"I love those light bulb moments that people have when I bring order into seemingly chaotic process charts.”

Meet Helena Servé , Team Lead Process Management B2B Operations.

How would you explain your job to your grandparents??

I'm responsible for creating transparency for internal as well as external processes with merchants and partners. We define and optimize processes to ensure that idealo and its employees can operate and communicate efficiently.?

In which area of idealo do you work and how did you come to your current role?

I work as a Team Lead in the Operational Excellence Process Management team in the B2B Operations department.?I started at idealo in sales and account management. However, I quickly realized that I prefer to work behind the scenes and switched to contract management. Back then, we started to take a closer look at all processes in B2B to optimize them, so my team sat down with a process manager and within half an hour he had completely untangled everything that seemed to be a complex chaos before - and I realized that this was what I wanted to do! I wanted to bring this kind of enlightenment to other people as well. I then tried it out myself and familiarized myself with the subject. Then I sat down with my boss Bj?rn Kaps and we looked at where it could go. He then initiated the process so that I could develop into a team lead. And that is the great thing about idealo, that employees are given opportunities, even if it's perhaps not self-evident that I'm suddenly leading a team. I studied something completely different, went through various stages and never had that moment when I thought, "yes, this is it". And when I finally had it last year, it was great.??

Is that light bulb moment you’re talking about what motivates you for your work??

It's a big part. But also, that we very often get feedback from colleagues that we are initiating something, drawing attention to things and bringing in structures. It’s amazing to see how our work helps colleagues to collaborate better – it's what really motivates me.?

What are the challenges you face in your job??

There are several challenges. We only started in our team 9 months ago. The concept of process management has only existed in the B2B area since then. Therefore, one challenge is to make the employees at idealo aware of what we are doing and how they can benefit from it. A large part of process management relates to human interaction. We work with people, and sometimes conflicts can arise, especially when it comes to process optimization. Therefore, managing conflicts is also an exciting part of our work. Furthermore, we are still very young as a team and new to the topic. Nevertheless, this is also a significant advantage because, as a team that mainly consists of career changers, we bring a fresh perspective to the topic of process management.?

What was the mainstay for you to find your way??

It was our former process manager Martin, through whom I had my first touch point with the topic of process management. My boss Bj?rn was also instrumental in giving me the chance to develop further in this area. Finally, it was also crucial that people trusted me. This gave me the courage to take the step myself. The mainstay in this respect was also the job interview at idealo. During the interview, I already said that I wanted to develop myself further, that I would like to become a team lead at some point. And idealo said "yeah, sure, let’s work on this together".???

What was it like to become a team lead??

First of all, I was very happy because I had been working for this. I had the feeling that I was now where I was supposed to be. It was a bit scary at the second moment because it happened much faster than I expected. But then it was fun from the beginning because I also have a team, which makes it very easy for me to be a team lead. They show me that I can have confidence in each and every one of them, together we have fun, and we achieve results.???

What would you say to someone who is thinking about joining idealo??

Do it! I have never experienced an employer who shows so much trust in people. I don't mean that we can work almost 100% remotely, but that we have the freedom to try things out and make mistakes. That we have the freedom to be who we are.???

And last but not least: What advice can you give to colleagues who want to develop internally??

Don’t be afraid to take your career into your own hands and try out things. You might meet some challenges along the way, and you will make mistakes – and that’s okay. It’s part of the process. Don't be afraid to express your desire for development to anyone. I think the most important thing is that you follow your ambitions. Just try it out. Even if you are unsure, you should at least bring it up and then look together with the team lead where this can go.?

Thank you, Helena!

Ready to start your own journey at idealo? Check out our open positions?here .