2015-Apr-21

Meet the Cisco Poland Team

What's it like to work at Cisco Poland? Watch the video shown at the latest Cisco Beat meeting to find out what makes it such a special place.

You know you're onto something special when even your telecommuting employees prefer to work in the office than work from home. That's how it is for Patrycja Wisniewska, a business operations manager at Cisco Poland.

That outstanding workplace atmosphere is one reason the Great Place to Work Institute recently ranked Cisco Poland the best place to work among midsize companies. Another reason is “Connected Poland”—an employee-driven initiative that helps create a sense of community across all the different teams and organizations.

The initiative provides a wide range of activities for employees to participate in, from parties to soccer teams to Giving Back efforts, both locally and globally. These activities fall under six employee-led pillars—Inclusion & Collaboration, Social Events, Giving Back, Career Development, Sports & Health and Music & Arts. Translation: there's never a dull moment.

The Cisco Poland office opened in 1995 in the capital city of Warsaw. Four years ago, a second office opened in Krakow, about 180 miles to the south. In all, about 1,000 employees are based in Poland, representing over 40 nationalities.

And, of course, it's not all play. Within EMEAR, Cisco Poland is the largest site for services, and the second largest for operations and finance. Among its many different teams and functions are some of our most innovative services centers. There are technical services teams that support the Technical Assistance Center.

Other teams support cloud and managed services, which include the cutting-edge Network Operations Center. Advanced services teams now also include the recently opened Security Operations Center. Due to the proximity to enterprises and public institutions, the majority of the sales force is based in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The team there is working hard to help the country become digital.

Here are a few of the employees who make Cisco Poland such an amazing place to work.

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Katarzyna Zieziula - Operations Manager, Cloud and Managed Services
Nationality: Polish

"One of the things I love about working here is the diversity. There are different cultures and nationalities. We have millennials working side by side with people late in career. That makes the difference. There’s also a lot of work flexibility, which is important for me as a new mom."

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Jakub Kotarba - Business Development Manager, Cloud and Managed Services
Nationality: Polish

"Connected Poland is employee-driven, not run by management or board meetings. We organize Giving Back activities that contribute both locally and globally. We don’t just throw money at things; we actually get involved and that is what makes Cisco different. And now having Time2Give with five days paid leave to volunteer means that we have the ability to make an amazing difference."

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Goncalo Ferreira - HR Relationship Management, Germany
Nationality: Swiss and Portuguese

"My job at Cisco has been my toughest career experience. Cisco expects a lot but gives a lot in return. There’s a lot of trust here. I suggested the need for another football team and was immediately trusted with the money to go set it up. Connected Poland really makes the difference. There are amazing employees who drive it, and they put on great parties, events and activities. I want to give a big thank you to all of them!"

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Patrycja Wisniewska - Business Operations Manager, Localisation and Data Operations
Nationality: British and Polish

"It’s the people who make the difference. The buzz and energy in the office is amazing. In my role I could actually work from home every day, but I go into the office because of the amazing colleagues."

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Ramon Tancinco - Director, Regional IT
Nationality: American

"Our aspiration at Cisco Poland is to connect people so that their diversity of experiences and perspectives can deliver something much bigger than anything they may have done on their own. That’s innovation. Our pollution sensor project is a great example of this. It started out as an idea from our employees but then we took it to a hackathon and unexpectedly the municipality picked it up generating some new sales opportunities. We also connected with a start-up company who is going to take the pollution sensors to market—using Cisco technology."

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Anna Janas – Marketing, Poland
Nationality: Polish

"It's never too early to be taught how technology can change lives. This is why I explain digitization at the Children University in my spare time. The interest and enthusiasm our lectures meet with among the children is the best proof-point!" Click here to read more on Anna.

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Piotr Skirski – Regional Sales Manager, Poland
Nationality: Polish

"I am excited about the opportunity ahead in digitizing Poland. Cisco can help create a digital country that can bring even greater value to Poland and its citizens."

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