Fiona Fouche on empowering women and evolving with customers to drive sustainable development

Women represent an extraordinary talent pool. This is particularly significant in light of the dramatic shortage of highly qualified and skilled workers worldwide. Women excel at creating productive and engaging work environments. Being nominated to participate in the women’s development program was a big compliment and I got a glimpse of how it opens our talent pool to deliver future innovations, diversity of thought and improvements for tomorrow.

It is only fair that women be treated equally to men with respect to career opportunities that correspond to their training, competence and aspirations. If we overlook the talents of young women, we are missing out on vital developments and this is where our development program encourages future female specialists within the industry. It gives opportunities for women to embark upon a meaningful career.

Looking back, I started in the company in 1985 as a Relay Assembler and moved into operations as a Buyer in 1989. On the same year, I briefly left but decided to comeback. Equal opportunities in the company have allowed me to take on various positions, gaining a lot of valuable experience. I found my keepsake place in Sales, where I have been working for over 20 years as a Sales Representative for front-end sales at Hitachi Energy in South Africa.

Our commitment to lower our products carbon footprint with the new environmentally friendly GAS C5 to replace SF6 in our breaker portfolio is a good example of taking sustainable energy forward.    

Improving customer experiences 

I love listening to our customers’ stories. Figuring out what their ‘pain points’ are and coming up with a solution. I love it when I can make a client’s day by doing more than they expected. I really like being able to positively influence a customer’s opinion of our company. Sometimes a customer will call with a problem and expect to have a difficult time resolving it. I love hearing the change in their voice when I make it easy. 

Connecting with so many of our customers, it is always important to understand how the customer is feeling. I have always wanted to ensure that the company's clients get the best customer service I can offer. I feel it's important, both to me personally and for the company and the clients, to provide a positive customer experience. I am driven to constantly develop my customer service. 

#ProudToBeHitachiEnergy