KEY POINTS:
Name: Saya Wahrlich, 3M New Zealand's business manager of safety, security and protection systems.
Age: 35.
Working hours: 40-plus depending on projects on the go.
Pay scale: 3M pay scales are confidential; however Hays survey on salary ranges includes business development manager at $65,000-$95,000.
Qualifications: BSc (Tech) in Chemistry from Waikato University, Postgraduate Diploma of Business from Auckland University Executive School.
Describe your job.
I lead 3M's Safety, Security and Protection Systems business in New Zealand, one of our six "big business" groups.
SS&PS consists of five divisions and has a range of products and solutions involved in making people and assets safe.
For instance, our occupational health division offers respiratory, hearing and eye protection for people at work or doing DIY at home, as well as spill control and gas detection solutions for the workplace.
You can pick up 3M earmuffs at your DIY store to wear while lawnmowing, or a respirator at a safety store for a sanding job.
The track and trace division is involved in security solutions for libraries. If you use a self-issue machine at your library, it will more than likely be a 3M one, as are the detection gates you walk through in the library and the security strips or RFID tags in the books.
I am responsible for ensuring that SS&PS delivers on company objectives and metrics on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
I lead a team of sales, marketing and technical specialists who are responsible for running promotions, technical support, presenting educational seminars, auditing sites, providing advice on solutions for business issues and managing the diverse channels to market.
Our customers are varied. On any given day we can be working with the police and fire services, government departments, a school library with security issues, district health boards' emergency preparedness programmes or a meat processing plant that needs the right scouring pad for the job.
Your background?
I did all the character-building jobs as a student to earn money - zucchini and kiwifruit picking and working at the local fish and chip shop.
My first real job came as part of my BSc (Tech) degree.
It was a three-month placement at MIRINZ in Ruakura, doing a report for the Consumers' Institute, comparing the amount of lean meat in common supermarket brands of chicken. I then moved on to the effect of the slaughtering process on the colour of lamb meat once it hits the supermarket shelves.
For the BSc (Tech) nine-month placement , I worked at HortResearch, again in Ruakura, where I studied the ripening of blueberries and how to keep kiwifruit from getting infected with botrytis when in cool storage.
These roles were foundational in that I learnt a lot about the process and discipline of scientific research.
Once I finished my degree I was approached by what was then ICI Adhesives and Resins in Mt Maunganui to work as a product development chemist. I jumped at the chance to move to the Mount, and spent two years developing new resins for the wood processing industry.
After my OE, I was successful in my application for a role at 3M as a technical service engineer for the commercial graphics division.
I have held a variety of roles at 3M, transitioning from technical support into a joint technical/marketing role, then becoming marketing manager, and most recently, business manager.
Why is your job important?
Improving the safety of people on the job and the security of assets and protection of buildings is rewarding. It is also a big responsibility.
We work with our customers to improve solutions, making them more practical, easier to use and compliant to local standards and regulations. Feedback from users to our research and development teams ensures the right changes are made.
What are the job's challenges?
There are always challenges to meet such as those in distribution, sourcing and human resources.
This keeps my job diverse and interesting. Recently, I have been involved in the local integration of three global acquisitions.
The best part of your job?
The best parts of my job are the daily variety and challenges, and the people that I meet and work with - both within 3M and external customers and distribution partners.
I am fortunate to have the opportunity to travel nationally and internationally.
And the worst part?
I have to remind myself of the saying GEMO - good enough, move on!
When you go through all those years of school, university and study, particularly in definitive disciplines like science, you try to achieve 100 per cent accuracy.
When you transition into business, in many roles getting a job done to 80 per cent is OK and, in fact, ideal.
Prioritisation is essential, and it is a hard lesson that you don't need to achieve perfection.
Advice to those interested in a similar role?
Don't discount a science qualification as a basis for a business career. And remember GEMO.
