Ecaterina Ion, General Manager & HR Leader in Hungary and Romania at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Operations Center
- Tell us a few words about your company, services provided and type of roles you accommodate.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise is the global edge-to-cloud company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all of their data, everywhere. Built on decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way people live and work, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent technology solutions delivered as a service, with a consistent experience across all clouds and edges, to help customers develop new business models and engage in new ways. We have a wide range of roles on the local Romanian offices, starting from Finance, Sales Ops, Marketing, Pointnext and Procurement and global and regional Project Management roles.
- Give us more details about the company’s culture and working vibe/atmosphere.
Our culture at HPE is one that values employees’ lives inside and outside of the office. We are a company that works in vibrant communities, interconnected at international level by the products we offer, with the newest technology for diverse clients like NASA or the partnership with White House in the battle against COVID-19. HPE also works to be a leader as a corporate citizen and impact the communities in which we live and work in a positive way. This commitment is deeply ingrained in our DNA and the HPE team in Romania has a long-standing history of collaboration with local NGOs as well as direct involvement in local business communities, like the role we play in ABSL Romania’s Board since we are one of the founding companies. We encourage team member volunteerism with paid time off specifically for volunteer projects, and we actively encourage our people to serve on the boards of charitable organizations through HPE Gives.
- You know how dynamic our industry is – so what is your strategy to keep your employees engaged, motivated and boost their creativity so they can innovate?
HPE is at the heart of innovation in the IT industry. Innovation is part of our culture’s DNA; on business side there are clear objectives around innovation concept, and we have access to a variety of edge cut trainings, events, leading innovators speakers and technology. Engagement is our culture, the way we connect, what the company stands and does. Candidates come to HPE for the strong brand that we represent and the innovative business we run, but they also choose to fall in love and stay long time with the company because they belong to a large family of employees that have high ethical standards, work on the edge to innovation, have an inclusive and diverse leadership and talent pool and strongly act on sustainability, it is a force of good in the communities. We remain true to our core values offering nothing more or less than respect, authenticity and edge innovation. And this keeps our talent in HPE.
- Tell us more about your diversity and inclusion strategy.
HPE is a leading global force for diversity and inclusion. Our success comes from working together as a team, embracing and celebrating the differences in the end achieving a common goal that benefits our customers and our communities. At HPE, we know that our greatest strengths come from the people who make up our team. So, for us, inclusion and diversity is ingrained in who we are today because we know it’s what will get us to tomorrow. We empower our team members to make an impact on our business and in the world. We foster a culture that is unconditionally inclusive, and in return ask that our people contribute all their differing perspectives, ideas and experiences for one common purpose: to advance the way people live and work. Diversity and inclusion is embedded in our culture, with a focus on delivering trainings on this topic and each team member is educated on the topic via trainings, lots of global events and all people managers should strive to build a diverse team.
- Our industry is well known for the employee’s benefits. Tell us more about the ones that you are offering (maybe something rare or unique).
Since we love innovation we strive to excel when it comes to the wellness and wellbeing of our employees. The compensation & benefits strategy in our company was built around people wellbeing, or global changes (pandemic) and generational preferences. We offer a generous flexible benefits package from fully paid time-off Fridays, extended 6 months Parental leave for both mothers and fathers on top of the local legislation requirements, also new parents have the opportunity to work part time for up to 36 months following the birth or adoption of a child. We center our benefits philosophy on the wellbeing of our employees. HPE Romania offers a large variety of benefits including Employee Assistance Program (24/7 independent counseling and resource service), a hybrid model of working & collaboration, a combination of remote work & in the office time. Every year HPE dedicates a substantial budget to activities that drive wellness, creativity and health improvement activities. The most popular with our employee are workshops on nutrition, metabolism, sleep and general wellbeing or webinars on different topics from sport to managing finances and parenting.
- What did your employees appreciated in your offices and how do you think the working (from the office) environment will change post pandemic? What are the new top features?
The global pandemic has shown us what we already knew — our value isn’t defined by where we work, but how we show up. The energy and mindset we bring to our work, no matter where we sit, is what will help us accelerate what’s next for our customers, partners, and the world. These insights led us to introduce Edge-to-Office, a new program which boldly reimagines the way we work at HPE. It’s a different take on hybrid work – one designed to emphasize that team members are connected no matter where their workplace is located. While so much is changing, our DNA remains the same. We’re not defined by a building and desks. We’re defined by our culture, our purpose, and a desire to deliver for our customers. Also, receiving the first place in the “Business Innovation” section of the ABSL Awards Gala 2021 is a great external validation of the program and its impact.
- Do you ensure career paths to your employees?
In HPE each employee owns and defines their career experiences. There is substantial focus of HPE on the talent programs, technical career paths and diverse talent to support the evolving needs of the business but also to stay tuned to the aspiration and professional goals of our employees. Perhaps the key approach to being successful is the fact that HPE creates the opportunity and environment to bring together the best people, to learn from each other and explore new career options via job shadowing, stretch assignments, job rotations and cross functional projects.
- Is there a channel/web page where people can learn more about your company and career opportunities?
As a top employer we have a responsibility to reach out in community and support those in need. We have a variety of options to bringing our best selves to work and showing up for the communities where we live and work. We are closely partnering with local NGOs making a difference in areas like animal shelters, education, and financial support for those in need. HPE Romania is pioneering alongside other companies and businesses to support people with disabilities joining the workforce., finding a job. These kinds of values are the guiding principles for HPE community. If you want to learn more about us and our company, follow us on https://www.hpe.com/us/en/about/jobs.html.