Stefan Wettstein is 39 years old, was born in Switzerland and lives with his family in Zofingen. He is married and has two children. In his free time, he likes to read and is often active in his hobby room, where he has built a radio himself, for example.
After school, he first completed a watchmaking school in Solothurn. He then studied industrial engineering and worked for ten years in rail construction in Oerlikon until he joined Ypsomed four years ago.
What is your job with us?
I lead a team of four colleagues, so supervising and coaching my team is one of my daily tasks. In addition, I am the contact person for customer audits or audits by authorities, I guide them through the company and make sure that we comply with all requirements. Furthermore, internal projects are part of my tasks, such as setting up a new learning platform, together with Human Resources. We recently kicked off our new factory in China, I am also involved in this and have been working with my team on a Quality Management System so that the factory can be certified. On top of that, the day-to-day business is the last part of my tasks, such as answering inquiries from customers.
What do you like about your work and the company?
At Ypsomed, employees are in a privileged position: thanks to FlexWork, we can choose where we work and how we organize our work. In addition, I have always wanted to work for a company that has a purpose – and I see that at Ypsomed. I know people with diabetes myself, so I know what it means to deal with it on a daily basis. That's why I'm very happy to help to give them tools so that they don't have to look at their blood glucose all the time. At Quality & Regulatory, we are not directly involved in the value creation process, but we create trust so that, for example, the authorities give us the necessary approvals. We are sometimes like policemen who make sure that everything is done in an organized way so that we can create trust.
What is a normal working day like for you?
My working day usually starts at seven in the morning in the office with coffee. Then I check my e-mails and work on them for about an hour. Then the meetings usually start or I spend an hour working on something in peace. I'm in meetings with various departments: with production, with purchasing, HR, etc., and that drags on until four o'clock in the afternoon or sometimes until six o'clock. What can also happen is an audit, where I walk around the premises with customers until the evening. At the moment I'm in Schwerin visiting our German colleagues or my colleagues are in Paris – we are in contact with our subsidiaries.
How have you developed with us?
I realised here that we, as team leaders, should and are allowed to train our employees. My supervisor also told me that I should continue my education. The topic of further training is pursued here, and as a team leader I also send the employees to seminars. I myself am a team leader at Ypsomed after two years.
What is life like in Solothurn / Burgdorf?
I have lived in Solothurn and must say that it really is the most beautiful baroque city in Switzerland. Internationally, Solothurn is of course not too big and for some it has more of a rural character, which doesn't have to be a bad thing. The surroundings are in any case also very beautiful.
Do you commute? What are your experiences with it?
I used to commute by train, but now I commute by car. It's usually more direct, since I would have to change trains. The highway is often congested, but I can also get around the traffic easily.
Were there any language barriers? Swiss dialect?
Peter is Päsche, otherwise I understood everything. I had to get used to the Bernese dialect briefly, but otherwise none.
Name 3 hashtags you would use to describe Ypsomed?
#diabetes, #future and #safeworkplaces
