Women of Swarovski - Radi Anguelova

Today we are happy to introduce you to Radi Anguelova, Head of Corporate HR and member of the Swarovski’s Management Board, based in M?nnedorf, Switzerland.

With a very multi-cultural and social background, and an impressive career path in companies such as IBM and Coca-Cola, Radi has escalated the career ladder to become one of our most looked up to women at Swarovski. Very engaged and supportive of the gender equality and women empowerment topics, Radi shares her experience and advice with us. Read more.

Your career, in a few lines.

My educational background is in social psychology with a focus on cross-cultural differences. I started my professional life as a journalist and came to Human Resources by happenstance but quickly realized I had found my calling. Some of the best things in life happen by serendipity.

I spent the last 27 years of my career in HR roles at country, regional and headquarter level in both expert and generalist roles, working for IBM, Coca-Cola, Ecolab and since January 2019 at Swarovski. My career journey afforded me with the great opportunity to live and work in eight countries on four continents. These international experiences taught me a lot both personally and professionally.

One challenge you had to overcome.

Everyone encounters setbacks and adversity at some point in their career. It is important to treat these moments as a learning opportunity. A moment for reflection, but also a catalyst for action, for flexing your approach and problem solving to find a different solution.

For me such a moment was early in my career when I was tasked with an important change management project aiming to design and implement a new performance management system. Keen to make a difference and design a state-of-the-art performance system, I dived into the subject, collected best practices, researched what’s available in the market and in the professional literature. When the work was done, I was convinced I had the best process and solution. What I neglected in the process was to understand why previous systems had failed, what were the issues and problems that needed to be addressed with the new approach, what were the reasons for resistance. The first attempt at implementation failed, but it taught me the need for an inclusive approach, to seek to understand before I seek to change.

The second go at the task addressed the internal challenges in the organization rather than seeking to be best in class on an abstract level, the inclusive approach lowered the barriers of resistance and led to a successful implementation not only in our region but also in many other countries which were not in the original scope.

One advice, or lesson you would like to share with us.

I am extremely grateful to all the mentors (formal and informal) which I have had throughout my career. The advice one of them gave me once has stayed with me over the years: “Remember - career journeys are a long way, and you don’t have to go through it alone.” It is the team and colleagues you work with, the customers, professional networks, and partners you exchange with that make the journey worthwhile and fun. Nurturing those relationships has always been important for me – not just because of what I gained, but equally because of what I was able to contribute and give back. The secret of happiness is in the act of giving.

One other thing that is very important is keeping an open and curious mind and trying to learn something new every day, however small that may be, including learning about oneself, one’s limitations and discovering new passions. A day without learning is a lost day.