A significant chapter of my professional life has come to an end – yesterday was my last day as Global HR Manager at Bunker Partner. It has been an incredible experience, full of challenges, growth, and discoveries that I would like to share.
Three years ago, I started as a freelance recruiter and could never have imagined that this job would lead me to one of the most meaningful roles of my career. When I joined Bunker Partner, the company was a small team of 8 people working in two countries. Today, there are more than 80 employees across seven countries: Greece, Cyprus, UAE, Singapore, Denmark, Germany, and Estonia. The growth has been remarkable, but the most important thing is the team. Working with such professionals—kind, witty, and ambitious—has been an absolute pleasure.
One of the most exciting yet challenging aspects of my role has been working with people from such diverse cultural backgrounds. In our company, we have employees from 15 different nationalities!
Each team member brought their own habits, work styles, perspectives, and different approaches to work. For example, employees from Ukraine and Russia, even those who have lived abroad for many years, demonstrated a high level of discipline and result-orientation. However, their communication style was very different from that of the Greeks or even Russian-speaking Estonians, who, despite sharing a common language, had a completely different working style. The highly organized Singaporean colleagues, with their focus on accuracy and a structured approach to any task, stood in stark contrast to the more flexible and creative methods I observed in my European colleagues.
Communication styles varied not only due to language barriers but also because of cultural differences. For instance, some nationalities preferred direct communication, while others valued a more delicate and indirect approach. I still remember how a Greek colleague taught me the art of small talk, as he thought I moved too quickly to the point 🙂
Working in such a multicultural environment requires HR to understand each individual’s perspective, create conditions where everyone feels comfortable, regardless of cultural differences. These differences not only made my job more complex but also incredibly interesting. Every day I learned something new—about people, work approaches, and, most importantly, how essential respect for cultural differences is for a team to function as one.
Of course, saying goodbye to such colleagues is not easy. Each one of them inspired me to grow and improve, and I will miss them.
This role has been both a real challenge and an invaluable experience for me. The shipping industry was completely new to me, and attracting talented professionals proved to be a complex but exciting task. I had to build HR processes from scratch, select and implement software for colleague search, such as TeamDash, and implement the HiBob HR management system. I also developed internal policies and studied labor laws in six countries.
When I started, I didn’t have much practical experience in HR—I came from the banking sector. But my education and individual HR projects gave me the confidence that I could handle any challenge. And indeed, it turned out to be true, and the experience was invaluable. Each year in this dynamic environment felt like three in terms of experience, learning, and professional growth.
I am truly grateful to the owners of Bunker Partner for their trust and for allowing me to focus on what I believe is the most important aspect of any business—people.
This chapter of my career has concluded, but a new one awaits. I look forward to the future and am ready for new and exciting opportunities.