In our #PeopleOfAccace series, we will take you behind the scenes of Accace through interviews with our colleagues. You will find out how new services and solutions are created, who has been with Accace the longest and what positions they went through over the years. But most importantly, you will get to know our amazing people.

In our next interview, we spoke with our Operation Director Simona Dimov, who joined Accace 15 years ago as an Office Assistant and has worked her way up to one of the leadership positions in Accace Slovakia.

You started your career at Accace as an Office Assistant. Can you tell us more about your beginnings and the positions you have held since then?

From my beginnings in administrative and assistant positions, which were a very useful school for understanding the culture, functioning, systems, and direction of the company up to project/account management – it was a challenge for me full of hard work, motivation, constant learning, and the urge to move forward; but also doubts about my own abilities, fears of failure and soundness of some decisions. Of course, the way things worked in a small company 15 years ago, where there was a family atmosphere full of close relationships, sense of belonging and mutual help, has changed with the growth of the company. However, this is understandable given the size of the company, the intensity of today’s world and of course a different mentality and the new generation entering the labour market.

Accace is still a place for everyone, both for fulfilling professional goals, as well as for friendships and exceptional relationships with clients, while following the direction in terms of modernization and digitalization of the era. And undoubtedly, with a great emphasis and orientation on helping people in need, on the development of young talents and on the necessary support for the planet.

Every day in this company, most of the colleagues I had the opportunity to work with, or every client, taught me something new and pushed me forward. I am immensely grateful and proud to be part of this team, whose very essence is set in a way to create space for our growth in terms of our abilities and ambitions. Everyone who has been and is in Accace’s leadership has been supportive of progress, innovation, and new ideas coming from employees. I have to emphasise this approach and draw attention to it.

The company’s management has always trusted my abilities (TRUST), taught me a lot and helped me immensely in my professional direction (COOPERATION), supported me in the most beautiful life steps, as well as in the most difficult periods of my private life, which is not a matter of course for every employer, and for which I will always be very grateful (COMMITMENT), and this has always been the start of the activity in me to do the best possible work in this company again and again (PASSION).

Accace is doing an amazing work and I am proud to have been a part of it for years, and even more so that I can now participate in the decisions and further direction of Accace from my new position.

Speaking of your new position, you recently became Operation Director. What does it entail and what is your daily agenda?

The name of this new position already suggests that it is about the operational management of the company, i.e., setting up a systematic and efficient operation of the company with the aim of implementing new and improving existing processes, essential internal rules for the further “healthy” future of the company, and undoubtedly with respect to the satisfaction of both clients and employees. Of course, at the company’s beginnings was its primary focus on business, expanding the service portfolio, and improving its visibility on the Slovak market. Operational management was than not such an essential part, and the focus on this area was directed a bit later. Of course, I do not mean to say that it has been completely neglected so far, but at a certain point, it is already necessary to pay more attention to it and to focus on it in more detail.

My long-term presence in the company, information and active interest related to the functioning of our company, or close cooperation with Peter, Managing Director of Accace Slovakia, naturally prompted the creation of this position and added another piece to my “Accace puzzle”, which has been building for several years and gives my direction another dimension. I highly value this new role and believe that I can, in cooperation with other colleagues, help the company move to another level in terms of internal operation, which in my view has an enormous impact both on employees and the business side of any company. However, I accept this new challenge with respect and belief that it was a good decision both for me as well as for the company. Since I would lack the contact with clients and with business, I keep taking care of some of my key clients with whom I have been working for several years already. So again, as in most periods of my work at Accace, I can flexibly meet every aspect of my ambitions, and in this approach Accace is a TOP employer.

What would you tell people considering working at Accace?

If you are ambitious, have career dreams, skills, and necessary knowledge for the work in the field in which Accace operates, if you are not afraid of intensive work and you like innovations, then you should join us!

However, Accace is not for people who want to work their 8 hours without enthusiasm and proactivity and just have some job. The culture here is set up differently, very dynamically, and many of us have been living with this company for several years and Accace blood flows in their veins.

How do you spend your free time?

There is not much of it, so I try to spend as much time as possible with family, friends, with a good book and trips of various kinds, since even in my private life I cannot sit still and be inactive.

What do only a few people know about you (so far)?

I am an adrenaline type, and I am increasingly attracted to adrenaline activities (i.e., I recently tried tandem skydiving). I have also been an incorrigible road pirate since forever. At the same time, oddly enough, I seek some peace and I enjoy gardening and being in touch with nature, which is obviously deeply rooted in me, since I grew up in a village, and I try to spend as much time as possible there.