ORS Annual Report 2020 English

Claudia Hänig
Operations manager
Sankt Augustin ZUE
Joined ORS DE in 2019
‘With enough self-belief, the
question of whether you’re going
to succeed becomes less about
impossible challenges and more
of about self-fulfilling prophecies.’
In a refugee centre, many of the residents
and staff come from countries
with a highly patriarchal tradition.
This means that you have to work
doubly hard to assert yourself as a
woman in management. Claudia faces
this challenge on a daily basis as
operations manager at the Sankt Augustin
ZUE in North Rhine-Westphalia.
When the facility experienced
a coronavirus outbreak in spring 2020
and the virus brought the lives of the
400 or so residents to a halt, Claudia
proved her worth as a walking symbol
of the new society in which the refugees
find themselves.
An issue that affected everyone in
2020, but particularly those at the
Sankt Augustin ZUE, was COV-
ID-19. Following a mass outbreak
and full quarantining of a large section
of the regular staff, the resolute
core of remaining employees, supported
by ORS staff from other locations
and with external assistance
from the emergency services, had to
pull together and weather this difficult
time. ‘In a situation like that,
it is vital to be able to rely on one
another and support each other,’ the
operations manager explains. Claudia
is convinced that the ability to
master mammoth tasks such as this
is not gender specific. She believes
that the way we deal with situations
like this has much more to do
with our experience and character.
‘With enough self-belief, the question
of whether you’re going to succeed
becomes less about impossible challenges
and more about self-fulfilling
prophecies.’ You need to have a
thick skin in some situations, which
is why it is important to maintain a
good work-life balance and have a
strong network of friends and family
for support.
‘Successful outcomes
and being part of the
positive development
of a resident’s fate
through your team’s
efforts hold much more
weight than frustrating
day-to-day
situations.’
The joyful moments she witnesses
in her work fill her with renewed
energy and are the main reason she
is able to tackle the job with new
zest and enthusiasm day after day,
she explains, describing one such
moment when a war-torn family
was finally reunited after what
seemed like an endless wait.
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