One of the great things about working in a global organization is having the opportunity to speak to colleagues around the world about their Life at SAP. My name is Heather Walker and I recently had the opportunity to speak to a group of women from all careers levels in the Nordics about their careers, and what drives them. One of those women was Taira Tepponen who joined SAP 17 years ago and is now Finland’s Country Manager.
“I applied to join SAP in 2001 having seen an advert in a newspaper! I was looking to return to the corporate world after spending time at a start-up and felt SAP would be the right company for me. I liked the fact it was an international company and the drive of the people meant I chose SAP over other offers I had at the same time.
I started out as a junior sales person and am now in charge of the overall running of the local business for software, cloud and services. Between the two I have held many interesting roles, been out on maternity leave twice, and had a period of study leave. SAP has given me a lot in nearly 20 years - a meaningful, challenging job and I’ve been inspired by working with colleagues who share the value of getting the job done the best you can. I have also been able to manage work and home and find time to read for pleasure, do yoga and go running.
Our culture is the thing that makes people to stay with us. I think the culture is customer-oriented, professional, expects accountability and encourages networking in-house and with partners.
In my time here, there have been challenges, but I have always had colleagues and managers to coach me through the difficult moments. When I was new to my current role, we were struggling with both numbers and the atmosphere in the office. The learning here was listen to the team as they know what our customers think and why.
Going forward, I think we need more gender balanced workforce in the IT industry as that’s what our customers have. This will be good for everyone involved.”
And we agree! So, to search our vacancies and help drive this balance, click here to see where we are hiring.
“I applied to join SAP in 2001 having seen an advert in a newspaper! I was looking to return to the corporate world after spending time at a start-up and felt SAP would be the right company for me. I liked the fact it was an international company and the drive of the people meant I chose SAP over other offers I had at the same time.
I started out as a junior sales person and am now in charge of the overall running of the local business for software, cloud and services. Between the two I have held many interesting roles, been out on maternity leave twice, and had a period of study leave. SAP has given me a lot in nearly 20 years - a meaningful, challenging job and I’ve been inspired by working with colleagues who share the value of getting the job done the best you can. I have also been able to manage work and home and find time to read for pleasure, do yoga and go running.
Our culture is the thing that makes people to stay with us. I think the culture is customer-oriented, professional, expects accountability and encourages networking in-house and with partners.
In my time here, there have been challenges, but I have always had colleagues and managers to coach me through the difficult moments. When I was new to my current role, we were struggling with both numbers and the atmosphere in the office. The learning here was listen to the team as they know what our customers think and why.
Going forward, I think we need more gender balanced workforce in the IT industry as that’s what our customers have. This will be good for everyone involved.”
And we agree! So, to search our vacancies and help drive this balance, click here to see where we are hiring.
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