Roxana Colisniuc

Let’s get the terminology straight. What does your job entail?
People see it as a tool for good. They’re not wrong, but the Sustainability or CSR approach is a meeting point between the inside of a company (business needs, challenges) and the outside world (society, the environment). For instance, creating an IT educational programme serves the educational system and the adolescents who get to experience a practical approach to engineering. It also serves our company, since the programme contributes to the formation of new generations of engineers that our business needs.

Do you find it rewarding?
It’s easy to stay motivated since I can see the result of my work pretty quickly: a successful fundraising campaign, a drop in our CO2 emissions, high attendance in an educational workshop with actionable information. And then I find myself wanting more: more funds, a greater CO2 reduction and so on. Maximising the potential of any given initiative keeps me on my feet.

What if you don’t do your job well? What happens then?
Social projects are a chance for us to give back. If we do nothing, we may see slight decline in reputation or employer branding. The social results are a drop in an ocean – a drop changes the place it lands, but not the entire landscape.

So, the consequences are not catastrophic, but this doesn’t stop us from gladly taking on the work. Doing nothing is not an option that ING Hubs Romania has ever considered.

Do you ever feel like you fail?
We all do at times. One of the projects I believed in was not approved by the Sustainability Board. At first, I thought I didn’t do a good enough job to convince them and it felt like a personal loss. But I trusted the Board and accepted that my vision did not align with the company’s in that matter. I went on to volunteer in the project and contribute as an individual.

This couldn’t have been your dream job as you were growing up since it wasn’t really seen as a job. What was?
I wanted to be a flight attendant and see the world. Nowadays I try to convince my colleagues to fly less, since aviation is one of the most polluting sectors in the company’s way of doing business. How’s that for irony?

Job vs personal life – is it a struggle?
The right balance to me is having the mental space to do my best at work and in my personal life. And I have that here. It’s not about how many hours you spend on your laptop, it’s about the quality of your work. The flexibility I enjoy allows me to be present in my son’s life and raise a well-rounded child, and that’s priceless.

What do you bring to your team and how do you see them?
I bring a lot of chatter, a can-do attitude, humour and (un)solicited information on the intricacies of my field. I admire them for caring about their work and giving to it because it adds meaning to who they are. They are funny, can contain emotion, and know how to enjoy life. Who wouldn’t want to work alongside people like that?