“Growth is the hardest thing to manage...”

Bernadette Bohács has been working as HR Manager of Nav N Go Kft. for a year, during which time the number of personnel employed by the company has increased more than threefold. This was no small task or responsibility, but something that only her love for her profession and a sense of vocation could balance.

As a child you had quite different plans and wanted to be a doctor. How did you end up in the field of human resources?

From early childhood, I had always wanted to heal. From elementary school age I had been preparing to go to university. Unfortunately, I did not succeed in my entrance examination for four years at medical university. During this time, I had been near the hospital working as a nurse or as a volunteer and never gave up helping people.

Nevertheless, you started out on another course...

I had no choice but to think about what to do with myself as I had to acknowledge that I was not going to medical university. I was interested in psychology and was best at biology and physics, which eventually were the closest to the Faculty of Chemical Technology, so I applied to the University of Technology. I soon realized that I hit a dead-end; however, I still did not do it for nothing, as this gave me the opportunity to acquire a large amount of useful knowledge. It was also at the university that I had my first contact with the human area.

At that time it was not at all trendy here yet, was it?

No, at the time we had personnel managers working everywhere. However, at university we heard about human resources management, which, by then was wide spread in Western Europe and North America, and which means something totally different. It means a group of people who work as partners and advisors in the organisation helping the individual units become more efficient and find the resources most needed. It is about motivating the employees and measuring the level of satisfaction. All this helps managers become even more efficient as managers. This is what really got me interested, so I took the course at university and then kept looking to see where I could continue studying this further. Finally, after university, I carried on studying it as part of the special program of the University of Economics, and later I got my human resources manager diploma after post graduate training at the College of International Management and Business Studies.

Meanwhile you already started working in this area...

Yes, right after the University of Technology I joined the Westel Group. I worked there for almost 15 years, first as a senior clerk and later as a human resources manager.

What was your first great success there?

We managed to work out a performance review system that worked well company wide and the results we got for the measurement of satisfaction were surprisingly good and professionally workable. This was a great success for a new HR.

Did you give up healing, in the meanwhile?

Not quite. For a while my career was running on a few parallel courses. I got in close connection with a new aspect of healing as I realized that traditional healing only tries to cure symptoms, yet illnesses have their spiritual causes, and unless those are located, no healing is possible. This was the thought that made me follow both the established and alternative branches of Psychology. After finishing my studies I even worked as a counselor for one year. I had my own practice where I helped whoever came to me for help, free of charge. Then slowly, my life got taken over by my current profession which, in fact, very similar to counseling and “healing”…

How so?

Hiring the correct personnel requires a good knowledge of people, and besides that, finding the core of problems is what is most important in the life of the company so we can turn not too advantageous things for the better. After all we are curing the organisation and trying to uncover the causes of the individual processes, trying to find out whether the employees are feeling alright and if not, why not, and how it can be remedied. Because high level performances are achieved by satisfied employees.

You had considerable success at Westel and later at the T-group. Why did you then leave?

I was starting a family, for one, and was staying home for a while with my son, Bálint. On the other hand, 15 years in the telecommunication industry was just enough for me, and I also wanted to try my luck in a new, dynamic, developing industry, so when I had a chance to change, I didn’t hesitate. Nav N Go was again an area where I could feel the progress every day, which is something that motivates you quite a bit.

What was the greatest difficulty you had to face?

I was faced with the teething-troubles of a brand new company, which is completely normal in a barely one year old organisation that, on top of all, is developing at an unbelievable rate. Essentially there was no solution worked out for human resources, the internal life of the company was unorganised, there were no strategic directions. These had to be formulated and, meanwhile a large number of adequate people had to be found to be employees. Today, we also have to make an effort to keep our employees, and in order to do that we have to know what motivates them, what brings them satisfaction and fulfilment in their work...

Well, what does make them satisfied?

First of all, working for a sensible long term goal. This is something that is fully materialised in our company, especially in the case of programmers as the result of their work is immediately visible and the pieces of software developed by them are now in use in all parts of the world and many of them are very proud of this. Of course, payment as wages and non-financial bonuses are important. By the latter we mean verbal commendation which, today, is less “trendy”, yet extremely important. People need an acknowledgement, and a few words here and there may often drive their enthusiasm all the way up.

What are the 2008 plans of Nav N Go in terms of human resources?

We are planning a significant increase in personnel this year too, and would like to hire in particular expert programmers and ITs. Beside this, we will put great care into the introduction of motivating systems, we will launch training programs and will, of course, try to retain the family like character of Nav N Go. This year too, we will have team building events that the family members of our employees are also invited to.

What do you think is the most important characteristic of a good HR?

In any case it is being proactive, because an HR has to function as a service unit for the organisation, and it is when the partners are satisfied with them that their activities are successful.

How do manage to align your work and your private life?

What I am experiencing more and more is that being able to fully separate my work from my private life helps my work. When I go home and spend time with my little son, I see the world from a totally different perspective (even if just due to the fact that I spend most of the time playing on all fours), and I am not chewing on workplace problems. Then, returning to the workplace next day I realise that the problem of yesterday wasn’t all that much of a problem. I consider such disconnection important.

What do you like doing in your leisure time?

I literally do not have leisure time, considering that when I am not at work, I am raising my child, which is also a full time job. I spend a lot of time with my son because of whom we have introduced programs into our lives that are very beneficial and which I earlier did not really take the time to do. We walk and hike a great deal out in the open which is something that energizes me for several days.