She says the offer to take up the role of Area Sales Manager in Poland was her first successful sales deal in the company.
That’s because Malgorzata determinedly switched her career path after numerous years working in HR.
Malgorzata – or Gosia as she is known to her family, friends and colleagues – found herself increasingly intrigued by the workings of the hospitality business and Professional products, all while leading a HR Talent Learning & Development team.
She made the move from HR to Sales by speaking up, pitching her relevant skills and career aspirations to a prospective manager, and has never looked back since taking up her current role in 2019.
Tell us a bit about your Electrolux Professional career journey?
I started at the company in 2010, in a role supporting HR service teams and HR Business Partners before getting a great offer to lead Talent Learning and Development. We operated like a business internally – since each manager had a budget, we advertised our training activities and negotiated with them.
Professional and the hospitality business interested me and I really wanted to get into sales. The process requires a lot of focus on the customer and I was exciting about building up the business in Poland.
I was able to grow in the role and build that network at the same time. Now, it’s nice to see that Electrolux Professional as a brand is recognized in Poland and our small team spread across the country has a great spirit.
What advice would you give to someone looking to move into another area of the business?
Don’t be afraid, be curious and ask a lot of questions. Remember that you don’t have to take an immediate jump. Talk to a manager in the area that you’re interested in and ask for an additional task to get the flavor of the role. That’s important because you can imagine what a job role is like but until you test it first you don’t really know.
So, try it out – even for free. Think of it like students who are advice to take on internship –use your own time and put your hand up to test it out, to find out whether it’s a role you’ll really enjoy.
What are you most proud of?
In my personal life, I’m a proud mum of 3 kids – Filip, Aleksander and Julia – and this role is most important for me. In my business life, we are growing year-on-year in Poland; our biggest competitors are noticing us and we are growing fast within the public sector.
Another ambition I fulfilled was selling our first Molteni stove in Poland, at the Palace Małachowskich close to Lublin, which has been transformed into a health resort. Customers are really starting to grasp the range and quality of the products we offer and I will be thrilled when I’d able to see it installed.
(And although she modestly never mentioned it in the interview for this article, Gosia was instrumental in overseeing an important and charitable delivery earlier this year. Professional donated a full range of kitchen products to a school canteen in Poland, providing meals to Ukrainians who fled their homes as a result of the ongoing conflict.)
Tell us something we probably don’t know about you?
I graduated in Slavic Studies and Law Administration and I speak Czech – that’s how I got my first job working in a technical support at a contact center.
We were a young company, not afraid to promote those who were passionate and had ideas. Within six months I was a team leader and after a year I took responsibility for the whole project – like running a small company. They gave us a lot of freedom, independence and trust and that’s something I still get enjoy in my role today.
If you were to pick a favorite of our Guiding Principles – Act Sustainably, Customer Obsession, Be Bold and Build Trust – what would it be?
All four are important and, although I don’t have a favorite, the one that is very natural to me is to Be Bold.
I believe we have had all these Guiding Principles as part of our DNA at Electrolux Professional for a long time but naming behaviors brings attention and more focus to them in our daily work. As a result, we become more conscious about what we do and how we do it – then we do it better!
Check out our global career site, if you aspire to pursue a career similar to Malgorzata’s.