Anna joined DHL as a Graduate in 2018, she is now the Sustainability Manager for Ireland and Northern Ireland. She shares her experiences at the company so far and highlights how her graduate role accelerated her career progression.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I’m Anna, I completed a Music and Music Technology Degree at Oxford Brookes University. I’m a big music fan and enjoy playing in various bands, mostly as a drummer!
What excites you about the work you’re doing?
The highlight of my role is that everything I do has a positive impact on either my colleagues, the environment or the wider community. My team covers everything from D&I, employee wellbeing, reducing site and transport emissions to reducing plastic and paper, procuring sustainable products and much more. All with a great sense of purpose!
What’s your take on DHL’s approach to diversity & inclusion?
Diversity and Inclusion is one of our sustainability priorities which globally focuses on 3 key areas – women in leadership, ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+. At a localised level across Ireland and Northern Ireland, we are working to improve our approach to cultural changes as well. The work we’ve produced so far has been widely welcomed by our colleagues who are getting involved in suggesting how best to engage with their sites and operations.
How is DHL making a positive difference to their impact on the environment?
This is possibly the most aggressive area of change for our ROI & NI sustainability programme. The impact can be seen through improving facilities to include more sustainable options including solar panels, wind turbines and better heating solutions. This results in improving our emissions at site level and with our transport footprint. We are also working to our footprint through new technologies such as electric vehicles, CNG gas trucks and bio-methane trucks.
At a site level, we are embracing digitalisation to reduce our use of paper. Further, we are implementing plastic replacements and exploring how we can best dispose of waste more sustainably. To ensure all our colleagues are part of our green journey, each colleague must complete compulsory GoGreen training which is completed in two modules.
How has the graduate programme and the experiences you’ve gained helped with your career progression and success?
The graduate programme allows you to be exposed to DHLSC in a way that no other colleagues get the opportunity to. You have a fast-track pass to seeing areas of the operation and exposure to mentors and colleagues that are the best of the best. Development and training are a key part of the programme and give you the best start to your career.
Finally, any tips for Graduates looking to start their career with DHL?
Network, network, network! This is critical to opening doors to new opportunities and showcasing who you are as an individual. Also, say yes! If an opportunity arises which you are unsure of, say yes and give it a go. The worst that could happen is you discover you don’t like that area of the business which is helpful. You never know what that opportunity could open the door to….
If you’re ready to take control of your career – check out DHL’s profile here.