04/04/2019

Sika is a company that I'm sure many of us would agree has a lot of unexpected and exciting opportunities for its employees. Last year, I received the opportunity to work with our Corporate Communications team for 6 months. The Corporate Communications team is located in Baar, Switzerland. They handle a lot of high level activities including global public relations, investor relations, media events, global branding, sponsorships, and, after a recent merger, they have added web services to their list of duties!

MY JOURNEY

It was a very interesting experience to see a completely different side of Sika, in which the perspective was unlike anything I had experienced thus far within the company. During my time with the Corporate Communications team it was my responsibility to oversee the brand and to build up relevant skills in order to return to the North American Market and assist with communication of the brand strategy. A lot of my time was spent advising and supporting other Sika companies with regards to branding questions. Also during my time in Baar, the Global HR team was continuing to expand content for the new career page. It was also a task of mine to assist them by developing some video content aimed at new hires, which had a focus on employee values and what it feels like to be a Sika employee.

Abroad in Switzerland

The Corporate Communications team also produces the Annual Report in February. The annual report is an extensive document that summarizes the entire company's finances and is an in-depth look at the previous year. This document is a huge undertaking and something the team takes a lot of time to prepare. The Annual Report has huge effect on our stock price and external perspective of the company. The amount of time and dedication required to creating this document is remarkable.

Working for Sika in Switzerland, everyone seems to know the brand and its products. (That was something to get used to at first!) However, regardless of the differences in culture and day-to-day responsibilities, one thing remained consistent from Sika US to the head office in Switzerland: the "Sika Spirit" (I know, cheesy). The teams there took the same passion, pride, and dedication in regards to their goals as we do in Sika US. Sika has a special meaning for all of us, if it didn't, we wouldn't all be here day after day. It was really great to see that overall pride consistently around the globe. 

Sika has always been a place that invests in its employees and sees them as its greatest asset. Our company provides people who are open and willing to take the opportunity to grow and be part of different teams. One of the most interesting things about working over in Switzerland was the opportunity to meet so many fantastic and interesting people. Naively, I believed that Sika US held our company's best and brightest employees. It made me very happy to find that Sika truly is a global network of people with the same drive and dedication towards success and innovation. I am both grateful to everyone I met there and grateful for the warm welcome I received from my team here upon returning back. The city of Zug and the team in Baar will always be a bit of a second home to me and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to grow there!