A human attitude towards people

You were assigned to team leaders you’d already worked with, including your immediate manager, Katarzyna Gorzechowska. What kind of an effect did that have?

Being conscious of the fact that you’re going to be working with people you know and like, people with charisma, makes an enormous difference.

You’ve been a programmer for most of your career. However, on the Toyota Financial Services team, you’re currently involved in technical support and business analysis.

Yes. For me, that was a gentle introduction to the technology, because I’d been more engaged with equipment before. And I’d never previously had contact with a client of this magnitude, let alone one with such complex structures, either. It’s a bit the opposite to what we have at MakoLab. The structure here is fairly horizontal and that’s good. It means you can talk to everyone from the start.

Do you see that structure and the friendly intimacy at MakoLab as important?

To me, it’s one of the company’s biggest pluses! It’s much more straightforward than anything I’d encountered before. You don’t have a fifteen-rung ladder above you here. There are just three levels and that gives you a sense of being an essential part of everything. You have a real impact on results. You know you’re not just a faceless worker and that’s really motivating.

How about the way work is organised here?

Everything operates on a human scale. The work has to be done, but not necessarily at any price, such as endless overtime and no holidays. Work and personal lives shouldn’t overlap. It’s a unique approach to people and stability is a good route to gaining loyal members of staff. It gives you a sense of being part of a smaller company, where there’s no inertia.

Is there anything missing at MakoLab?

Well, I miss contact with people and spending time with them every day, but that’s the result of the pandemic. On the other hand, there’s progress to be seen in terms of periodic assessments, for instance. It’s good that they appear, because they give you a chance to see a cross-section of your development and the areas that need improving. There could be more training opportunities, which are also essential in terms of personal development.

In the FSS area, though, there’s certainly no lack of after-hours integration. Not long ago, we arranged to see a film that we never got round to watching (he grins). During the past six months, I’ve been out with the others three or four times and there are ideas brewing for the next time. I feel like I fit in here.

We think you do, too… and we wish you all the very best!

Cezary Truszczyński was talking to Marta Piotrowska A human attitude towards people