Jozef Renčko and Helena Renčková spent most of their productive lives at Milk-Agro. Now they are retiring. At the meeting of store managers, the company director, Ing. Jozef Kundrát, thanked them, and together we reminisced about the years spent at the company.
How do you evaluate the long 25 years spent at Milk-Agro?
Mrs. Helena Renčková: I started working here as a saleswoman when the third store, Opal, opened. Then I became a deputy at store number 4 in the housing estate. At that time, my husband was hired as the store manager. Since then, we have worked together at one operation for more than twenty years, he as the manager, I as the deputy.
Mr. Jozef Renčko: I have just completed twenty-five years at Milk-Agro, twenty of which as a store manager, my wife even a few months more.
You can only work so many years for a good employer...
JR: You know, there were better and worse years, but I always appreciated that rules were followed and respected by management. I perceived the company as very serious all those years. Sometimes we were criticized, but I took criticism as a challenge to improve. I taught the team to see it as a challenge and constantly improve. Criticism motivated us and pushed us to better results. And good results kept us and we were very happy about them..
HR: From the beginning, I felt that working for Milk-Agro was a good choice. To this day, I have not regretted working here. As a woman, wife, and mother, I appreciated that the company respected family life from the start. This was reflected, for example, in opening hours and the fact that we are not open on Sundays, although in some years this was a strong trend in our area. In our company, families could be together on Sundays.
The director thanked you in front of dozens of store managers and confirmed your contribution to the company. He reminded that in many areas you were pioneers...
HR: Our store was among the first to test computer sales software, and we were the ones who supplemented the test module by testing so that other stores would have it easier and more sales situations would be captured and solutions added.
JR: Today young people know how to work on computers, they learn from an early age. My wife and I had to learn everything from the beginning back then. From turning on the computer, through basic settings, and everything about the program through which we started selling.
But you managed it, and it probably wasn't the hardest part...
HR: The hardest but also the most important is working with people. I tried very hard to keep customers satisfied, to always have enough fresh and quality goods for them. To maintain hygiene at a high level and to keep the store's aesthetic impression as good as possible...
JR: ...and to keep not only customers but also saleswomen satisfied because it all relates. We motivated the whole team to understand that a satisfied customer gives us energy for further work.
HR: Many elderly people and pensioners come to the store with a written list, and we helped them find goods, pack them into bags, and carry them to the door. And we felt good about that.
You are leaving, hopefully the good things you taught the team will remain...
JR: I am convinced of that. We have trained successors. The new manager worked with us as a deputy. We trained the whole team so that the started trend would continue even without us. We wanted to leave at the end of November so that the whole December sales would already be in their hands. The annual goals are already met, and if they manage the pre-Christmas rush, they will manage the whole year...
...and you are moving on. What are your plans for the coming months?
JR: During all those years, we went on vacation together only once. So a joint vacation...
So enjoy it in good health and thank you.
