Susann Schwarze has been working in Quality Management since the beginning of November. She introduces herself in this interview.
Susann Schwarze (40) has been working in Quality Management within the University Development and Communication department at the HSZG since November 1, 2022. In this interview, she explains what appeals to her about the new challenge, why she thinks it's great to work with changing teams and what she is doing to make the university even more family-friendly.
Ms. Schwarze, you joined the university at the beginning of November. How have you been received?
I received a very warm welcome from day one and feel very much at home in the team.
You come from the business world. Have you noticed any differences in the way you work compared to the public sector?
Oh yes. My previous employers (digades GmbH, Glaubitz GmbH & Co. KG) come from the electronics industry and both companies are active in the automotive industry. The time pressure to always deliver "just in time" is significantly higher, and constant and rapid adaptation to new technologies and working methods is essential.
What prompted you to make the change?
The job advertisement. I already enjoyed carrying out internal and external audits at my previous employers and I also extended my authoring qualification in the spring of this year. In the business world, there are also opportunities to work as an external auditor. The only problem is that I am usually on the road four to five days a week and this is difficult to combine with work and family.
What is your new field of work? Are there any overlaps with your previous activities? What is the attraction for you?
Auditing, as well as conducting course reviews, is a very exciting and new field in which I always have to adapt to new colleagues, cultures and ways of working and understand their perspectives. This allows me to expand my own knowledge and contribute my own experience.
However, optimizing existing processes and finding new approaches and starting points through the professional exchange within my team is also very appealing. For example, what topics can be transferred from the business world to the university's quality management in order to optimize it?
Quality management always means providing solutions and optimizing work processes. Do you have a particular approach to this?
My aim is to create trust. As a rule, QM always encounters problems that we have to solve with our colleagues. However, my approach is to create a lot of trust at an early stage so that they not only come to us when they have problems, but also when they have improvements/optimizations.
You are also involved in establishing the HSZG as a "family-friendly university". What is behind this?
The auditing of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences as a family-friendly university with the aim of making work/study and family more compatible. In addition to compatibility, the focus is also on equal opportunities and gender equality. As a mother of two children, there are new challenges every day to reconcile all of my appointments. It is therefore all the more important that opportunities are created within the university to make everyday life easier (children and caring for relatives) and still be able to realize your career/studies.
When you're not dealing with quality management and accreditation, what do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy cycling and hiking with my family, but I am also very involved in women's soccer. I am active as a coach for the girls and as a player in the women's game.
