As soon as Tomasz Banach walks into a room, you can feel the energy shift. The Recruitment Coordinator at Directio has a contagious enthusiasm for connecting talented individuals with the right opportunities. “I don’t run a sales team, you know,” he says with a spark in his eye. “Here, we’re not about selling people to projects or projects to people. Our goal is to find a person and a job that are a match made in heaven. And when we bring them together, it’s magic.” Precisely this approach has earned him a reputation of the ultimate matchmaker in the IT industry.
Tomasz Banach’s journey began in a small town of Chełm in Eastern Poland. He studied HR management and sociology in Lublin and received his first paycheck at a local agency where he recruited workers for blue collar positions. All the while, he had big dreams and was preparing himself to act on them. After gaining some experience, he moved to Warsaw with a goal to make his mark on the business milieu of the bustling Polish capital city. Here, he met Angelo Pressello, a US expat entrepreneur and the CEO of Directio. “From the get-go I had a sense, that Angelo was something different,” says Tomasz. “Back then, I had no idea how much his unique laid-back style of creating business opportunities and turning them into successful ventures would influence my own professional attitude.”
Tomasz’s first stint at Directio did not last long, however, and after just three months, when he received an offer from one of the biggest specialist recruitment agencies in town, he decided to give it a go and jumped in at the deep end of Warsaw’s equivalent of the Wall Street hustle and bustle. Here, he gained invaluable experience in a hectic and competitive working environment and at the same time learned more about himself and his own aspirations. Regarding his return to Directio, he reflects: “I made a deal with Angelo that one day I’ll be back to create my very own recruitment team at his company. With the rapid growth of Directio the stars finally aligned for us and at the end of 2020, I opened the most exciting chapter in my adventure of a recruitment coordinator”.
Directio, the Polish-based IT consulting and software development company with branches in North America and Southeast Asia has a unique organizational culture and Tomasz, as a leader of a team of four, makes the most of it. His style of management is based on trust and the human element. As a great proponent of the hybrid work model, Tomasz wants his team members to enjoy a good work-life balance with maximal satisfaction and performance on both the life and the work parts of the equation. He believes that micromanaging kills creativity and initiative. While Tomasz focuses on forging close relationships with Directio’s clients to understand their specific problems, his team hunts for the best talents on the market to provide him with tailored solutions. “We don’t work in a traditional way,” he explains. “My management style relies on giving people the freedom to do their best work. It’s a model that works for us and it’s something I’m proud of.”
Tomasz’s approach to recruitment is equally unique, and it centres around his philosophy of matching people and projects. As he explains: “Recruiting is not just about filling a position, it’s about finding the perfect fit. We take the time to get to know both the client and the candidate and use a customized approach to ensure that the match is a good one. Skills, experience, and money are, of course, crucial elements, but they’re not be-all and end-all. Personality, work style, and mindset are often what makes or breaks a relationship. My team’s responsibility is to ensure that everything clicks.”
Tomasz’s own story is that of finding his own path and discovering a place where he can create value while staying true to himself. He wants the same for both his team members and the people he hires for Directio and its clients. “At the end of the day, it’s all about people,” says Tomasz. “Whether it’s managing my team or securing talents for our clients, the winning formula stems from relationships, understanding, and mutual respect. After all, we’re a community of people working towards shared goals. That’s the road to mutual success and that’s what makes Directio such a special place to be a part of.”