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Meet Zuzana Gálisová, IWG community manager for Slovakia

Reading time:  3 Minutes

From zoology to building a thriving client base, Regus helped Zuzana Gálisová find her workplace passion

 

Zoology might seem a long way from helping to run one of Regus’s shared workspace operations in her home country, but that’s what Zuzana Gálisováteam lead community manager for Slovakia, originally studied.  

“I spent most of my life in the capital of Slovakia (Bratislava) and Im a fan of our stunning nature and the diversity of this region and country in general,” says Gálisová. lover of travel and food, which she combines to pursue a rather exciting and altogether potentially very tasty hobby of food tourism, when she finished her studies, Gálisová wanted to find a job that would fit with her global outlook. 

“It was my very first interview ever,” she says of her Regus experience. “Luckily, I found the perfect job for me at the very first shot!” 

Zuzana Gálisová, IWG community manager for Slovakia

When she started the role back in 2013, she says she was a blank page but was ready to learn everything from scratch. Responsibility came unexpectedly and quickly  when a colleague who’d guided her during the early days moved on, Gálisová was entrusted to start using her own judgement and take on more responsibilities, enabling her to develop her leadership and coaching skills.  

“I started to feel confident in my role and I did enjoy the feeling that anything that gets in the way of our clients’ satisfaction can be resolved,” she says. Theresolution for every problem.” 

As well as her own personal and professional growth, the last six years Gálisová has spent at Regus have seen the company’s national presence grow, too, something she feels has been a hugely exciting time. “I consider myself lucky,” she says. I had the chance to be a part of IWG/Regus growth in Bratislava. When I joined the company, there was only one centre managed by four team members. Today we maintain four centres and ten people.”  

Variety is very much the spice of life now for Gálisová, with new clients and events, as well as different challenges on the agenda and problems to solve. “Together with the variety of the daily tasks I frequently deal with newly raised issues,” she says. “Whether its a new centre opening, hiring and coaching of new colleagues or sales support activities, every step up to new job position brings new challenges. For me, the latest challenge was to improve my coaching skills, which are related closely to my current position as team lead community manager.”  

For anyone looking to join Regus, Gálisová recommends having a positive and professional attitude, as well as being client-oriented.  

Flexible working is fast becoming a new normal for many companies and individuals, with Regus’s growth in recent years helping to service this new global culture. As well as helping to provide it to clients, flexible working is something Regus is able to offers its own staff, too.  

“I travel a lot around the business centres, so I consider myself as flexible worker, too,” explains Gálisová. use the same model that we offer to the potential clients so, when I need privacy, I use the private office. When I need to socialise, I work in the business lounge and have a chat with the community members. When I expect a visitor, I use a meeting room  there’s no need to keep all of these permanently.” 

Asked what her tips are for building a thriving business community at a centre, she says the answer is to make staff and clients feel as if they’re all working towards a common goal – that of creating a thriving, enjoyable and productive place to work. “We don’t want it to be about ‘us’ (the staff) and ‘them’ (the clients), but just about all of us,” she says.  

“Once we manage to involve the clients, then we’ve achieved our goal. We include the clients at every step, organising events, sharing news. Even small talk in the kitchen can be a good idea: getting their feedback about their experience, even sharing little pieces of our personal lives, so we aren’t just faces behind a screen and clients aren’t just anonymous figures who pass by our desk. A customer who’s having a great day at work, who’s been recognised and listened to, is the community we are trying to build.” 

 

Could working for Regus be the next step for you?