Medine Oguz

What does a typical day at work for you look like?

As an Operational Buyer I am responsible for managing a specific inventory portfolio to meet operational and financial targets. Processing of orders including complains, following up with suppliers, monitoring deliveries, and handling order discrepancies and reclaims belong to my scope of duties. Further, we work with strategic procurement team to identify cost-reduction and optimization opportunities of purchasing processes (digitalization & automation) to build long-term partnerships with suppliers. In my role I am the interface between supplier and other internally stakeholders like planning, sales, project and quality management.

How would you describe your team and the culture of our organization?

I would say that we are a young, energetic team and boast a multicultural profile.  Everyone is highly supportive and very ambitious. They are a great role model and someone from whom I can learn. We work together with dedication to master the biggest challenges. In my opinion everyone is unique has different skillsets and offer their own experiences and knowledge. I feel that everyone is accepted for their age, cultural background, job title, ideas or lifestyle and each of us care about our team goals, our team purpose and most importantly we care about each other.

On the other hand, our team is organized. For instance, we hold every day our famous 11 o’clock meeting where we share information which helps us to make sure that everyone is on the same page and deadlines are being met. Of course, things did not always go perfectly with our SCM team. We have had a lot of ups and downs in the few months and have faced (many) challenges. Many experienced colleagues left the company and the SCM team had to be reestablished. This took a lot of difficulties with it like high workload till new members joined and building up the team spirit again. At the begging of the year, we started with workshops to strengthen the teamwork. I think we are on a good way.

What inspires you most about the work you do at Hitachi Energy? 

For me, purchasing is an exciting activity in which you come into contact with many different (global) stakeholders on a daily basis and it is not a routine job which you spend hours doing the same thing every day. It is very versatile and each new day in Procurement is not the same as the previous one. So, there is no time to get bored while working and time literally flies. The market is dynamic the Economic changes. We can say that yesterday’s success is rarely tomorrow’s success. therefore, it is essential keeping an eye on the market all time for successful SCM. I find it exciting to minimize any delays in the supply chain and reduce extra costs and SCM became my passion. There is always some excitement which makes the job very lively. Purchasing activities affect the company’s success in many areas. This is what makes the work interesting and motivates me.  

Why do you think there is less female representation in this industry? And what can we do to contribute and increase gender diversity in our organization?

The energy industry is still male-dominated, and the majority of managers are still male. Therefore, the causes of women’s underrepresentation in the energy industry could be lack of career development opportunities and gender biases. It could be also that the career paths in the energy industry are often not particularly women friendly. For instance, there are not lot of part-time manager jobs compared to other sectors. That means also lack of role models. 

I assume if the energy industry would show more openness, more women would possibly have the opportunity for better work balance and family life and would push more into leadership roles. For that reason, companies should promote women more and show them that they want to get ahead and inspire other women to challenge gendered career paths. Of course, that also applies for women. They should become bolder and demand more. There may be a lack of job attractiveness as well or working models that are poorly adapted to women - be more attractive for women in order to reach another pool of applicants. Another way could be to highlight diversity on the career page on the website or providing Mentorship program for leaders can help to promote diversity.

Why do you think diversity in the workplace is important, especially in the field of energy? 

Diversity should be seen as an important success factor. A diversity of teams plays a crucial role in the agile world and a differentiated way of thinking helps us to better understand the needs of our customers and to develop optimal solutions. The company benefit from the different points of view and approaches that come from different life experiences. Besides, it will improve your reputation in the job market when a company has a strong diversity and equality in the workplace you will probably increase the attraction to a wider talent pool.

If you could take one month to travel anywhere, where would you go?

My next top travel destination would be to Japan as soon as the corona measures allow to fly there again. It has an incredible number of great destinations and places to offer and makes a multifaceted, varied and exciting impression for me. I have heard and read a lot of Japan and during my trip to the USA, I met people from Japan. Would be nice to see them again and get to know Japan from the locals. I would love to go there when Sakura time starts. This time of the year should be the most beautiful and the pictures I've seen look fantastic.