Bettina Pauck is Chief Operations Officer, IDnow, one of Europe’s leading digital identity verification platforms. She explains her current job role and her most memorable achievement.
Describe your current job role.
I’m the Chief Operations Officer at IDnow, one of Europe’s leading digital identity verification platforms. My role is both varied and stimulating given that I manage the largest department in the company.
As the COO, it’s my responsibility to ensure that IDnow is constantly providing a frictionless identity verification service across heavily regulated markets such as finance and gambling. We also offer digital onboarding for companies hiring new staff, remotely. Employee onboarding and contract signatures has become an essential part of our business, and companies require highly secure ID verification services to ensure that they’re onboarding the right (and real) person.
What would you describe as your most memorable achievement?
When IDnow faced unprecedented demand for its services during the pandemic, strong and steady leadership with a customer-first focus was required. Quite the balancing act for a company that just acquired Wirecard Communications Services after its infamous bankruptcy.
At the same time as this acquisition, I was appointed to COO and I immediately had a compassionate handle of all employees worried about their future. In addition to this, I balanced delivering exceptional customer services for IDnow’s customers with a meticulous and thoughtful integration of Wirecard’s unit into IDnow.
Within a few months, I was able to transform a very challenging operations unit into a highly efficient company and gave the 120 new employees a new hope for the future. I also increased IDnow’s service level delivery from 30% to a steady 90% – all while ensuring a safe workplace during the pandemic.
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position?
I believe in an asynchronous and autonomous workforce because I know that people work best when they are entrusted to complete a task or project. This is extremely important to me as it cultivates a culture of compassion and confidence. It’s important to me to create a fair, flexible and approachable team, where we all help each other.
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry?
About two months ago, the EU announced that it will be rolling out its ‘Digital Identity Wallet’ – the EUid – which means that every citizen will be given access to a so-called digital wallet, where their identity data will be stored. Apparently, all European countries will see this come into force in just under a year.
In addition to electronic signatures, documents such as birth and marriage certificates or driving licences will also be stored in the digital wallet in the future. An EUid would streamline our administrative lives – such as changing an address to tax returns and accessing council and health services. This will revolutionise how citizens interact with local authorities and businesses, as well as tightening security on our personal data. It will also vastly improve user experience across typically bureaucratic and onerous tasks.
As one of the European market leaders in the field of digital identification, IDnow is working on our own solution for digital wallets to provide people with the product that not only offers best-in-class security but also a great and easy to handle user experience.
If you could go back and change one career decision what would it be?
This is a tough question as I’m very happy with my career choice and the progression I’ve made. I have spent a long time consulting which has enabled me to gain a lot of valuable and diverse experiences across various industries. I’ve been able to learn from a lot of people and acquire skills which has enabled me to shape and grow IDnow’s business in a very short timeframe. I also had two children during my career which has also contributed to my role as an ‘operations officer’. Anyone can tell you that becoming a parent while pursuing a career is a juggling act! If I had to change one career decision, it would probably be to not rely as heavily and solely on my psychology studies but dedicate more time to the economics of business and life – maybe even embarking on an MBA.
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain a C-level position in your industry?
Operations is a complicated role as you have to earmark every aspect of the business in order for it to succeed. If things are not running well, it’s your responsibility to find a solution and this is why knowing about project management is vital. Because of this, you need a lot of experience in this position.
This job is not just about steering the ship, but about entrusting your teams to help propel the ship towards meeting business goals. Without the right teams, you will struggle and without strong leadership, you will sink.
What behaviour or personality trait do you most attribute your success to, and why?
When taking on the job of an operations manager, you will be met with resistance to any changes within the company. This has meant that I’ve become very resilient and highly persistent to see things through. I’ve been able to adapt my communication skills and continue to positively challenge any barriers to implementing change. These abilities and especially flexibility is key to not only survive but be successful in a fast and ever-changing environment.
What’s your go-to productivity trick?
Knowing how to project manage is the best productivity skill you can ever acquire in my role/ in operations. This is because most activities are based on day-to-day problem solving in unique situations. Therefore, knowing how to resolve these comes down to knowing how to assign responsibilities to the right teams and people.
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months?
Becoming a C-suite executive was challenging, especially in the beginning. But as a former consultant, I know the best work I did was as part of a team, using asynchronous tools and being left to work independently when needed. This is the most effective way to get the most out of your teams so it’s what I’ve applied to IDnow.
Now we’re ready to grow, particularly as we’ve acquired French identity technology provider, ARIADNEXT, as well as German, identity Trust Management AG. Together with the EUid mentioned above, these acquisitions are going to be the things that drive us as a company.