Women of Arla

This is the first article of the series „Women of Arla” in which we would like to present you profiles of women who work in our company. In Arla Gdansk we have over 500 employees and out of them approximately 70% are women. Below you can find the first article written by Kateryna Miachyna – HR Solution Architect, who shares her story and give us few tips on career path.

1. How did your adventure with Arla has started?

I joined Arla in October 2020 (it’s been 1.5 years already, wow!) – Arla was looking for HR Consultant for One Time Track project in BAESS train.

Prior to joining Arla I had 15 years of SAP HR and Payroll experience. This helped me to get the position in Arla and even though I do not purely work with SAP in Arla anymore – this prior knowledge continues to help me in my path in Arla.

2. Tell us about your professional path ( what roles / departments etc)

I started as HR Consultant for One Time Track project in BAESS train but when the Solution Architect for OTT project and Workforce Management left Arla I was asked if I was interested in this role. Prior to joining Arla I’ve worked as a Solution Architect on several of my SAP projects so this was definitely the path I was interested in pursuing. Recently I took over the role of Solution Architect for HR portfolio as well.

3. What you value most about working at Arla in terms of development / work culture.

I really appreciate that my experience and knowledge is taken into account during the highly collaborative decision making process which empowers me as a professional and makes me feel valued. I am grateful that I have been offered new responsibilities based on what I was able to demonstrate during my time at Arla and my previous experience. Overall, my experience with Arla has been the most rewarding and I find great joy working in BAESS train with a team which is ready to support me on every matter imaginable.

4. What obstacles have you faced in your career at Arla?

I cannot specifically name it as an obstacle, but I found it hard to get used to frequent changes in IT management. Every time there was the uncertainty – what does it mean for our train and our projects?

5. What organizational values do you identify with?

Being responsible towards our customers, delivering quality solutions that improve their experience and help them in their day to day job.

6. What would you advise other women whose goal is to get to where you are (question in the context of not only Arla, but also your position / career)?

My University degree is in Computer Sciences. Though I cannot say it was very technical, it did give me a good basis in understanding the world of IT and development.

My advice will sound cliché – but maybe these are cliché because they do actually work? 😊

1. Do not be afraid to ask questions. There are no stupid questions. There always be people who know more than you do or are more experienced in a specific area. But this is one of the ways to gain knowledge – through asking questions and observing others work.
2. Share your knowledge. Continuing on the previous point – you can be that ‘more experienced’ person to someone else. Share your experience and knowledge. This is how you build trust, relationships and a strong team. This approach will eventually end up in a good valuable product for the customer.
3. Do not focus purely on technical part of the work. Try and get knowledge and understanding of the business processes and requirements that drive the technical solution. This will help you develop a good overview of the area you are working on and eventually make your skill set transferable – not only between companies and positions, but between industries and counties as well.

Over my 15+ years of work I’ve had projects in Automotive, Mining, Oil & Gas, Logistics, Banking in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Poland. Each of my projects was unique in its own way – and at the same time they all added to my general understanding and overview of HR, Time and Payroll processes that overlap in many industries and in many countries. And now I work in Arla, a Dairy company – I and continue to learn every day. 😊