Renaud

People ask me why did you decide to set up your business in Romania and I instinctively reply that ‘people’ make the difference. Here are some insights:

1)      Work ethic is one of the best I have seen, staff are hard working and they want to learn from leaders.

2)      Many continue to pursue their education and all recognize that English is the official language of business. There is a great deal of effort placed on learning English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and in the region of Transylvania Hungarian is also spoken fluently. It is no wonder why so many call centers have opened up in many regions of the country.

3)      Romanians are fast learners and I have been impressed by the quality of some university recruits. I was having difficulty recruiting for the fixed-line incumbent Romtelecom and I happened to have hired a ‘kid coming out of university’. With the right coaching after a year he managed to create our department’s web site and had become one of my most important program Managers. Staff take instructions well and if you spend the time in them, it will pay off dividends in the future.

Ok you’re saying it can’t be that good. Well the problem at least in Bucharest is the market is very tight and salaries are increasing so staff - especially Marketing are high in demand and well, the loyalty factor is a problem since staff don’t usually stay at the same place for very long unless employers have created succession plans, career paths and offer some form of retention programs for staff.

Time management skills have only slightly improved in the last few years. Training on Time Management has been given on this topic but it is not taught in schools and the employer is expected to train or coach on this issue. As a result Project Managers (effective ones) are scarce and expensive.

‘5 O’clock follow up’ is my curse. You would think after 6 years that I have learned my lesson but it’s crucial (read critical) to follow up with staff at the end of the day (i.e. 5 o’clock). Why if you carefully explained the instructions? Answer: Time management and lack of focus creeps in and the task is not done or undertaken by 5 o’clock. You follow three days later only to realize that the task was never done.

Inter-peer communications should never be assumed even when staff members are literally sitting 2 meters apart. I can recall many times asking one employee if he communicated or shared an important piece of information with his peer of another section and in many times the answer…was I supposed to? Reason: sharing information was a privilege in order to gain an advantage. Sharing information for the greater result of the team is not a concept well accepted yet but with a lot of patience and focus, teams do understand the benefits.

Despite some shortcomings, in most cases my Romanian team members inspired me and I saw them grow. Not only was that a source of personal satisfaction but it enabled us to win. Like the saying goes ‘you only get by what you put in’.