I am an expert in operational change management. I have over 20 years of experience in working with organisations to support their change programmes and to help them sustainably improve their cost position, increase performance and make processes more efficient.
Career:
I completed my MBA (Master of Business Administration) with Warwick Business School in 2003. My focus areas were Operations and Service Management. After my MBA I worked as Project Manager for the change management consultancy Celerant Consulting in the UK. I then set up my own company Frekja Consulting Ltd in the UK and worked with organisations on a project basis. In 2011 I was mentioned in “Who is Who” as “Foreign Director of a limited company” in the UK. I lived back in Germany for 4 years and worked in the financial services team with Ernst & Young. Back in the UK since 2017, I worked freelance and in full time employment with Genpact Limited, a global outsourcing organisation, where I gained robust experience developing and implementing change strategies for outsourcing initiatives and digital transformations. Recently I set myself up as a freelance consultant again.
Thanks to my 20 years of experience in the UK (and through working on projects in other countries) I am comfortable working in different business cultures, and can apply the best parts of what I have learned where it is appropriate.
Sector experience:
I gained my international consulting experience through many years working with large international organisations – particularly in Financial Services, Utilities, FMCG and Manufacturing.
Technical competency:
Operational Excellence (Process Improvement); Lean & Six Sigma; Project- and Change Management (PMI and PROSCI certified); introduction of new ways of working and behavioural change; management by key performance indicators; introduction of control and reporting systems and the development of training and coaching programmes; sustainable change.
Emotional intelligence:
Particular skills that make me successful with my clients are: detail-orientation and very good analytical skills. I am a competent facilitator of training events and workshops and I lead focused and results-orientated meetings. I am an experienced Mentor and Coach and can communicate well in an international context at all levels in an organisation. I am competent in many European languages. I speak English on a near native level and German is my mother tongue. My Italian and French are at a good conversational level and I speak a little Spanish.
Since it’s inception in 2009 I am a Mentor with the “Warwick Business School Mentoring Programme” and I usually accompany one or two individuals at any time in their development for 2 years each. The programm has won “Bronze Award” for “Best Mentoring Programme” from the “British National Training Journal Awards”.
Personal:
I am a passionate runner and compete in the half-marathon distance. I also practice Yoga.
In the past I have fulfilled a longstanding dream: I worked in a developing country with VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) for three months and used my business skills to make a contribution. I carried out a market analysis in Cambodia for three partner organisations. The aim of the study was to develop recommendations, which would sustainably improve the living conditions of the poorest farmers in the target area. Thanks to the implementation of my recommendations regarding the supply chain for free-range chickens, 60% more chickens survived and thereby contributed to the income generation for the farmers. If you want me to make you smile read my article “How effective are meetings in Cambodia?”.
