How It Started and Who Is Who?
If we had done this interview a few years ago, we’d probably have met in one of the offices, or at any resto-bar in Cracow with an atmosphere conducive to such an initiative. But the last few years have taught us that geographical distance isn’t a problem, and that’s why now we’re talking with each other via the Internet. We see each other’s faces on the screens and hear well-known voices through the earphones.
Meet Kinga Przeździecka and Kamila Dybeł – two women responsible for the Internal Mobility Program at Codete. As they say: “we help the employees find projects tailored to their abilities, and keep developing all the time. And kilometers don’t matter in Internal Mobility, either.”
D.M.: How did Internal Mobility come to life, and what it really is?
Kinga: This idea came to life around September-October 2021. I have been working at Codete for only a few weeks then, and we’ve started to grow rapidly. Starting from 50 employees at the beginning of Codete, we’ve grown up to 250, thus as a result, the need for coordinating mobility within the company increased as well. In response to the employees needs, together with Tomek Pyko [COO of Delivery – editor’s note] we got an idea of giving Codeters the possibility of moving between the projects and broadening their horizons.
As the first goal, we’ve established Internal Mobility, in order to provide our Codeters with a continuous growth, ensuring a smooth transfer from one project to another.
Last but not least, I’m currently working on establishing a regular cooperation with all departments at Codete, so we can kill 2 birds with one stone by developing mini projects within Codete, which will be supported by those who await a new project.
Kamila: Exactly, like Kinga said, we emphasize it whenever it’s possible: working at Codete also means searching for new challenges and projects, so if me or Kinga call any of the employees, it does not mean the end of our mutual “adventure” or termination of the contract. On the contrary, it’s a signal that we do our best to keep our talented and experienced employees as engaged and, at the same time – satisfied, as possible.
D.M.: Where did the idea for this project come from? Have you ever worked with such an initiative before?
Kinga: In October 2021, I volunteered to design and launch the Internal Mobility Program. At this moment, we gather not only those who are on “in between” status (awaiting the project), but also those who’d like to change their career path. For Codeters who are ready to exchange their knowledge and experience with other colleagues, we’ve also established a Codete Mentorship Program.
Now, as for my experience – my 2 core areas cover Tech Recruitment and building Processes from scratch. The tech world is definitely my “cup of tea” in many aspects, but the Internal Mobility per se is definitely something completely new to me.
Kamila: Codete is my first serious IT job, even if before I used to take care of people management and creating small teams. Working here means setting up large-scale projects, and it makes me proud, because I still consider myself as a young employee who has been given a lot of responsibility.
Kinga: Since the beginning, Kamila and I have built an exceptionally harmonious duo. As a result, we have the space to create and keep testing various ideas and turn them into solutions.
Our goal is to establish and build relations with our Codeters while coordinating the project search as effectively as possible, and at the same time – find a way to utilize the free time they have, so it is not lost.
Unlike in a so-called “corporation”, at Codete we intend to build the Internal Mobility Program based on the actual expectations of this initiative’s participants, alongside our business needs. Frankly speaking, this approach differentiates us from our competitors, and I am personally glad that we all have been given the space to shape it in a way that gives us all room for growth.
D.M.: What’s Kamila’s, and what’s Kinga’s role? How do they differ from each other?
Kamila: My role is mostly to keep in touch with all Codeters who are part of the Program, who would like to change their career path. I’m responsible for gathering their experiences and expectations. I’m doing my best to make all the Codeters feel that Internal Mobility is only temporary, but still a very effective solution for them, and Codete is the best place to work. That’s why I’m in constant touch with Internal Mobility participants, and I am happy to get updates about their expectations, feedback, possibilities, and needs. That’s all that lets us find the best possible project for them.
Kinga: Precisely – Kamila’s role in Internal Mobility is strategic, and it’s all about taking care of the information flow between Codeters and both the Delivery and Sales departments. We cover a wide variety of requests and complex tasks on a daily basis, thus it’s crucial to keep all the Internal Mobility members updated about their current status. That’s the only way we can build a company that is really tailored to the employees’ needs and expectations. Moreover, Kamila also takes an active part in the recruitment interviews, and she takes care of updating information on the Codeters’ professional profiles (our, Codete version of CVs).
As for humble me, I cover the Internal Mobility Program design on the process side.
You can compare me to a helicopter pilot who keeps hovering somewhere high up and watching what’s going on. “How to work the most comfortably, easily, but also as effectively as possible?” — that’s the question I’m trying to answer every day in the context of growth at Codete.
I’m also focused on the cooperation with different Codete departments (naming only a few – Consulting, R&D, Recruitment, Marketing) so we can diagnose what our Codeters with some time on their hands can do to help out and contribute to their growth. In short, we’re all trying to figure out how people “on the bench” could use their competencies and skills to help out the company and get satisfaction from it.
Last but not least, my job is also to keep in touch with the Employer Branding team and Techie’s community at Codete [network of IT experts and enthusiast built around Techie's Space, an initiative that lets them exchange their knowledge and experience – editor’s note] – and these are two areas that I’d still like to develop further.
You can read the next parts of the interview here:
- Internal Mobility Behind the Scenes #2
- Internal Mobility Behind the Scenes #3 [coming soon!]
