Portrait of a young woman with blonde, shoulder-length hair and blue eyes, smiling. She is wearing a black top and small earrings. The background is light grey.

Nina

Nina, how long have you been with the company and what is your job title?

I've been working at paulimot as Team Leader for Finance and Administration since 1 January 2017. My team is divided into two groups: While one part of the team is responsible for order processing, customer support and the administrative handling of purchasing, the other is responsible for bookkeeping, office organisation and our invoicing services for a purchasing association.

How many people work in your team and how has the team developed during your time at paulimot?

When I joined paulimot, my team consisted of three employees. Since then, the number has more than doubled. This increase is the result of our steady growth. Jana Christ is my deputy in the order processing, customer support and purchasing departments and, together with Kathleen and Sarah, takes care of all the tasks that arise there. Sabrina and Eva cover the areas of accounting, office organisation and our invoicing services for a purchasing association. Since September 2022, Justin Chirica and Jamie, who are completing their commercial training in office management at paulimot, have also joined the team. Our senior manager Christine Paulitschek also supports us in the area of billing services and also acts as my deputy here.

Can you give us more details about the tasks of your team?

Yes, with pleasure. Order processing is all about processing our customer orders as quickly as possible and preparing the shipping documents so that the parcels can be packed by our colleagues in logistics. The top priority here is the reliable and fast dispatch of orders to our customers. In the area of customer support, the focus is on prompt and satisfactory processing of the customer's enquiry, both in writing and by telephone. For customer enquiries received by e-mail, there is an internal requirement that these must be answered within 24 hours from Monday to Friday. However, this is usually much quicker. Only in particularly labour-intensive phases, such as in the run-up to Christmas or after long weekends, do we sometimes need a little more time due to the high number of enquiries. In the operational processing of purchasing, it is important to pass on the purchasing decisions made by the responsible persons to our suppliers in Germany and abroad as quickly as possible and to remain in active contact with them. This ensures that the supply of products flows constantly and that our goods are available in our online shop as seamlessly as possible. In the accounting department, we account for and record receipts and prepare various documents and lists for our tax office, which has overall responsibility for our financial accounting. We also handle all payment transactions in this area. Finally, we carry out accounting services on behalf of a purchasing organisation. This involves recording the association members' accounts payable documents, paying them to the association's contract suppliers and collecting them from the members by direct debit. In addition, we are the point of contact for the association's members and suppliers when they have questions about invoicing, prepare the accounting documents for the tax office and are available as a point of contact for the annual audit.

That really is a huge range of different tasks. What is your own role within the team?

When my team was smaller, I did many of the tasks mentioned, such as preparing the accounting documents for the tax office, myself. In the meantime, I have given up these tasks more and more and now take on more of a coordinating role. I am the contact person for my two teams and support them in their areas of responsibility. The project business has become increasingly important to me. I am responsible for making internal processes more efficient and constantly adapting them to the growing size of the company or introducing completely new processes. One of my projects was the sale of vouchers in the online shop. The technical and marketing implementation was the responsibility of our e-commerce and marketing team. I was responsible for the order processing procedures and the tax side. Most of the work is always in the details. For example, the VAT treatment of vouchers was quite complex. Many hours of work and several internal and external rounds of coordination were required before everything was planned and implemented in such a way that it was simple and smooth for the customer on the one hand and legally correct and flawless on the other.

You studied economics and then worked for an auditing company. Are there any similarities between your previous job and your current tasks and how do they differ?

Teamwork was also extremely important in my previous job. However, we always worked together in different teams on different projects. I really enjoy being part of a permanent team now. In terms of tasks, one major difference is that I can devote a lot of time to new and future-oriented projects at paulimot and realise them in collaboration with my colleagues.

Are there particularly stressful phases of the year for you and your team?

Of course there are also very stressful phases, such as the Christmas business. We look forward to every order and want to serve every customer as quickly as possible. That's why we work particularly hard before Christmas so that every customer's present is under the Christmas tree on time for Christmas Eve. Of course, we are always a little dependent on our Christmas elves - our shipping service provider DHL. It's similar at Easter, which is also a busy time for us.

How did you come to paulimot and what attracted you to the job?

I had already worked with our Managing Director Dr Patrick Paulitschek in the past. When he learnt that I was looking for a new challenge, he told me about the vacant position of Team Leader for Finance and Administration, which immediately appealed to me. I was particularly attracted by the prospect of working with a young and dynamic team and the varied areas of responsibility.

Have your expectations been fulfilled and what do you enjoy most about your job today?

Yes, definitely. My tasks are really varied and the human factor is absolutely right. We don't have any rigid processes and we exchange ideas openly. For example, we hold a weekly team meeting in my team where everyone can present new ideas or raise general issues. In my view, it is important to have a good and open dialogue with each other. In a team, everyone should be sure that they are heard, respected and taken seriously. This also describes why I enjoy my work so much: I have a challenging and varied area of responsibility and can work with a motivated and dynamic team in a very informal atmosphere, where open and respectful dialogue is much more important than rigid hierarchies.

Thank you, Nina, for the interview and the many interesting insights into your day-to-day work at paulimot.

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