Anna Heinendirk sits at a unique intersection of Schaeffler USA‘s business. As the company’s director of marketing strategy and business development, Heinendirk admits that her job description is a bit unusual, but what makes it unique is that she and her teams are able to tackle one of the company’s biggest challenges to date: digitalization. This not only includes the company’s processes but also in marketing and interacting with customers.
“Here, digital is under the strategy team…and digitalization is basically everything in today’s business,” she explains. “So there’s this challenge to really define the scope [of digitalization] with my colleagues and peers and figure out what we can do to align our teams with our company’s digitalization challenges. It encompasses this whole aspect of change management…We can’t say ‘Oh, we’ve have closed this project now. Digitalization is implemented.’ It’s ongoing.”
Evolving the company with the digitalization of our society is just one way Heinendirk is leading the charge around change. In this episode of Women at the Wheel, Heinendirk describes her career trajectory, her unique role, her biggest challenges and accomplishments and how she sees a cultural shift in the workplace from management to leadership.
EPISODE OVERVIEW
- How Heinendirk started in consulting to narrow down her career path (0:54);
- Finding the automotive industry and moving to the U.S. from Germany (2:09);
- Heinendirk’s role at Schaeffler USA (3:28);
- The biggest challenge and opportunity she sees for the business (5:41);
- Ways women can support each other in the workplace and Heinendirk’s advice for women in the aftermarket (9:23);
- Heinendirk’s views on leadership and how bringing female voices into the boardroom can help spread diversity of thought (14:01).
Watch more episodes of Women at the Wheel here.
