BELONG To People

Much More than a Manager

• WORK
• CAREER

Inside Teddy creativity is not just an asset of those designing clothing, the visual design of shop windows or managing the corporate coordinated image of the many corporate brands. Creativity is hidden in what may seem the “coldest” and unimaginable places, where figures and regulations rule, which also keep changing all the time. Stefano is proof of that. When a “creative” ironically comments about the supposed compliance and monotony of his job, he gets heated and is right to. He himself is a pioneer who had to “make up” alternative ways to reach the goal even before signing his first employment contract with the Company, where he now works as Administration Manager.

“My interview was ok. Renata Saragoni, one of the first employees at Teddy who was the head of the administration department at that time, made a great impression on me: she was professional but at the same time kind and emphatic”, he recalls. “A way of being that I later discovered belonging to many inside Teddy.  Anyway, after some weeks from the interview, I had not received any call yet and I was very disappointed about that, because I was confident it was the right company for me!” 

So one day, instead of keeping waiting, Stefano got his courage and went straight to Teddy headquarters. At the reception desk he asked for Renata and, when she came out, he explained her that he had many other job offers on his plate and needed to get a feedback on the job as soon as possible. Caught by surprise, Renata hesitated a bit and then replied: “Well then, you’ll start next Monday”.

Stefano joined the administration department under the direction of Renata: he was 27, with a background as a football player, a degree in Economics, and a true passion for accounting and tax management. The first years he managed the takings of the franchised stores and later sized the great opportunity to leave a mark leading an important process, the internationalization of tax accounting, which had been managed by external suppliers until then. A long-term project that required patience, study and an inevitable dose of creativity.

“Even though I was young and inexperienced, the Company trusted me thus giving me the opportunity to grow and make mistakes. I think this one is one ofthe most beautiful characteristics of Teddy work environment. There is not a too-strict and hierarchical structure and in some ways the opinion of everyone matters. I still remember my first years working at the company, when Vittorio used to pop into the office and ask me: “What do you think about that?” and I had just been employed. It is difficult to leave a work environment like that. Therefore, I often repeat to younger people, who may have ambition to grow, that they need to give always their best in any situation. There might not be room to prove your skills at the moment, maybe there will be later and you need to be ready”.