Not many employees get to celebrate a 40-year anniversary, but our colleague Reiner Koll is one of them. On 1st May 2022, he celebrated his 40 year working anniversary in JET and since 2018, in the VELUX Commercial organisation. Looking back, Reiner Koll reflects on the great successes and personal learnings during his career.
What is a typical day in your job? My daily tasks require that I am in close contact with our Field Sales and Back Office teams, so we always know what projects are in the pipeline. It is my responsibility to make sure that we have a clear overview of our current and future projects and that we always provide the right solution for our customers. What do you most enjoy about your job? One of the reasons why I love my job is the balance between driving a successful business and making sure that our customers and employees are satisfied.
As a manager, it has always been important to me that my employees are content in their job and feel comfortable in the team.
As a manager, it has always been important to me that my employees are content in their job and feel comfortable in the team. I really enjoy the tasks that are related to sales- and project management, but the most important part of my job is listening to my employees’ needs and finding out how I can help them complete their tasks in the best possible way. This has always been my leadership style, and I like to think that my attention to everyone in the team, is the reason why every person is still a part of the team today.
What have been the most exciting experience in your career? In 2003, I was given the possibility to start the first export team in the former JET. This was a personal and professional challenge for me to take on, as we started from scratch. We did not have any export department back then, so I was shown a great deal of trust from the management team in building a new team and driving the first projects. I have always been really grateful for the trust that I was shown and the faith the management team had in me.
I am sincerely proud of what we are today and what we have achieved so far, driving a successful export department in VELUX Commercial.
What have been your most important learnings? In my opinion, having trust and respect for your employees are key ingredients to achieving and building continuous success as a company and team. As a manager, you need to build trust by delegating responsibility and empowering your people. I have always found that employees who are respected and trusted will be far more motivated, deliver greater results and be better teammates. In the end, as a manager, you simply need to love to develop other people and to see them grow. What advice will you give to other colleagues in VELUX? My personal motto has always been that every day brings a highlight. It is all about your personal attitude and how you choose to look at things. While we all encounter challenges in our daily work, I believe it is important to focus on the good things and to keep a positive mindset. It makes you a better manager and colleague. While Reiner has been with the company for more than 40 years, he doesn’t have a plan to retire in the nearest future: “It was my original plan to retire this year, but I still love going to work, so I keep pushing the date. Who knows, how long I’ll be sticking around. Maybe someone has to kick me out”, Reiner says with a smile.