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Minsk, Belarus – Lola Trapsh, Country Manager for Belarus gave an earnest interview to Kyky.org, a Belorussian online magazine with unconventional opinions on business and hot topics covering Minsk and Belarus.

The interview was in Russian, and below you will find a short excerpt translated in English. 

KYKY: What about the international candidates - are they willing to move and work in Belarus? What attracts them here?

Lola Trapsh: Yes, actually recently, foreigners are looking for opportunities to come here. Our market does not produce sufficient number of experts due to the fact that there are very few successful companies with long-standing history here, and very few managers have work experience in such successful systems. At the same time foreigners can offer such international experience and knowledge. After all, if the wheel is already invented, why reinvent it? A good example here in Belarus is the retail sector. Companies, that attracted foreign managers see almost immediate positive effect. In more mature markets, however, it would take them three or more years and much larger budgets to achieve similar results. Thus, managers like our developing market, where their experience is in demand and the status is high.

KYKY: How long should a top manager work in one place to remain effective? The common belief is that top management should change, otherwise the company will suffer.

Lola Trapsh: "Should" is an overstatement. However, just like there is an "actor of one role", so in business one can become a hostage of a company. At some point, his genetic code is so adjusted to the company that he will not be able to work effectively anywhere else. Why change anything if he and the company are doing fine? We need to weigh the risks well and understand whether a manager will want to change anything after working for 45 years in one place. What if in the course of his tenure a company was experiencing growth, merging with other businesses and overcoming crisis successfully? It has already been a dynamic experience. The main question is whether they just spent their time or were actually effective?

KYKY: Many complain that women still earn less, and few are promoted to top positions. Is it true?

Lola Trapsh: It is not true. Maybe women earn less, but they put these restrictions themselves. In my experience I have not seen true gender inequality. If a company really wants to hire a professional, they will pay what she asked. The only problem is that men are asking for more than women.

For the past five years, European companies have been striving to balance their boards of directors and promote women. This is a matter of balance, not even gender. It's just that men and women have different approaches to solving issues. On the one hand, women are multitasking, and can dive deep into details. On the other hand, men are single-tasked and prefer strategy. Roughly speaking, a man is interested in making a big deal, and a woman can make ten small ones with the same result. These are different approaches - and when these people meet on the boards of directors, the system works better.

This year in our market there were many programs for the development of women's leadership and entrepreneurship. I have an ambivalent attitude to this: it's wonderful that there is so much effort aimed at this. However, we say that there is no inequality, yet for some reason, single women out and train them extensively, emphasising that they still have a lot to learn. It seems to me that nothing highlights the differences more than a separate approach in anything.

Follow the link under the article to read the full version (Russian language)

Lola Trapsh is the Country Manager for Belarus at Pedersen & Partners. Before joining the firm in 2010, Ms. Trapsh was the Director of another Executive Search firm in Belarus, and had built a strong career in the HR Management and Executive Search functions at various senior level positions.

Pedersen & Partners is a leading international Executive Search firm. We operate 56 wholly owned offices in 52 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia & the Americas. Our values Trust, Relationship and Professionalism apply to our interaction with clients as well as executives. More information about Pedersen & Partners is available at www.pedersenandpartners.com

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