Life at Grape Solutions: an interview with our HR Generalist, Patrik Záhonyi

As a member of the HR team, Patrik completes various tasks, from payroll preparation to onboarding new employees. We asked him to tell us more about his weekdays at Grape, what a day in the life of an HR generalist looks like.

Why did you choose to work at Grape Solutions?
When Grape approached me, the idea of a change was already on my mind, I was looking for new challenges and tasks. During the interview, I  received many good reviews about the company and, not incidentally, I felt that there was that little spark of mutual sympathy from both sides throughout the process. Everyone was extremely proactive and helpful. I knew that I would be able to use the knowledge I had already acquired here and with the help of my colleagues I could further expand my professional knowledge. 

How does your role look at Grape, and how would you describe it in one sentence?
As HR Generalist, I enrich the Grape HR team. I have a wide range of responsibilities, from preparing and managing payroll to onboarding and offboarding new (and old) colleagues. In addition to all this, I assist with a lot of things that happen in between - answering colleagues' questions on a day-to-day basis - be it labour law or anything else, organisational development, and improving our own processes - which we already have. 

What skills do you think are needed for your position?
As my work is built around people, I believe that patience and empathy are essential, not to mention good communication. Precision, time management, reliability and discretion are also very important - given that 80% of my work involves sensitive information - and critical thinking, as not everything that glitters is gold. 

How can you motivate and develop yourself at Grape?
I have a favourite "quote": , "Work smarter, not harder." This is the mentality I always start with when I face a new or old process. Can it be better, faster, easier? I really like to think and brainstorm about these things. And from my HR colleagues, I gain insights into the most diverse areas of HR and find it a great opportunity to help them with tasks I haven't had the chance to do before. 

What are the three things that made you proud during your time at Grape?
My first real success story was the reform of the onboarding process, which we managed to implement together with our HR Business Partner. Here, we redesigned the process and created an onboarding "knowledge base" for incoming colleagues, where they can find all the contact details, things to know, things to do and information to make their first days run more smoothly. As I've been enriching the team for about six months now, I feel very good that I've managed to gain the trust of my colleagues in such a short time, and they feel free to contact me if they have any problems/requests. Finally, thanks to my colleagues here, I am also proud to be part of Grape! 

Why would you advise others to join us?
If you want to work in a place where your professional development and progression depends on how many years you have spent in the company and not on how much you have contributed professionally and how you have contributed to the company, if you like to go to work with a stomach cramp every day, if you don't need a modern working environment and great colleagues..... then we are not looking for each other. Otherwise, Grape is waiting for you! :)