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How would you describe yourself? Who is Aniko?
I think this is probably the most difficult question.
I'm someone who is trying to lead a conscious life. I want to
know who I am, and be true to myself at all times. I do focus on
personal and spiritual development, which help me to achieve who I
am and what I want to do in the world.
Honesty is very important to me, and I don't like games or
politics (which can sometimes be difficult at work!). As a result,
I also find speaking my mind to be very important as well.
Professionally speaking I am passionate about diversity and
cultures. I love seeing the 'aha! moment' in people's eyes when
they gain insights into cultural differences.
I also see myself as a Hungarian person. Even though I've lived
abroad, my identity is Hungarian. This is where my roots are, it's
a core part of my being. It doesn't necessarily mean I'm a
"typical Hungarian" from all perspectives or that I like
everything, but it plays a strong part in how I identify myself.
What are you working on now?
I work in a large multinational company as part of their European
level team working in Diversity and inclusion, which is part of
the HR function. I am responsible for bring about cultural
diversity in Europe, and now also for the gay/lesbian/bisexual
contingent. My work includes coordinating all the internal
education we offer on diversity & inclusion.
I'm based in Budapest, but I work with different colleagues all
over Europe. This includes for example working with local employee
groups on ethnicity related projects, coming up with strategies
with senior executives that sponsor these issues and working with
the internal training organisations on designing, rolling out and
implementing various trainings, including conducting trainings
myself across the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.
What has been your journey to what you are doing now?
I was already passionate about cross-cultural issues at
university. I got involved in a large student organisation, and
had the opportunity to experience cultural diversity first hand by
living and working in both Italy and Costa Rica. Whilst I enjoyed
my experiences, they were mostly in the not-for-profit sector, and
I wanted to also see what it was like to work in a large
multinational organisation. I knew I wanted to work on cultural
diversity issues, but I also felt like I needed other expertise
and experience within HR, so I got hired by my current employers
to do compensation and benefits work in the UK.
I didn't like numbers, but I wanted to prove to myself that I
could do it, and I wanted to learn new things. After about a year
an a half I was very unhappy in the job though. I had already
started cultural diversity projects in my department (there was
nothing going on and we were people from15 different cultures).
Then I also started looking for opportunities in the diversity
field both within the company and externally in the UK. It was
quite difficult though. I had my manager's support, but there were
no real possibilities for this type of work in our organisation
around that time (2002/2003).
So I had a period of 12-18 months when I was desperate to move
out and work on diversity. I networked inside my organisation,
helping those who already worked in this field. I was very
frustrated. Suddenly I found out that my whole department would be
moving to Hungary. I resisted a lot as I felt it would be better
for professionally to stay in the UK. But after some thinking, I
had realised that I wasn't actually happy personally, so I
accepted a job in the new service centre in Hungary, making it
very clear that longterm I only wanted to work in the field of
culture and diversity, which is also why I turned down a
managerial post I was offered.
So I came back home to Hungary through a temporary role. But
more than ever, I was determined that I didn't want to do work
that I wasn't passionate about. In the meantime, to my delight, a
European level Diversity Manager was hired. I was in touch with
her within 2 weeks of her appointment, and by that time all my
internal networking had already paid off as she'd already heard
about me. I got involved in working with her team gradually, and
finally got invited to work on her team in September 2004.
What was the turning point?
Internally I had to let go. I was frustrated, trying to get out of
my organisation, and I was too attached to getting a diversity job
in the UK. When I finally let go and took things a bit easier,
knowing that somehow it would transpire but be open to it, then it
just came. Externally this was obviously helped by the appointment
of a European Diversity Manager, without that my journey would
probably have looked quite different.
I had loads of doubts and fears for about a year. Wondering if
I could stay in the organisation? Would there be other
opportunities for me? What if I had to leave the safety of the
large organisation, what would I do?
How are you feeling now?
I'm feeling good about the job itself. There are loads of
development areas, and I have just been given even more
responsibility so there is more to learn, and a greater role to
play. So I'm feeling positive and busy :)
How do you see the future?
For now I only see the short-term. There are still so many things
to learn and develop, and most culture & diversity mindshifts and
changes require time. I haven't really thought about where I'd go
next either. I could find another organisation, or go freelance,
but it doesn't feel like I need to know the answer to that at the
moment. What's important is that I know that I'm in the right
field for me, and I don't think I'll move out of culture &
diversity work even in the long-term.
Would you do anything differently?
I guess one could argue that I could have moved into the culture
and diversity field right away. But I am happy that I had the
experience doing something different to really internalise for
myself that I don't want to do anything else than where my passion
and commitment lie.
What advice would you give to other people in similar
situations as you were in?
· Take time to figure out what you want - work on getting and
having a clear idea of what you are looking for. I've seen
colleagues who are unhappy, but where their managers couldn't
support them, because there was no clear direction to help them
in. Whereas I was able to network with the support of my manager,
which is especially important in large organisations. If you don't
know what you want, people won't be able to help you.
· Be persistent and determined - it does pay off even if there are
rough times
· Network - make your self known, be proactive. Even if management
is supporting you, they won't make it happen, you will.
· Be edgy - for example, training delivery is not part of my job
description, but it's a strength and passion of mine, so I held
out in my negotiations to keep it part of my role. Already when I
was working in the UK I contacted the European facilitator on
Culture & Diversity and asked her how could I get more involved in
doing this. Contact people and ask for help and advice, don't wait
for them to find you! |
