I consider career successes of people I work with as my greatest achievements. I feel honoured that leaders I work with understand our role in the organization the same way I do
Tell us about yourself and your journey in tech
Technology was my passion and hobby since I was a child. I remember getting a personal computer when I was 8 or 9. That love for technology evolved over the years. Therefore, it was natural for me to start my career in IT, right after graduation.
I joined one of the traditional Polish banks and was responsible for end-user support at that time. It took me nearly 10 years to realize that I would like to lead a team, and I got opportunity to build and manage my first team in my third company.
Hitachi is the first technology-centric company that I joined. For years I wanted to join a company that would not see technology only as a cost, but as a differentiator. Hitachi gave me not only a chance to lead a team but helped my team members to grow and develop their careers, and that is how I see my role. I’m here to support employees, whatever that support entails.
Significance of your team’s work for Hitachi employees
My group is providing first and second line of end-user support. We are the ones to solve most of the IT issues for our employees. In fact, we solve 70% of the cases on our Service Desk, then few percent are handled by Desktop Operations, and if we need to, we work with our friends in other IT groups to provide the requisite solution to the users.
We also ensure that our offices are up and running, and we act as remote hands to other groups in IT that cannot perform the work on-site, same as we do it.
Your growth at Hitachi and being a leader
The pace at which my career grew at Hitachi even surprises me sometimes. I started as a manager of IT Shared Services five years ago, and now I’m a Senior Director responsible globally for employee support services.
In the meantime, I graduated with an International MBA and got Certified in Chief Information Program. I have also started to teach at a university, and I often engaged myself into mentoring.
One of the greatest minds I had a chance to interact with, Honourable Dana Deasy, said that leaders’ achievements best can be described by their legacy. I hope that the way I understand and act in my role as a leader – being responsible for my employees’ development, will be the key aspect of my legacy. I had a chance to help grow more than 30-40 employees’ careers over the last five and half years. People were promoted either horizontally or vertically, some completely transformed their careers, and some joined IT from HR or Finance. Some people moved to different areas of IT twice, some up to 3 times. Some moved entirely to an unknown field of IT and we helped them upskill.
Therefore, I consider career successes of people I work with as my greatest achievements. I feel honoured that leaders I work with understand our role in the organization the same way I do.
Your motivations behind learning and upskilling
I’m very focused on self-development. Each time I get a chance to take a new, and bigger role, I feel I need to do whatever it takes to make me truly ready for the role, with the right skills and knowledge.
That feeling motivated me to complete various studies during my career. I graduated from Krakow University of Economics in Information Systems. Over years, I have also completed:
- Postgraduate studies in Facilities/Properties Management
- Doctoral studies in Management
- Postgraduate studies in IT Business Management
The opportunity to learn from others, who are much more experienced than I am, exchange knowledge and learning, pushes me the most.
What you love about Hitachi Poland
Hitachi, in Poland and beyond, has a unique corporate culture. On one hand, focusing on our values coming directly from Japan, we work through respect, trust, and sincerity. On the other hand, as our headquarters are in US, we are in direct contact with everyone in the company and have integrated an inclusive way of working. No matter if an employee is a VP or contractor, we talk to everyone the same way, and everyone helps each other succeed. On top of that, we observe our local, regional cultures. In Poland we are focused on quality and timely delivery.
As Hitachi employees, we provide ourselves with the greatest possible working environment, and that’s what builds and makes our culture so strong.
