Our IoT Heroes: My Linh Leu - Employee Experience Manager

What were your main reasons and motivations to join us?

During my studies in Intercultural Management & Communications, I completed two 5-month internships. One in the HR department of a major media company and another at Azena. I really enjoyed both, but at Azena I felt from the very beginning that this was the right company for me. Flat hierarchies and plenty of freedom to realize my own ideas and initiatives were exactly what I was looking for. Although I was an intern at that time, I was given a lot of responsibility, interviewed candidates, and maintained our great company spirit by planning various community events. When asked to board after my internship, I accepted without a second thought.

What are the central values in your working environment?

At Azena, you realize every day that the work here is meant to be fun and fulfilling. Although you will find defined routines and processes in employee experience management, there is still a lot of room for experimenting and ideation to find new solutions and optimize operations in recruiting and employer branding. It's just a good feeling to know that whatever you do, your team always has your back and supports you. That makes it very easy for me to be creative and try new unconventional approaches in HR. Implementing your own ideas and thinking outside the box are critical to the success of a startup and are therefore highly encouraged.

Working at Azena is meant to be fun and fulfilling. This is much more than just a phrase.

What superhero power can you draw on when you need it?

Understanding what people, be that they’re already working here or interested in joining, need and how to support them and take appropriate action - that's what makes great employee experience management. Winning new team members and enabling them to fully unleash their talents, strengths, and ideas at Azena requires a lot of empathy and also creativity to cope with new situations and challenges. This is what I bring to the table. In addition, my communication skills and academic background in intercultural communication help me shape our employer brand and make our company more visible as a great place to work.

What are the most interesting topics you are currently working on here and what are the most difficult tasks to solve?

A major challenge in recruiting is to attract new talent in the young field of IoT technology, of which there are only a limited number and IoT natives are mostly just being educated at universities. Recruiting is not easy for a yet unknown startup like us, especially since we are competing with major, well-known tech companies worldwide. That's why we're currently focusing on strengthening Azena's employer brand, which is very exciting as we are just at the very beginning and still have everything ahead of us. Another challenge arose from the pandemic, which makes onboarding of new team members happen under exceptional conditions. We had to find new ways to fully support them during onboarding, even remotely.

A strong employer brand is critical for an emerging tech startup, especially when competing with major, well-known tech companies worldwide.

What do you see as the main trends in IoT in a business context and from your perspective as an Employee Experience Manager?

People, businesses, and authorities are realizing the tremendous benefits of AI and IoT technology for safety and security. In the pandemic, for example, video cameras empowered with AI video analytics helped protect health by monitoring mask-wearing and social distancing. This is where the practical benefits become obvious, encouraging more and more software developers to specialize in IoT. Increasingly, universities are launching dedicated computer science programs specializing in IoT technology. As a tech company in IoT, we appreciate this development, because we're always looking for creative, experienced talent.

My Linh, thank you very much for the chat!

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