Name: Rie Gath
Title: Senior Manager, Head of Operations Development Gas
Company: Energinet
Degree: MSc in Manufacturing Engineering and Management
- Introduce yourself, and share a fun fact that makes you unique!
My name is Rie Gath and I’m 42 years old (which as everyone knows is the “Meaning of life, the universe and everything” according to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). I’m a civil engineer from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) with a Master of Science in manufacturing engineering and management focusing on management and planning.
Fun fact? I am an avid Copenhell participant and concertgoer. Also, I have published two cookbooks – the first one along with a couple of fellow students while on DTU. The cookbook was given out for free to all new students at DTU (2004). Nowadays I develop and publish recipes on a blog, but only when time allows.
- What does a day in your life look like at Energinet?
I am heading the department System Operations Development Gas which is responsible for Denmark’s security of gas supply and operational development of the gas system. Luckily, my days vary a lot, but a typical workday contains quite a few meetings:
– 1:1 meetings with employees where I focus on their task portfolio, their individual development and not least their wellbeing.
– Scoping frameworks and mandates on different projects/jobs; management roles in large companies requires coordination and stakeholder management.
– Meetings on decisions and approvals in steering groups and various management forums.
In addition, there is management administration and management processes in relation to approval of time sheet, budget processes, organisational development, performance assessments, and personal development. In between meetings I catch up on e-mails and phone calls, but most importantly I strive to be a present leader, creating the best circumstances for my employees as well as for Energinet to succeed.
- What motivates and excites you the most about your career path and the leadership position you hold?
There are three main reasons that I am motivated and excited about in my leadership role:
– PURPOSE: What we do in the department is very important for many people and not one day is the same as the day before. Following the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, it has become evident for all how much we rely on energy and gas in particular.
– IMPACT: I love enabling our organization to work better together and better across the entire company. It requires overview, tenacity, and strong relations, but when you build that, you can really raise the bar and make things happen.
– DEVELOPMENT: I want to make sure that my employees succeed, continue to grow, and develop personally and professionally and that their individual work-life-balance is maintained.
- Share with us the biggest lessons you learned on your journey to where you are today.
Take your time. You have a 30-40 year career ahead of you. Make sure you do something that is fun and motivating most of the time, build your network and really listen to the people you meet – take them seriously. And lastly, remember to give a little of yourself!
- Tell us about a (female) role model who inspired you to become the leader you are today, and how (s)he impacted you personally or professionally.
I don’t have one specific role model. Instead, I have taken relevant learnings and inspiration with me from each of the leaders I have encountered. I actively reflect on how they make positive and impactful influence, learn from it and try in the best way to implement it into my own authentic leadership style.
- If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, or to other young female students today, what would it be?
Worry less, take your time and trust your gut feeling. Don’t compromise on your values and make sure that you are true to yourself and your colleagues.
- How do you see STEM education shaping the future?
Spending every day working on a green transition of our energy system, it is quite obvious that we need strong STEM competences to reach our sustainability ambitions. Research and technology development are maybe the two most important keys to a greener future without compromising on prosperity and growth. So even though STEM colleagues are already now fronting our progress, they will be even more critical for our success and development going forward.
- Why is it important for you to promote diversity and inclusion within STEM?
Strong similarity within groups will ultimately hinder innovation and new solutions. The best solutions arise when we have multiple perspectives on a challenge and when we problem solve in an environment with room for challenging the usual point of view.
- What steps has your company taken to promote a more diverse and inclusive workplace, and which one has been the most effective?
In Energinet we have a designated and targeted diversity and inclusion strategy. All leaders are educated in the potential of a diverse workforce and guided in how to implement it. Further, Energinet is ambitious in attracting colleagues with different educations, ages, genders, backgrounds, and perspectives. No one has created a 100% green energy system before, so we must build our organization making it eligible to absorb all the new challenges that we can’t foresee and to bring new perspectives to the challenges that we already see. To ensure an inclusive workplace, we also have options for colleagues in every life phase from newly graduated to retirement. I am particularly proud of our senior employees’ scheme and our terms for maternity and paternity leave where we e.g., offer 24 weeks’ full salary for maternity/paternity leave and a gentle start up after leave with 32-hour working week with full salary for six months. Along with the company policies and strategy I challenge myself not to restrict new positions to certain profiles when recruiting and to include colleagues with a broad range of professional skills and backgrounds when developing solutions and troubleshooting.