Csaba Gyarmati’s journey to iStyle Regional CEE manager
Csaba Gyarmati, Regional Manager of iSTYLE for Central Eastern Europe, was recently interviewed in depth by Roman Nováček of Epico for the first ‘APR Talk’ podcast. Talking with Roman, Csaba explored key aspects of how his career has developed, including how the IT and the tech sector have changed over the years and the intricacies of developing and managing teams of high standing.
The first minutes of the interview covered the early years of Csaba’s career which included his time working within the FMCG industry, which he says formed a really important foundation for his profession.
Csaba found the move across from FMCG to the tech sector quite a culture change: “In the technology industry, the yearly new devices, the big fluctuations between the market share of the producers, the constant innovations, were all very new to me and it was very, very interesting to get used to that kind of working environment.”
Roman asks Csaba if he realized early on that Apple was going to build into the biggest tech company in the world. Csaba didn’t necessarily feel it, he says: “What I did sense at that time about the company was that there was a very strong vision behind what they’re doing. There was strong execution, there was very strong attention to detail, and there was a high level of perfection in whatever they did – whether it is product, whether it is marketing, or just building their presence.”
Roman asks Csaba if there was something that he learned in those companies and cultures that he is trying to replicate now at iSTYLE? “They really had a profound, profound impact, yes. I think one very important asset is the people. The first aspect of the people side of things is that the team need to work with the best. So that is very important – that the business output is only as good as the weakest point in your organization.”
“And the other thing is that those people need to work as a team. And that’s super important – and that also has another component in that they need to have a vision, and need to have some alignment – I really call this alignment. When we all go for reaching certain targets, we all go for reaching certain goals, and the more we are aligned in this, the more we understand.”
The interview was in two parts – first part on video and accessible via LinkedIn, and the second part via Spotify or Apple Podcasts. In the second part of the interview, Roman asks Csaba more about his management style, and in this part of the chat, Csaba explained how he and his team have developed their own approaches to recruitment via trial days. Csaba also talks about the difficulty – and importance – of finding a good work-life balance.
There’s much more to learn in the whole interview about Csaba Gyarmati and his career and views on management, technology and how business success might come, in future, from a mix of online and real-world retail.
