Anyone who talks to Beata Molska often hears the word "action plan". She uses it mainly to describe new ideas for Xella. But her own life also sounds like an "action plan". "No," she contradicts with a laugh, "that's how it turned out, because everything about people is just so interesting!". She used to work as a physiotherapist for people with disabilities. After that she studied psychology. Now, parallel to her work at Xella, she is doing further training to become a psychotherapist. And somehow she also manages to teach at the same time as a "higher education lecturer" at Kozminski University, the university where she herself did her master's degrees in business psychology and business administration.
Mothers and fathers should have the same opportunities
Beata has energy for two. "But I also had to learn to manage it well," she says. She had her first child when she was young, and today she is already a grandmother. She knows from her own experience the challenge of balancing work and family. "That's why I'm also committed at Xella to ensuring that mothers and fathers have the same opportunities for further training and careers as everyone else," she says.
So it's no surprise that diversity & inclusion is particularly close to Beata's heart. "I love different points of views. Different people can learn so much from each other," she appeals for more openness, "it benefits every person and every company." She calls it: "It's cool to be different". In this sense, she wants to promote talent.
She knows from experience how differently companies and industries think and act: she has already worked for the banks Fortis and ING, the insurer AXA, for the Nestle Group and the parcel service DPD.
Trust and support
Beata then joined Xella in April 2018. Since then, she has been expanding her HR team. "We are all trained psychologists or psychotherapists". That is important to her. Because colleagues at Xella should not be administered, but encouraged by emphatic people and also supported in difficulties. Trust is important to Beata: "Only then do colleagues turn to us in times of crisis and we can help them".
You don't get trust as a gift, you have to work for it. Beata and her team act accordingly every day. They also supported staff during the Corona pandemic, when worries and fears ranged from their own health to keeping their jobs. The pandemic phone did not stand still.
"All of us in the company need to focus our attention even more on mental health," Beata appeals. Too many crises at once bring even the most stable minds to their knees. Our Polish colleagues are feeling the Ukraine war and its consequences very directly. Both countries border on each other. Thousands of Ukrainian refugees are fleeing to the neighboring country. The wave of willingness to help is great in Poland. For Beata, it is a matter of course. "We Xella colleagues have given language lessons to refugees, helped them financially and given them psychological support. But the Xella helpers also need spiritual support in the face of so much need and sorrow. "We are also there for them," says Beata.
Influence and impact
"Impact" is another word she uses often. Because without impact and implementation, all the theory about the importance of mental health, how to deal with stress, no bullying, diversity and inclusion is of no use. "That's why we're also developing anytime webinars for Xella colleagues on our e-learning platform, doing training with our managers and leaders and have introduced our Friday Inspiration Cup." Since the outbreak of the 2020 pandemic, interested colleagues have been exchanging ideas there over a virtual coffee on Fridays. They talk about whatever is on their minds. Emotions, building relationships in the team during remote work, coping with stress, the question of how Xella can implement the topic of circular economy even better.
For her desire for optimal impact, Beata naturally also uses social media. "As a company, we communicate on Facebook and LinkedIn". Her personal LinkedIn account is already followed by more than 10,000 people. Beata Molska also has her own YouTube channel. She is a fisher of men and a woman of conviction.
