What’s Great About Your Job?

By Bridget McCrea

We're kicking off a new series of stories here at tEDmag.com, all about recruiting and retention. Better yet, it centers around tED magazine's 30 Under 35 winners. In the coming weeks, you'll hear from many of our best and brightest industry up-and-comers, and learn what it takes to keep them engaged, happy, and with your company for years to come.

This week, Maren Bochinger, LEDVANCE's head of luminaire sales for U.S. and Canada, and 2017 tED 30-under-35 winner, opens up about her career choice and what it's like to work for the global lighting manufacturer.

Why did you choose to work for LEDVANCE and what's the work environment like there?

My first boss at LEDVANCE (at that time OSRAM in Germany) was someone I knew from a scholarship program that we were both part of. He was advertising two roles through the alumni network, neither of which I was qualified for. I applied anyway and he found a position for me on his team, allowing me to define my own role to a certain extent. He created an environment of trust, transparency, and vision and made me feel like I was part of the bigger picture. The opportunities I got early on to prove myself and to interact with senior management helped shape my career. I really appreciate the open environment and that there isn't a focus on hierarchy.

What does your firm do to keep you happy and on a good growth path?

I am inspired by our leadership and have had the opportunity of working on and with great teams. LEDVANCE is a people-driven company, which is not only shown internally, but also by the relationships we have with our customers. This is represented by one of our core company values—Winning Together. Every career decision I have made within the company has been based on the people I was going to work with and how they would help me grow and learn. This is also formalized through a mentoring program in the company that anyone can participate in.

What's special about LEDVANCE's corporate culture?

I think as a company, we are still going through changes and defining ourselves and there's of course room for improvement. That being said, I believe it is an exciting time and there are a lot of great opportunities. Personally, I have benefited immensely from having mentors help me with career decisions, as well as inspiring leaders who have actively pushed me to grow.

In an era where employees change jobs more frequently than ever, what keeps you engaged and interested in your job?

There's been tremendous change in our industry, and also specifically within our company. For me, this has created opportunities for growth on a regular basis. I love being able to create my own role and stretch my limits to see how far I can go. The company has allowed me to be entrepreneurial, for example, by building our SYLVANIA fixture portfolio from scratch in the U.S. I have always felt like my bosses believed in me and had my back, so I was able to take risks, make mistakes, learn from them, and fix them. This is something that is becoming even more important going forward. We have to keep reinventing ourselves and making sure we stay relevant for our customers. To me, this is the perfect work environment—it never gets boring.

—

McCrea is a Florida-based writer who covers business, industrial, and educational topics for a variety of magazines and journals. You can reach her at bridgetmc@earthlink.net or visit her website at www.expertghostwriter.net.