Katarzyna T. - Senior HR Director

Title: Senior HR Director, Poland & Global Operations
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Joined: 4/1/2016 (on her birthday!)
Preferred Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Katarzyna talks about building great teams in Poland and recognizes some of the strong female leaders at Groupon. And if you see her on April Fool’s, be sure to wish her happy birthday *and* a happy Groupon anniversary!

How are you staying connected with your team as we’re all working remote?

At the beginning of the remote work we were connecting daily with the entire team for ½ hour to make sure that we maintain that office-feel of being updated with everything that was going on. With time, we switched to meeting twice a week, and then to weekly team updates. What works well is, that apart from team meetings and regular 1-on-1s, we also have ad-hoc connections or phone calls as needed. Since the Poland offices are open for those who want to come, we try to designate one day/week to meet with the local team. It's been such a good and refreshing feeling to see all the familiar faces live 😊.

You’ve been at Groupon for 5 years. What about the company has kept you here?

I really love that feeling of having an impact on what and how we do things here at Groupon. Since I joined, lots of things have changed and I learned a lot during the process, because I was a part of that change. Also, there is something unique about people working at Groupon. Even now, with the remote work, we managed to maintain that team spirit. 

How has your experience in other roles helped you in your current position?

My first ever professional jobs were in sales and marketing. I think this is why I always relate to business needs while working on HR plans and agenda. The needs and specifics of different business functions is really important for the HR team to be aware of, and allows them to provide the most relevant and efficient tools, programs and everyday advisory. 

How have you grown since joining Groupon?

I have been promoted 3 times so far since joining Groupon 😃. I had an opportunity to expand my responsibilities beyond managing HR in one country. Now, the team I work with are based in Poland, Spain and India. This adds so much complexity and diversity of topics and ways of working and collaboration.

Favorite pre-Covid activity you can’t wait to get back to?

I usually go to a lot of live music events, mainly rock music. We haven’t seen many international acts in my part of Europe since Covid, so I just can’t wait to see Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Alanis Morissette, Bob Dylan, St. Vincent and many more as soon as they play here again. I still keep the tickets for all those cancelled shows from 2020 and 2021, hoping that I will be able to use them soon.

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given?

To be true to yourself and build on your strengths. I am convinced that once you discover what you are good at, you should always push yourself to excel in it and not necessarily concentrate on other things so much. 

What’s your favorite Groupon memory?

In 2017 we had a visit of entire European Leadership Team (Julie Szudarek, President of International, and her direct reports) who spent half a day shadowing our Customer and Merchant Service Agents and Team Leaders and couldn’t get over what excellent teams we have here in Poland!

What was your first impression of Groupon?

That it feels like home. My first days at Groupon were a good sample of how our life here looks like: everything happened really fast, people were great and helpful and so I managed to shorten my on-boarding from one month to one week. Talk about efficiency!