Cristina Constantin, Operations Manager – Valoris Center
My name is Cristina Constantin, and I have been an Operations Manager at Valoris Center since 2018.
In high school, I imagined myself being a Bank Director 😊 – in my world, this was when one’s career peaked. That is why I have chosen the Finance and Banking College. During this period, I had my first contact with the BPO industry as an entry-level employee. With its continuous learning environment, the business services field immersed me, and here I am now.
Two key elements influenced every stage of my career. First, the voice of the customer in direct contact with me was the first influence on my job. I understood the value of the work that I was doing as a Contact Center Agent, Team Leader, and then Manager, and did my best to do it excellently, to care and be involved. The second one was my curiosity and desire to be around competent people who could teach me and assign me new or extra tasks that could facilitate my development. Therefore, we can translate these key moments into a continuous focus process.
During my 13 years in BPO, I had the chance to learn some priceless lessons. For example, deep dive until you understand the topic you are working on in order to accurately connect it with the objectives. Another lesson is to delegate and trust the people you are working with; the added value will increase. Moreover, it is ok to be wrong or to make mistakes. It will open new perspectives and contribute to a healthier approach in the future.
As I said earlier, I met the business services industry during my college years. I chose to continue my activity in this area after I finished my studies because I had access to many sectors that could help me build a broader perspective on any topic. Working in an operational department provided me with essential information regarding HR, legal, business communication, training, finance, marketing, statistics, and list can go on.
If I had to list three reasons why I enjoy working at Valoris, I would say that only three are not enough! 😊 First of all, at Valoris I feel at home. Working here offers me security, a safe environment, trust, and appreciation. Moreover, Valoris and its partners challenge my colleagues and me every day. The expectations are high, quality is the first criterion for any process, and dedication is a must. In return, I enjoy flexibility (this goes both directions), opportunities to grow, great colleagues, and the privilege of being in touch with the POCs of many reputed companies that are collaborating with us. At Valoris, we offer the same attention to every project we handle, no matter the size, and we value our people’s skills and potential, before their experience.
Having a job I enjoy makes me cherish my spare time as well. I love watching Marvel productions, and I enjoy reading. The best way to unwind and gather my thoughts and ideas is by taking long walks. Moreover, being the mother of a 7-year-old boy, I am grateful to discover and rediscover the world and myself while he is growing up. Nowadays, young people have vast opportunities for personal and professional development. If I were to start my career now, I would focus on choosing specific courses and training programs more relevant to my activity. I would cultivate discipline from my earlier years and learn one more foreign language. Furthermore, I would also work on developing my public speaking skills, beneficial behaviour patterns, and strategic planning.
Many young people are on my team, and I enjoy working with them daily. Some advice I share with them is to show interest in any new subject and be open to learning from people from any domain to extend their knowledge horizon. I also encourage them to stay focused and dedicated to the subjects that motivate them. On the other hand, I advise them to avoid wasting time with actions that don’t benefit them and, if a person or community turns out to be harmful, walk away. It is a big and exciting world out there, make the best of it!
Bogdan Popovici, Business Development Manager – Valoris Center
My name is Bogdan Popovici, and I have been a Business Development Manager at Valoris Center for over five years. Valoris is a BPO service provider with more than 650 employees, delivering state-of-the-art customer experience for our partners’ end customers.
My first serious job after my college graduation was more than 17 years ago as a B2B direct sales agent for a start-up company in the telecommunication industry. We also had a team handling telemarketing and lead generation for the sales team. It was only a short time until I took over the telemarketing and sales team and, after some time, the customer support as well.
At the beginning of my career, I worked with very professional people in newly launched start-ups. Building up from scratch the company, the teams, and the services was a huge learning opportunity for me and enabled me to develop an entrepreneurial way of working.
In my first multinational corporate experience, which started in 2008, this entrepreneurial approach helped me to see beyond the role. I was trying not only to do my job but also to understand the impact on the whole organisation and how I can adapt what I am doing to help the success of the entire team. Besides, I began understanding that the whole effort of an organisation should be on how you can serve your customers better each day.
During these years, I have gathered many lessons worth sharing. For example, you can learn new things from anyone, no matter their role or position. You just have to pay attention and listen.
Moreover, before trying to change what others are doing, you should try to improve what you are doing or what is in your direct control to change. After that, you should go to the next level. In the end, always try to leave a good mark, which means doing your job at your best, no matter your role.
I have been working in the Business Services industry since the beginning of my career. Even if we speak about companies that are delivering outsourcing services or directly in-house departments working with internal teams or suppliers, all roles have something in common: working directly with the customer. In pre-sales, sales, or after-sales services, customer feedback is the most important element, and we need it to be the voice of the customer in the organisation.
My experience with Valoris started quite a long time ago when I worked for a competitor. After that, I worked with Valoris as a supplier, and in the last months of 2017, we started working together. Choosing Valoris was a really easy decision for me:
- First of all, Valoris values people: you are not only an employee but a person who needs to be understood and supported so that you can give your best.
- Then, Valoris is a big company that kept its entrepreneurial spirit and flexibility.
- To add up, Valoris wants to leave a mark – on its employees, partners, and the industry, by focusing on customer excellence and improving day by day.
Moving to my personal life, I have a lovely family, and together with my wife, we are trying to support our kids (a girl of 13 years and a boy of almost six) to grow and become happy adults.
In my free time, I like spending quality time with my family and friends. In the winter, I enjoy skiing with my daughter, and in the summer, I like gardening with my kids.
Looking into the past, I thought many times about what I would have changed or done differently. I concluded that I would not change too much, but for sure, I would be investing more time in learning new technologies.
For the years to come, there are some skills I would like to develop, such as Finance & Strategy, presentation skills, public speaking, and emotional intelligence.
In the end, my advice for young professionals is: if you get into a role, try to do it at your best, as if it was your own company; always keep learning and improving, and do not give up on the first obstacle.