After more than 10 years in the consumer products business it was time to look for something that would be more meaningful and rewarding to me. I am a mechanical engineer by trade and I had worked for an American company both in Germany and in the US in a variety of manufacturing related management positions.

I had been benefiting from the advantages and perks of a multinational public company. However, I had learned about the flip side as well. A short-term-focused and quarterly-report-driven environment was ruled increasingly by a cost cutting frenzy to boost share prices in order to increase share holder value.

But still, switching from a 100,000 plus employees company to a midsize family run company required some serious consideration of the pros and cons on my part. What would the challenges be like in a company like BIOTRONIK? What would the company culture be like, how do BIOTRONIK employees work together? I had no idea.

After the first interview and an in-depth factory tour I had a much better insight into BIOTRONIK products and the respective manufacturing processes. My interview partners provided me with an overview of how patients were relying on the technology, quality and product features that provide for a healthier and happier life.

I was highly impressed by the technologies applied and the R&D efforts bridging mechanical and electronic technologies on one side and medicine and biology on the other. The prospect of contributing to BIOTRONIK’s growth was equally exciting, since so far I was all too familiar with the opposite – downsizing - for years.

Now, why did I hesitate to take that step? I needed to know better who these BIOTRONIK people really are, what their passion is, what made them tick and how they worked together as a team and an organization. I put this question to my interview partners in a second interview.

My future supervisor reacted swiftly. “You want to get to know the people you would work with? No problem, come on over this after-noon and I will introduce you to the entire team.” That was how I met the people I enjoy so much working with today. Well, that did the trick.

In the discussion we had that fateful afternoon, I realized that these employees represented the culture and behavior I was looking for. Highly engaged, open and innovative, excited and proud about what they do and how their work helps make other people’s lives better.

I wanted to be part of that organization, too. No doubt about that.