Mrs. Chalupcikova, what are your tasks as production manager?

At the Zemianské Kostoľany plant in Slovakia, my main task as production manager is to organize and manage production. We produce autoclaved aerated concrete blocks in masonry thicknesses from 50 to 500 millimeters, and we still have an additional range of staircase cuts on customer order.

What do you expect every day at your workplace?

My day-to-day work involves a lot of communication with the employees here at the plant – we have a total of 81 employees, 65 in production and 16 in customer service. There's always a lot going on, but any problem can be solved as long as it's communicated.
And then there are always innovations in production that we have to master as a team. For example, it was like that in 2019 with a new machine on the staircase cut.

What was so challenging about that?

Practically everything that came after installation – from creating maintenance schedules to clarifying important safety issues to cleaning processes. When we face challenges like this together, it's my job to motivate employees to find a solution to problems that arise - and everyone on the team is part of the solution.

In your job, you are also responsible for safety at the plant. What does that mean to you?

Since I started at Xella – that was in 2010 – the view of safety in the workplace has changed a lot: It has now become our core value for all employees. This simply means: We improve safety every day, because the safety of our employees is an important value for us. We are currently preparing our Safety Day, which will take place in every Xella plant in the fourth quarter.

How do you work with other plants to introduce innovations?

As far as innovations are concerned, we work closely with the plants in the Czech Republic – we regard them as a kind of "sister plant". We maintain active contact with our colleagues from there and share our experiences at personal meetings. International collaborations like this are simply part of the Xella culture.

What has been the biggest challenge so far in your time at Xella?

I started my current job in 2018, after eight years at Xella. Until then, I was responsible for the manufacturing process of autoclaved aerated concrete, so I had completely different tasks – managing recipes instead of managing people. Nevertheless, I was very interested in the job offer and actually became part of the team soon after. But that's exactly what I needed: I like to take on new challenges and like to expand my skills in new areas – so my current job was both the most challenging and the best possible decision for me.

What do you value about Xella as an employer - and what else would you like to see?

Xella knows that its values are created by its workforce, and I like the way these values are lived out.
For me, working at Xella also means working for an ambitious company - because we are the market leader. It is very rare to witness as many innovations as we do here – and with them, we employees are also given enough room for growth.