Bob Block is an American consultant with Block and Associates
Doing business in Poland
PHOTO COURTESY OF MR. BLOCK
BY PARKER SNYDER ALONG WITH CINEMAS, malls, credit cards, celery, charcoal and a whole lot of other western goods taken for granted, there were no limes. In the early 1990s, Poland still had one foot in communism. When Mr. Block went to buy bread, the old lady behind the counter would ignore him while she smoked and kept the store lights off, even at night. Times have changed. Today’s Warsaw is full of supermarkets. At Burberry, a fashion boutique, a pair of shoes will set you back $750. You’ll find plenty of western brands on the market - Tesco, Carrefour, McDonalds, Pepsi, Cadbury and General Motors. OF ALL CHANGES, WHICH STANDS OUT?
Back in 1990, there were no cars. You could drive through the city and never sit in traffic. The only cars on the road were old Polonez or Fiats. Today, you can’t find a parking space. And people are more fashion conscious. You can find Mercedes and BMW on the streets. Bentley just opened a dealership. WHAT WAS IT LIKE WHEN YOU MOVED HERE TO GET THE FIRST CABLE TELEVISION NETWORK STARTED UP?
I arrived 20 years ago. At the time, I was working for Chase International, in a venture called Greenfield. In those days, there was no one who could speak English. If you found an employee who could, you hired them right away. The biggest difference between Poles and American technicians was Americans had loads of experience but little higher education. Poles had PhDs but had never gone to work before. There was a huge need for on the job training,
BUSINESS
When Bob Block moved to Poland in 1990 to get the first cable television company started, there wasn’t even a Polish word for lime. Poles referred to this rare and hard-to-find fruit as a “green lemon.”
and a huge lack of resources. WHAT ELSE WAS DIFFICULT?
Customer service. Back in the 1990s, the concept didn’t exist. We’d have to teach our employees to take responsibility for the customer’s needs. Seems a simple concept, maybe to a westerner, but in Poland, customer service was a completely foreign idea. There was an anecdote I used to tell. In the USA, I told one of my employees, I’m going away on a trip for seven days. I don’t want a single call. Do whatever you do to take care of the customers, no matter what it costs. Well, when I was gone, a storm came through and knocked out a fiber optic line high on top of a mountain. So my manager, listen-
translation: “accountability.” I had to work real hard to install that concept in my employees, in everyone, from upper management to the guy who delivered spare parts. DO YOU THINK IT’S CHANGED? THAT NOW POLES TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY SERIOUSLY?
Well, if I was an drilling operator, I’d work hard to let my pipe supplier know that he is responsible for supplying pipe. So if there is no pipe on the day I go to drill my hole that guy will know he’s responsible. Keep in mind, getting a pipe might take you 24 hours in Texas. In Poland, it could take two weeks. So the last thing you want is excuses for why there’s no pipe. SO WHAT ARE THE POLES’ STRENGTHS?
“Hire a helicoper if you have to. Just get it done.” ing to what I said, hired a helicopter to fix it. When I got back, he said, hey boss, I have good news and bad news, I’ll tell you the good news first. Not a single customer called and complained about their service. Well, then I heard the bad news: $30,000 in expenses that weren’t budgeted for. But you know, I told my employee, you did what I would have done. This was the story I told my Polish managers to let them know that the customer is the most important person in business. AND DID THEY LISTEN?
It was tough. You know, there’s a word that doesn’t really have a Polish
You know, some of my best employees were budget managers. Poles can handle an excel spreadsheet as well as any financial analyst in New York. I think they have an aptitude for making numbers work. What I’ve done in the past is pair all of my employees with a counterpart in North America, so you can channel and focus the talent. Then whomever is responsible, let’s say, for managing an in-country budget, they are directly accountable to a budget manager in the US or Canada. I recommend a pairing system to all my clients. *** BOB BLOCK IS a consultant with Block and Associates. He came to Poland to get the first cable television station started. His clients include Comcast, Siemens and Nestle. He can be contacted at bob@blockassociates. org.
WWW.CLEANTECHPOLAND.COM
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