Inspiring Journeys: An Interview with Group Head of Customer Experience

With over 10 years of experience, Mirjam embodies our company's goal of continuous development and is the perfect person to share insights on staying motivated and consistently growing in your professional journey.

Daily her responsibilities in Bigbank are strongly connected with managing customer experience and keeping track of our NPS, but also testing employees knowledge and leading LEAN Academy. The list goes on, but you can find out more in the following article.

With over 10 years of experience in our company, could you share some key milestones and highlights of your journey? What initially attracted you to this organization, and what has kept you dedicated and loyal throughout the years?

I applied to Bigbank to the German speaker customer manager position in 2013. I remember my interview and the practical part of the interview still very well. When I entered for the first interview the meeting room, then I thought, this smells like home .  And the interview run smoothly, as the person hiring me knew me through a "legacy" from the University of Tartu. 

I heard then the legacy the first time myself then as well.
The legacy was, that there was once a Mirjam in the German language Master studies, who just decided to do two masters at the same time and studied next to German language also the Mathematics, that no-one had done so before and I even graduated with cum laude and I had been a role model for many others after that.

Interview process back then.
We had the practical "exam" for applying to the job at Bigbank. The Cross-Borders team had set up the "exam": I had to copy-paste data from one view to an other in correct format and order really fast.  Later they told , that this was the part of their everyday job and that´s why I had to show good skills in that. The second part was a customer phone call, where the Cross-Borders colleague played the customer and I had to service him with the information that I had on the paper in front of me. I was so scared. The other candidates were also in the same room and one of them was a guy from Austria. After the "exam" I went home, knowing that I will never get the position, when I had to compete with a native speaker. But I did!

We've noticed that you actively participate in events and seminars, both as a speaker and a listener, representing our company and sharing our knowledge and experience. How do these external engagements contribute to your professional growth and help you bring valuable insights back to our organization? What inspires you to actively seek these opportunities and contribute to the industry beyond your regular responsibilities?

Truly, I have been to quite some events, especially recently. I really want to spread the positive word of mouth myself as much as I can about Bigbank to support us in the mission and vision. Audience always finds it quite engaging, when I speak about how Bigbank has put an effort into the Customer Experience (CX) and personal development of employees through LEAN.

The other thing that I always pay attention to at the events, is what the current CX over different markets is focusing on to ensure, that Bigbank is always on track or ahead of others (current trend is to focus on employees to deliver excellent customer experience). Furthermore I have tried to get free-passes also for my dear colleagues (Quality Managers mostly, but some also from the call-centers) to the events to support their personal development as well through this.

So my aim is to have:

• fresh knowledge about the trends going on into the CX;
• to support my colleagues;
• to build the brand and to ensure Bigbank moving into right direction regarding CX.
  

Which has been the most remember able seminar you’ve been to? Which were these things or persons what made so bright and nice memories of it?

I would bring out the last autumn seminar from Berlin and the seminar from this year from Tallinn. Both of the seminars gave me confirmation that we do already now very good and rights things for our customers and that CX starts from the customer orientation within the company among all employees.

The instant feedback or the emotional reactions from the audience make the on-sight events memorable and inspiring and giving so much energy and ideas for the next steps in everyday work. Furthermore what I like, that people from seminars approach me to learn from Bigbank or to hear more about Bigbank experiences.

I remember when I started my journey as Group Head of CX in2016, I went to some seminars myself and then approached also quite many seminar keynote speakers to ask about their learnings on CX. They gladly shared all their learning that I was able to take with me to Bigbank over the years.

One of your notable achievements was implementing and leading the LEAN knowledge management over Bigbank, resulting in outstanding Customer Experience improvement results. Can you share some insights into how you approached this initiative and the impact it had on our organization?

I was so scared when the previous member of Management Board asked me to run over Bank the LEAN. Therefore I needed to go to United Kingdom to study for Black Belt and run the Black Belt project in Bigbank and after that to think out, how it is run in Bigbank and to engage different LEAN enthusiasts over Bank along with the Management Board members.

We figured out in very beginning, that LEAN had been practiced before 2018 only in CRM Area and not in other Areas. Immediately all other Areas were engaged and trainings to them offered as well.

 Today the LEAN is quite a normal part of the DNA of Bigbank with the tools:

• Gemba,
• 5-why-s,
• Thematic Content Analyse,
• QRA (FMEA called in LEAN world),
• Kanban Boards,
• Poke-Yoke (fool proof),
• Jidoka (notifications system),
• Hoshin Kanri (KPI-s),
• Visual management.

84% of Bigbankers have today completed at least one of the LEAN studies.

As a experienced professional, what advice would you give to others who may be seeking motivation and inspiration in their careers? Are there any practices or approaches you find particularly effective in staying motivated and driven?

My inner passion is to work systematically and continuously on my personal development not because Bigbank wants me to, but because I personally want to. (This is my own LEAN mindset)

I discovered my "why", that drives my passion, in 2014/2015 through a really difficult life period and found out that my drivers are actually my kids (who were back then 5 and 3 years old).
I figured out that the best way I can support them in their lives is to be a role model for them.
Back then I got inspired by a movie("Lucy" 2014 with Scarlett Johansson)that lead me to my own conclusions on my own "why".

Looking ahead, what are your future aspirations and goals? How do you plan to maintain your motivation and continue making a meaningful impact in the field of Customer Experience?