Leonid Tica, from Romania to Nordic in just 6 months

By: Miruna Ursache, Intern

At the beginning of August he celebrated 2 years since he started working in JYSK as a Team Leader for the Customer Service Department, at JYSK Romania head office in Bucharest. After just 6 months since he got hired, Leonid Tica became Regional Customer Service Manager for JYSK Nordic.

He is now responsible with securing best practice and high quality in the Customer Service Centers in the countries he manages: Czech Republic and Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, Hungary and Greece, Ukraine and the West Balkans – Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia.

Before JYSK, he worked as a Team Leader for a company that offered call center services and he managed the sales team that worked for a mobile phone company. “The call center services were outsourced to our company. We had projects with a number of big companies and, at that time, I had 10 years of experience in this field. They said I did a good job and I think it was true”, Leo remembers.

When he felt his job was not satisfying anymore, he decided to look for a new one on a job ads website. He applied for different jobs, including the Team Leader position for JYSK Romania Customer Service Department. “It was an interesting moment, because, at that time, Dana, who is the Customer Service Manager for Romania, had to go on maternity leave, and this is why the Team Leader position was opened. She needed a replacement”, he recounts. 

PROMOTION IN RECORD TIME

In less then 6 months, a new opportunity has emerged, when the Regional Customer Service Manager position became available. Leo found the job ad on the company’s intranet. 

“I did not exactly know what Nordic was at that time, I did not know who Tanja Ammentorp is, the Customer Service Director for JYSK Nordic, but I decided to apply”. As the recruiting process for the Nordic position started a few months after he came to JYSK, when he was still learning about what was happening in the Customer Service Department, Leo felt that the change was very big and sudden.

“I had to get familiar with everything that the job implies, with JYSK Nordic, with what they do and what the countries are doing, with the hierarchical relationships in our organization. It was interesting, because this Matrix Manager position was something that I have never heard of before and I did not know what it implies”, confesses Leo. 

AN INTERNATIONAL WORK ENVIRONMENT

In his current position for JYSK Nordic, Leo works with colleagues from different countries, which gives him the opportunity to know a variety of cultures and to travel to many countries. 

“The beauty of my job is that I work with a lot of different countries and each country has specific challenges. This also helps me develop myself on a personal level. Different countries means different people, various approaches and laws. This helps you become wiser, as what happens in one country can or can not work in another country. It all depends on the local culture”, he explains.

His happiest moment in JYSK until now was when he found out he got the promotion. 

“Before I knew that I got the job, Alex, the Country Manager for JYSK Romania and Bulgaria, said he wants to talk to me during a break. He had a funny smile. He asked what I am doing, how I am, how my work is. I was a little bit sad, but I told him everything is fine, things are evolving, but I did not hear anything from Tanja, even though the recruiting process was over a week before. I was sure I did not pass the last interview. He looked at me smiling and I asked him if he knows something. He said he doesn’t and continue to smile”, remembers Leo.

As a Regional Customers Service Manager he has less free time than before. The little free time he has he divides between his family and the social issues he cares about. 

“I also go to the gym in the morning. Except for this, because I have to travel a lot, and this makes my personal life unbalanced. So I am trying to bring everything back to balance again. So when I am home, I am trying to do everything I did not do when I was away”, says Leo.