Personio’s Munich office As many of us know, leadership roles can bring unique and rewarding challenges.  “Once you become a leader of leaders, you are faced with the balancing act of satisfying the needs of both the business and your own team.” As Marielle puts it, “You must be comfortable with radical prioritization and acknowledge that there are some areas you aren’t perfect or even needed in. I have gotten better at pushing back and questioning assumptions, like declining meetings I don’t need to be in.”  A typical day for members of Marielle’s team involves optimizing workflows, demoing new products, and providing personalized recommendations to ensure customers are getting the best value out of their Personio products. This broad and customer-centric role feeds into Personio’s company value of Customer Empathy, which Marielle believes has contributed to Personio’s rapid growth. “Myself and my team ensure we are vocal about our successes and our challenges together, to help us work through every issue and provide a great customer experience.” Marielle also takes on an additional role as a mentor and role model to other Personio parents and peers considering their family planning options. She credits this informal mentorship role as a natural result of her entering the company at a critical stage for any parent: with kids at preschool age while being a motivated leader with big career ambitions. When Marielle started at Personio she was one of few full-time working mothers, but now that number has increased exponentially. She continues to play a big role in voicing the views of working parents, ensuring Personio is continually working on further supporting and encouraging more full-time working parents to join.  “Personio gives you the flexibility to plan your work around your family. I can unapologetically take a coffee break when working from home to catch up with my children when they get back from kindergarten, or leave the office early to attend my son’s soccer training. This flexibility is the difference between me being able to work full- or part-time. It’s a game changer.” Personio today has a lot of great initiatives in place for working parents, like additional paid days off to care for sick children, flexible home office guidelines, and a kids-centric slack channel for parents to ask questions and share learnings on raising a family. Whether you’re a parent or not, find out if Personio is the right place for you! From Marielle’s perspective, there are a few key qualities and skills that Personios should have: “Ownership is really important – you must be in the driver’s seat, delivering what you say and taking responsibility for your actions. Strong communication skills are also key, making sure you’re actively listening not just to reply, but to understand and build genuine relationships is crucial. And finally, team spirit! We have a strong team mentality here, and are always looking to hire people aligned with these values!”  Interested in joining the team? Head over to our careers page and apply today!