Karolína, our Office Manager and HR Specialist, is one of those people who has been growing with us from the beginning of her career. Among others, Karolína described to us how she apprehended coronavirus situation in early spring when she and her team had to ensure smooth office function.
Karolína, how long have you been at ASB?
I have been at ASB since 2016, i.e. for five years. While studying, I started part-time work at the reception, where I worked for about two years. Then, I was given the opportunity to move to a position in the Trust Management Team (now the Corporate Services Team), where I worked as an assistant to one of our managers. My job was to support clients and our teams. As you cooperate with foreign clients, the active use of the English language is a matter of course for this position. However, I did not find the work in this team as such rewarding, so after a year and nine months I decided to resign. At that time, my intention was to work in the field I had studied, which is HR. Coincidentally, at that time the office manager decided to leave our company and I was offered that position. After careful consideration, I finally accepted the offer and officially took up the position of Office Manager in March this year. At the same time, my wish to devote myself to HR came true because I was assigned a part of the agenda of our HR. All in all, I now consider myself a satisfied employee.
Can you briefly describe the current position and its duties?
It involves the overall running of the office and reception, material orders, approval and checking of OM orders and communication with suppliers. My task is also to take care of the welfare of the employees, I try to focus on what they lack in the company. I am involved in arranging some corporate events, such as teambuilding. In the first half of the year, I had the opportunity to try to organize our all-staff meeting, when I was the one who chose the place and catering and I was fully responsible for the budget. I am happy that the result was a successful event. As for the HR, I provide on-boarding/ off-boarding of employees and assist in interviews. I really enjoy that it is me who can introduce the company to new people, and then it is more pleasant and easier to work with them.
Do you know what you would like to do in the future? Just the office management or HR?
Hard to say, I've been in this position for a short time and I know I have a lot to learn. I do not have enough experience and competencies for a more senior position; there is still a long way to go. For the time being, I am happy with the current combined position, where I can participate in the HR agenda and at the same time I can decide on many things in the office independently. I really appreciate that I can hold a fairly wide range of responsibilities and that any innovation on my part is taken positively.
Unlike your position in the Corporate Services Team, you also have two subordinates in your current position, is this a positive change for you?
I am glad that I used to work at our reception, so I know what this work involves and I try to accommodate my colleagues. But in general, when it comes to management, maybe I am strict, sometimes even harsh, but on the other hand, I think it is necessary for me to have a certain degree of respect. Of course, I keep learning to find the right boundaries here. I see it that we respect each other and, for me, they are my colleagues rather than subordinates, I can rely on them. In general, I think that there is no hierarchy in ASB where we "bow" to higher positions, but on the contrary, there is natural respect here.
What is the biggest challenge for you in this position?
I would say that currently in my position it is the coronavirus. In March, I was new in this position and at that time the common running of the office turned upside down. We had to make sure all the back-office support worked. We did not know what would come, how the pandemic would develop and the company would work. We just couldn't say: ‘Let’s shut down the office’. We faced the problem, and my colleagues at the reception and I tried to set up everything as best as we could - i.e. to provide all teams with documents so that they could work from home. In my opinion, we managed this big challenge well. For me, also from the point of view of motivating colleagues not to panic and not to isolate themselves at home. As for this, the girls are great and I thank them very much for that.
What about the cooperation with other teams in terms of common clients?
To me, cooperation with other teams is smooth. And not only in my current position, cooperation with them was good in my previous position, too. In my opinion, good relationships in the workplace play an important role and must be cared for in the same way as for personal relationships. Even when I was in the Corporate Services Team, we used to be supportive of the people from other departments and vice versa. And now when I'm the Office Manager, in fact, people have to like me – I am the one who gives them the meal vouchers! :)
Is there anything you do NOT like doing?
Well, it may sound strange, but there aren't many things like that right now. The only thing I can think of is dealing with insurance claims when you communicate with insurance companies and other authorities. You know very well that it depends on how nice the person on the other side of the telephone line is, and that dealing with institutions often takes long. But anyway, I don't mind.
What, in your opinion, makes ASB different from other companies of a similar type?
I see us as a family business where we are authentic. Even though we are growing, we are not a typical corporate burdened with long approval processes yet. Our culture is informal and we like to spend time together outside the working hours. The approach to the employees is very open; we can meet the management on a daily basis.
Why would you recommend ASB to prospective jobseekers?
For the above reasons. I have already recommended several people to work with us and we can already meet them here. I always try to think about whether the recommended person could be happy with us and at the same time whether he or she has an added value for the company.