This month, our colleague Josipa Gospić is celebrating a round anniversary – 10 years in the company! On that occasion, we asked her a few questions!
You came to the company as a student? Has there been a love for cars before?
I inherited my love for traffic and all forms of transport from my father, who taught me everything about car engines from an early age. Therefore, it is not surprising that I got a job as a student at the then AMC, and today the ORYX Rent a car. I was in my final year of second college when I became an administrator. By the way, I am an aeronautical engineer by profession and a graduated traffic engineer. Ten years later, I am currently the Deputy Director of ORYX Rent a car and the Head of the Reservation and Customer Support Department.
What were your beginnings in ORYX rent a car?
Honestly, at the beginning I didn’t even know my job description exactly and I was “Katica za sve”, as we used to say, and I mostly helped around the departments and ran with the post office and contracts. In this starting position, I learned the most because I was involved in all parts of the job from the beginning and communicated with most of the departments in the group. I learned the most about the operation of the central office of ORYX Rent a car when I became an administrator in the office of the then director, and shortly after that an assistant member of the Management Board for car rental.
Promotions changed quickly?
After a year of being an assistant, I got the opportunity in 2014 to prove myself as a business support manager, and three months later I took over the most sensitive part of ORYX Rent a car’s business, which is the Reservation and Customer Support Department. Shortly afterwards, I took over the administrative part of ORYX Rent a car. I am happy that I have progressed step by step because that is how the functioning of the company in which I work is deeply understood. Although my job today is very different from the beginning, I worked and developed equally at all times. So she can’t say she works more now because she’s always worked a lot.
The biggest challenge of leading a large team of people?
The position of Customer Support Reservation Manager was, and still is, a real challenge and a pleasure because I had the opportunity to build, shape and develop that department in the direction I thought I should go. It is the central part of the rent a car that is available to customers in the domestic and foreign markets on a daily basis for vehicle reservations, information, complaints, compliments and prices. Also, the job involves negotiating prices and business conditions, for which you need to constantly monitor market trends in order to maintain competitiveness and quality customer relations that have been built over the years.
The secret of your colleagues’ happiness?
I approach every job responsibly and conscientiously, but in the case when you lead the whole team, the “weight” of the work is raised to a higher and more responsible level. I appreciate the responsibility they gave me, and thanks to my experience so far, I can handle it without any problems. My biggest obligation is that my colleagues are satisfied and appreciated. That’s why I always make sure that every wheel in our machine is well lubricated and knows its role. A good work atmosphere and quality interpersonal relationships are most important to me, and as we are all perfectionists at heart, work ethic is highly valued.
What is the great advantage of your job over those you have done before?
We often travel to various locations of our branches within Croatia, but also to foreign congresses and fairs abroad. Sharing experiences and expanding cooperation with foreign partners is one of the secrets of long-term success and stability of our ORYX Rent a car, even in these unstable times.
How is ORYX Rent a car coping with the current COVID situation in the world?
I would say great! 😃 Not to sound pathetic but short: we develop, learn new life circumstances and take the best and most out of every situation. It has always been so, but it is best expressed in the current circumstances! With such a smart, capable and (still) young team, everything is achievable! So far I have learned that the only analysis that is always infallible is the one that measures the amount of work invested, so for us the results as well as the success are unquestionable. Go very forward!
What do you do in your free time?
Apart from traveling to the coast on business, I often visit Zadar, where I come from. With well-arranged priorities in life, private and social life must never suffer. Therefore, I dedicate all my free time to my relatives, friends, and especially to my brother and sister, with whom I am very close.
The motto you follow in life?
Everything is possible when you want it, and everything is possible when you have a goal. It is a saying that my parents instilled in me, my brother and sister from birth and I have been guided by it all my life. Patience, perseverance and diligence always give results.
CAREER PATH
2011. Administrator at AMC Rent a car
2012. Administrator in the directors office
2013. Assistant member of the Management Board for car rental activities
2014. Business Support Manager
2014. Head of Reservations and Customer Support at ORYX Rent a car
2020. Deputy Director at ORYX Rent a car
