Helping the Business to Transform: A Story from a People Advisory Specialist

Mariia joined EPAM back in her homeland of Ukraine. Together with her spouse, she was thinking about relocating to the Netherlands for some time. The war in Ukraine accelerated her relocation, and in 2022, she joined EPAM's People team to support its employees in the Netherlands.

What are your responsibilities as Sr. People Advisory Specialist?

The main thing we do in People Advisory is support business units in people processes. I work with EPAM's managers to help improve the employee experience and ensure that they understand EPAM's processes and can access all information they need. One of the recent big projects I've been involved in is our people survey which tracks employee feedback. We analyze this feedback and initiate business changes that serve our colleagues and promote their initiatives and suggestions. In a nutshell, we act as a bridge between the people and the business of EPAM.

How would you describe EPAM culture?

EPAM culture is about achieving results with a focus on human needs. At EPAM, I’ve met the most productive people I've ever worked with, with the most ambitious results. I agree with our CEO, Arkadiy Dobkin, when he says: "We're building value creation networks, not hierarchies." Regardless of our company scale, there is always a way for EPAMers to find the assignments to realize their potential and fulfill their needs. And my relocation to the Netherlands is a great illustration of this. 

As People Advisory, could you tell which people would be a good fit for EPAM?

At EPAM, we have this formula: Hungry, Humble, (People) Smart. This combination of personality characteristics ensures a good team player. To feel comfortable as part of the EPAM team, one must be ambitious, and willing to achieve more (hungry) because EPAM's goals are ambitious too. One must also be aware that it's impossible to achieve these ambitious goals on your own and we must collaborate, help others and be ready to ask for help (humble). And one must be smart, attentive to people's needs, respectful and emotionally intelligent. 

What are the key challenges of working at EPAM?

EPAM's mission is to help enterprises adapt to market challenges. This means that every EPAM employee should be flexible and easily adapt to change. To maintain our leadership, we must always evolve and anticipate future challenges.

Could you please tell us about your personal project, Chernihiv Renovation Fund?

We started as a group of volunteers who wanted to help people in Chernihiv.  It all began with building a network of humanitarian aid under extreme circumstances, and after Chernihiv got freed, we transformed it into a construction project. I lived in Chernihiv for several years, so I have a lot of friends here. Together with my friends, we introduced a special cost-efficient building technology to enable faster recovery of destroyed housing in the area by the residents themselves. EPAM also supported this project. Currently, we have one pilot house, and we hope that more houses will be built. We also supply existing houses (that weren't destroyed but plundered) with furniture, and other supplies provided by our Dutch partners. 

If you feel inspired by Mariia's story and Chernihiv Renovation Fund, please learn more and donate: https://www.chenetwork.org.ua/

Interested in joining EPAM? Please check out our current job opportunities here: https://www.epam.com/careers