Network is everything, that‘s clear!
In various roles across the organization, I had the chance to experience the group’s full diversity. At the Conti Insurance Service, through visits to many Continental locations, together with Group Security and our insurers, but also in Group Communications and Public Affairs, through meetings, workshops, and lectures at various locations with various colleagues. This continues to be a great opportunity: getting to know the company as a whole and being able to expand my network.
I live in the company and also with it. To me this is a kind of partnership.
My name is Bianca Rudnjanin, and I am Manager Online Relations for our Group Communications and Public Affairs at our global headquarters. Until taking this position, I have been on a tour in our company since 1999.
My different stations went from the Conti Insurance Service (CVD) to the Recruiting Office, an external position, and an accompanying study to eventually, my current position as Business Owner for the Group Intranet. Here I bring in my cross-departmental experience every day.
After graduating as Business Assistant in Foreign Languages & Correspondence (Dr. Buhmann-Schule, Hanover) in 1999, I started in the Conti Insurance Service team as an assistant. Born in Wolfsburg, Hanover back then was already the great, wide world for me.
After 1.5 years and having gained my first working experience, I moved to theRecruiting Office and worked with the team (at that time consisting of 7 persons!) on university recruitment fairs and assessment centers.
As Continental had a hiring freeze at the end of 2001, I had to reorient myself outside the company.
I switched to a rehabilitation sport company and wondered if this had been already it with my career at Continental.
But in 2003, the Conti Insurance Service made me an offer to come back, and I happily accepted. I couldn't miss this newly created role they offered, it suited me perfectly.
Next to the job I then completed studies as a specialist in insurance & finance (BWV, Hanover), and was thus able to support our manufacturing locations worldwide as an account manager. During plant visits and meetings in Germany and at various locations around the world, I met many great colleagues, and I can certainly say that everyone was very proud to work at Continental.
I would like to see newcomers but also long-term employees in the company allowed to spend at least one week in production. This also applies to top managers. In my point of view, this is the only way to get to know our business as a whole and to appreciate where the value chain begins.
Change must always be seen as an opportunity.
Throughout my career, I have always been interested in web content management and communication; I have maintained the CVD's intranet pages and have therefore become aware of an internal vacancy notice in 2011: Online Relations in Corporate Communications sought support for the ConNext project. So, I ended up in my current department and, after the launch of our global social collaboration platform, I had the chance to work on another very exciting project: Our intranet relaunch.
I believe that tradition supports agility. If it turns out successfully, the impact is all the stronger. For example: When we launched ConNext, there was no comparable platform on the market anywhere by a company like ours, so this was innovation best practice. I’m proud to work in a company that is leading the way and a benchmark for others.
Since 2017, I have been the Business Owner for the Continental Intranet and have since developed it further along with the Service Owner on the IT side and the Continental Intranet Council.
I want to create an environment in which it is as easy as possible for all employees to access all information that is important and relevant to them.
Finally, I can only recommend switching to new positions and roles within the company, which broadens the horizon and extends the network.
This article was written by our employee.
