High Energy

Not everyone has the luxury of being energised by their work, but SENEC CEO Aurélie Alemany does. She gets to go into work every day, knowing that what she does makes a difference. As one of the world’s most popular brands for innovative energy and storage solutions, SENEC, a wholly owned subsidiary of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg – one of the largest energy supply companies in Germany and Europe – is meeting the larger trends in the world, reducing CO₂ emissions for a better future.  

“In this role, every decision I make every day impacts the future,” Aurélie tells The CEO Magazine. “That’s motivating for me. And it’s one of the main reasons I’m at SENEC now, and having a lot of fun, to be honest.”

And she’s not alone. As a purpose-driven organisation, SENEC naturally attracts talent that wants to do more than make money; like Aurélie, they want to make a difference. “If you’re an employee at SENEC, that’s a huge motivation,” she says. “We’re kind of like a startup company, but bigger. We are here, making decisions very fast. Every year is a new year. When you work at SENEC, you know you’re investing your time for the greater good and having fun at the same time.”

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, SENEC continued onboarding new team members, hiring upwards of 100 people in 2021 alone. “The reason we’re so attractive is because we’re flexible, and we react quickly,” Aurélie explains. “SENEC is a hyper-growth company, and it’s amazing to work in an environment like this. It inspires me every day.”

Much credit is due to Aurélie for fostering this culture; one that thrives despite the challenges of the pandemic. She recognises the importance of true leadership, something she says is very different from managing alone. “Leading people in this new world requires empathy. You have to be aware of the psychological and emotional status of your team,” she stresses. “You have to be aware of each individual and be a real leader, not just a manager.”

It’s unclear how she became so attuned to the needs of others, but it might have a lot to do with knowing herself so well. “Who am I? I am a French girl in Germany,” she smiles. “I studied chemical engineering in France, and after my studies I decided to go abroad. I wanted to learn about new cultures. And, as always in life, when I see an opportunity, I take it.”

Aurélie has been working in the energy industry since 2011. Before signing on with SENEC, she was Managing Director at Yello, also a subsidiary of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg. In this role, she was instrumental in driving forward the dovetailing of sales brands EnBW, Yello and SENEC, and vigorously continues on this path as CEO of SENEC.

She’s made it her mission to expand SENEC’s position as a leading provider of self-sufficiency solutions while strengthening its cooperation with other EnBW companies, together realising the vision of a networked, sustainable energy world for customers. With SENEC’s 360-degree strategy, quality service and huge number of resellers and retailers, Aurélie is confident the company will be able to achieve its ambitious targets.

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“With our 360-degree strategy, we can be innovative every year, offering new cloud products. And because we have a high-quality service, which is one of the most important differentiation factors in Germany, along with our network of partners, retailers and resellers – which we consider our best friends – there’s no doubt that we’ll be successful,” she says.

SENEC is a company that’s doubling in size every year. To ensure it keeps up the momentum, it relies heavily on these strong partnerships. “We need strategic partners that are big enough, otherwise our relationship won’t work,” Aurélie points out. “Having the right partners ensures that we can grow and grow quickly. If you try to do everything by yourself, you’ll be too slow.”

Even more, Aurélie believes these types of partnerships are symbiotic, where each becomes better simply by working together. “We teach our strategic partners to solve problems in a disruptive way, and we also teach them how to make decisions very quickly,” she says. “It’s my belief that to be an entrepreneur, you have to make decisions; a day without a decision is a bad day. And no decision is always the wrong decision. 

“On the other hand, we can also learn from their operative experience, to be more structured and more efficient. At the end of the day, I’d say it’s really a win–win situation.”