Phrase Welcomes Marion Kaehlke to Global Leadership Team as Chief People Officer

BOSTON, MASS, UNITED STATES, February 13, 2024 – Phrase, the global leader in cloud-based localization software, today announced the appointment of Marion Kaehlke as its new Chief People Officer. Kaehlke will lead the company’s worldwide People organization, working out of Hamburg, Germany, reporting directly to the CEO, Georg Ell. The integration of cultural, personnel, and workplace dynamics with large-scale localization initiatives is now a critical priority for global enterprises, including Phrase clients. 

“We are delighted to welcome Marion to the Phrase leadership team. Her arrival is well timed as we continue to invest in every Phrase employee to help drive our impressive growth across the globe,” said Georg Ell, CEO at Phrase. “You’ve got to get it right with people to perform on a business level. Marion has a reputation as a pacesetter, and we look forward to the positive impact she will bring to our organization.”

With a career focused on serving the global enterprise workplace, Kaehlke most recently hailed from Ada Health, where she served as SVP People, Culture & Workplace. In this role, she was pivotal in navigating the complexities of an international matrix environment, leading to a comprehensive transformation of the organizational culture. Her strategic introduction of an engagement survey empowered her team to regularly analyze feedback and data, enabling a collaborative approach to drive meaningful change throughout the organization. 

This process of continuous improvement included defining and implementing a performance management and career development framework, leadership training and community learning, team and 1:1 coaching, a performance based compensation model and an engagement survey. Under Kaehlke’s leadership, the company also introduced a hybrid workplace and a number of new well-being and mental health initiatives. The collective improvements drove increased productivity (measured by ARR/FTE), stronger employee engagement (eNPS), and a 10% reduction in attrition, thereby lowering stress and improving perceptions of work pressure.

Kaehlke’s time at Ada Health was preceded by her tenure at TA Triumph Adler GmbH, where she spearheaded a number of global initiatives including building a central People operations shared service center for multiple sites. Other key leadership posts over the course of her career have included roles at Philips Semiconductors, Tektronix/Danaher, and others. She is widely recognized for enabling leaders, teams and employees to deliver better business results, faster.

“It’s an incredible time to join the team at Phrase. I have a love of languages, and I deeply appreciate the power of localizing workplaces to foster diverse and inclusive internal cultures that drive performance within global organizations,” said Kaehlke. “The pandemic, digital transformation and the prevalence of mental health challenges have accelerated hybrid and remote work movements over the past few years. I’m extremely focused on the ability of technology, including AI, to help address the well-being, flexibility, autonomy, empowerment, speed, productivity and, ultimately, the ease and personalization of the employee experience. The People team will be a powerful contributor to guide Phrase and future-proof our business and manage the impact of these changes, all of which will benefit our clients and partners.”

Kaehlke’s education and early career set the course currently underway. After completing a diploma to work as a translator, she studied Business Administration & Economics, earning an MBA in International HR Management in San Francisco. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, her life outside work, alongside her husband, involves exploring new places, engaging with diverse cultures, enjoying golf, and relishing fine food and wine.

About Phrase
Phrase is a leading cloud-based localization platform that enables organizations of all sizes to open the door to global business through advanced automation and a broad variety of integrations. The Phrase platform is equipped with the leading translation management system, a specialized platform for software and digital products, and it supports 500+ languages, 50+ file types, 30+ machine translation engines, and 50+ integrations. The enterprise-grade suite enables users to drive growth with a connected ecosystem of tools. Organizations like Uber, Shopify, Volkswagen, and thousands of others trust in Phrase and accelerate their global growth by giving people the content they need, in the language they speak. For further information visit www.phrase.com

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Media contact

Pamela Ghosal
E: pr@phrase.com
T: +44 20 7150 6886