And Action: A Day with… Florian Oberländer, Employee Communications Manager
Florian Oberländer is a creative free spirit who gets fresh ideas while jogging and starts each morning with a cold-plunge and his emails on his home trainer. His energy is infectious — and he spreads it through a variety of Uniper communication channels. At the same time, the Employee Communications Manager is a real strategist and always has an eye on the internal communication of energy markets at Uniper.
Communication with a smile
Florian doesn't really have a routine working day. His daily work is shaped by a wide variety of projects and new ideas. This is exactly what he loves about his job. At Uniper, Florian has pursued new avenues of communication. For example, he created the vlog “Uniper’s Market Insights” on YouTube and the company’s website plus the in-house podcast “PodPourri”. "I want to communicate content, which can be quite complex, in a way that everyone is able to understand. At the same time, I always feel happy when I can put a smile on someone’s face in this serious world," says Florian and adds: “You shouldn't always take yourself too seriously as well.”"
In “Uniper’s Market Insights” he together with Chief Analyst, Gregor Pett, report on the latest developments of the global energy markets. Their congenial nature is evident throughout the series. Even when talking about serious or complex topics, they manage to explain these issues in an informal and easy-to-understand way. "When my son and my parents understand what we're trying to say, we have done our job well," Florian jokes, revealing the secret of the format. It's about finding the perfect balance between corporate communication and infotainment.
Stepping into External Corporate Communication
The vlog was originally only published internally and intended to get all employees up to speed on the topic of "Development of the Energy Markets." At one point, on the side of a convention, the the two even recorded in front of the White House in Washington, presenting their forecasts on the energy market to the camera. "The series has been running for three or four years, internally only," explains Florian. The feedback was great. "It was a real hit," he says.
This led to the idea of making the format accessible to external viewers as well. After all, the series would also help to consolidate Uniper's position as an experienced company and would be a valuable source of information for stakeholders, such as the press, customers and business partners. But for Gregor and Florian, taking the step into external communication was not so easy: "At first, we weren't big fans of the idea. Then we thought, come on, let's just try it out," he remembers. Today, the content is available not only on YouTube, but also on Spotify, Audible and Apple Podcasts. There is also a separate landing page for "Uniper's Market Insights."
To record Market Insights, Florian has set up his own small studio at home. Florian isn't just proving his creativity as a presenter — he also takes care of post-production and cuts the videos himself. "I taught myself how to do some of it during the COVID-19 pandemic," he says. "And I had the honor of being able to have the occasional glance over the shoulder of our wonderful and competent studio manager, who runs our professional TV studio in the office."
In addition to "Uniper's Market Insights," Florian hosts "PodPourri," the in-house podcast, alongside his colleague Daniel. In each release, the two Employee Communication Managers welcome new guests from the company. "In the podcast, we introduce people and then link everything to a relevant business topic," explains Florian. "It's so exciting to interview someone who might never have been in the spotlight before, but who suddenly comes out with a really interesting story." One thing is clear: For Florian, it's about connecting people and adding a personal touch — because that's exactly what makes the difference. Looking at his professional career, it's not really surprising.
Work That Leaves Its Mark
Florian has been with Uniper and its predecessor E.ON for 16 years, although his career initially began elsewhere. "I actually started in the hotel industry," he says. After stops in the USA and London, his work led him to Düsseldorf. Here, as an employee of a large hotel chain, he supported the customer E.ON. At some point, he switched sides and, as a relocation manager, started taking care of the centralization of the energy group's trading business in the harbor of Düsseldorf. This was a really big project: Employees from different countries were centralized in Düsseldorf and needed apartments, schools, support dealing with the authorities and, above all, someone to help them feel at home in their new city.
Even today, Florian still meets people from that time. “It’s great when I’m able to work with one of the people who I originally helped to settle in here and they tell me that they’ve started a family and don’t want to leave Düsseldorf anymore," he says with a smile. "I am particularly proud to have contributed at least in tiny way." When the relocation project ended, Florian moved to Uniper Market Solutions, where he traded gas and power on behalf of customers for three years. After this, his path led him to internal communication for energy topics, where he is still working today: "It was a perfect fit for me," he says.
"Here, I can report on exciting topics and be creative at the same time." It's clear that Florian loves his job. At Uniper, he can develop and use his talents. "We've always got an ear open for new suggestions," he says. And if he does run out of ideas, Florian puts on his running shoes and goes jogging. "Then I'll go back to my desk and I'll (usually) have the solution.
Become an energy evolutionary: https://www.uniper.energy/career
