Filip. tell us about your job?
I work as an Operations Manager for the customer service center, the private segment of the customer service in Norway. I am a manager of a team of three specialist. We have one Operations Specialist working with mostly systems, a Resource Specialist working with workforce management such as scheduling and forecasting and then a Training and Recruitment Specialist. We work with the customer service center that answers phone calls, but we also work with email and chat.
My primary responsibility is making sure that the team I have is supported and that we make sure that I remove any roadblocks we might have. I have been a manager for almost twelve years and it is a responsibility that I have always taken very seriously. I also believe that if you accept the role of a manager you are taking on a huge responsibility and that it should be your main priority that your team is thriving."
I believe that if you accept the role of a manager you are taking on a huge responsibility and that it should be your main priority that your team is thriving."
What are the best aspects of your job?
I have to fall back again on the personal responsibility for the employees, creating a culture, creating a team and definitely learning from my team. This is the first time I have had people in my team that work in different areas. My employees are experts in what they do so its fun for me to learn from them. So interacting with the team is the best aspect of my job I would say!
What has been your most interesting projects?
I have been part of one system implementation project, the merger of Hafslund and Fortum. That was one of the most exiting projects I have been part of. I was very thrilled that the project leader was using a lot of the theories that I studied in school and its not very often you see that. The project was very successful from my part, a lot of good collaborations and right people involved in the project.
Describe your team with one word?
I would describe my team as diverse. We have surveys about diversity at Fortum and I have always answered that there is a lot of diversity in my team! I am a Swedish Filipino, my training specialist is originally from Iraq and another one from Sri Lanka. So diversity in both personality and background is the way so summarize it, but also diversity in knowledge.
This team that I have now is one of the best teams I’ve had! It’s a fantastic group of people that are engaged and have a huge ownership both to the task that is in their position but also towards the team and towards achieving and developing the customer service in Norway. We have learned a lot from each other and we have challenged each other, I think we have a honest way of communicating. I love the dynamics in my team and that I have never had to worry about the motivation or the engagement, and that is not my doing they just are that kind of people.
How do you relax after work?
I am blessed with a lot of patience, so I have taught myself to play guitar and paint. I love to do repetitive things and that’s where the patience comes in, like playing the same chord on my guitar over and over again. Doing creative things feels somehow like meditation, cause I think creativity is were you get in to that zone. Just by talking to my friends I can find a kind of peace within myself, so I think that’s the way I relax. Being creative and social!
How do you balance your work and your free time?
I’ve been working as manager for a long time. At times, if I’m being honest, its been overwhelming cause you want to do so much, so its hard to keep that balance between work and free time. But I think also the older you get and the more experience you get, it gets easier. I also think that I find it easy to balance because the work is so much fun! You want to achieve things but I have also realized that it’s not healthy, you have to find good work life balance. When I’m not working I turn of all the notifications I don’t unpack my computer and I keep it in my bag, you have to decide that free time is important.
This interview was done by Fortum's Employer Branding trainee Fabian Högback