MCP Application Zdenka Pajtasova
1. What is driving you to continue in AIESEC? Why have you decided to stand for President of AIESEC in Costa Rica? And what do you want to take out of this experience?
1. WHY MORE AIESEC?
Why more AIESEC?
Why MCP in Costa Rica?
What do I want out of this experience?
16 national conf. 5 international conf. 1 international faci XP International NSTs – Colombia, India, UK Nordic cooperation leader
My international experience and network I have worked in a different entity (AIESEC Denmark) with 2 programmes. The entity has been bigger (7 LCs, coaching 14 LCVPs), the MC smaller, and therefore my experience much more intense.
What drives me to continue in AIESEC is to be a change agent. My goal or dream job is to work for the UN and develop projects that combat poverty through education. So how is this interconnected? I know going on with AIESEC, I can right now make more impact – bring more experience, passion and ambition to the organization and develop more leaders like me, more people that will be brave to make impact that the world needs.
2. WHY MCP FOR AIESEC COSTA RICA? - To be honest, I fell in love with Costa Rica. With the country and its people. I feel Costa Rica makes oneself find the good in yourself. Some people might also ask why Costa Rica? I have made impact before in a foreign country – in Denmark. I realized I am passionate about making impact wherever in the world, it doesn’t have to be my home country. - Another reason is that Costa Rica as a country has not only a lot of potential, but also faces a lot of issues, and therefore there is a space to create a lot of impact. As well, AIESEC Costa Rica as an entity has a lot of potential. Finally the MC is in place, co-creation on the way and we have growth is most of the programmes. The question that comes to my mind is how much can we actually grow if we work in the organization together? For me AIESEC Costa Rica is right now on the stage where I can compare it to a little bonsai. It is growing slowly, and on this stage we can shape it however we want it. If we choose the right people and strategies, we can make it into a strong and beautiful plant. - The next why is connected with myself. I am applying for MCP of AIESEC Costa Rica because I believe I have the right skills and mindset to make it happen. Every AIESEC country is different and has a different stage of “company development”. What I see is that I can help AIESEC Costa Rica develop the promise AIESEC gives to this society.
Rich AIESEC Experience
I can connect with Costa Rican mindset.
Throughout my experience, I have been TMP of OGX and iGIP, VP, LCP and I have right now full 2 MCVP experiences. What does this give me? I see all these experiences as very powerful with a lot of challenges, where I have learned and developed. It also gives me space to be able to relate to the membership of AIESEC Costa Rica at all levels.
In the past year I have had very good connection with my VPs, establishing not only the foundation for Marketing in AIESEC CR, but also making it relevant for exchange and delivering results. I have managed to push the VPs to set and follow their own goals for oGCDP applications, ask for feedback and ideas and cocreate what is marketing in AIESEC Costa Rica right now.
3. WHAT do I want to take out of this experience? There are three main points that I want to take away from this experience. -- CEO mindset – I have been MCVP for two years, and what I really want is to go back to the “P” role – to have the big picture, inspire people to take action and make my vision come true. As LCP I have managed to build the best LC out of the smallest and I want to live this experience again. One of the reasons why I want this experience because I am considering having my own NGO one day. -- IGN and its relevance to the world – IGN as a region is growing economically outside of AIESEC and I see it as a great opportunity to learn from it as a person. Costa Rica has a specific reality and mindset and I believe working here with my team would give me a perspective of leading people from different culture and mindset and connecting with people despite the differences and language barriers. Apart from that, I would really like to be fluent in Spanish at the end of the MCP term – that’s my personal goal. -- Personal development – I see this position also as a challenge. To get out of my comfort zone. The past 6 months have been very challenging, but it has shown me there is nothing too big to tackle.
2. What does AIESEC give to the world and what does AIESEC Costa Rica give to Costa Rica?
AIESEC to the world What AIESEC gives to the world is a better future. World is an ever-changing place and who determines where the world will go is people. Therefore the better future comes from globally-minded young people that want to, and are skilled to change what doesn’t work and create what doesn’t exist. So AIESEC gives to the world change agents. These young people will be the people to establish the “New Red Cross”. This is the indirect impact AIESEC creates in the world.
AIESEC Costa Rica to Costa Rica When we speak about Costa Rica, AIESEC CR gives CR young people that are better equipped and willing to make Costa Rica a better place. It is young people that will have the global mindset and open eyes about Costa Rica and its position in the world. People that travelled abroad with oGCDP, saw how things are done differently and are able to bring and implement it back home. Costa Rica needs young people with the sense of responsibility, that feel proud of their country but have open eyes for the development where it’s needed. AIESEC Costa Rica gives Costa Rica leaders it needs. However, it’s important to keep in mind as well the quality and quantity of the experiences we are delivering, as right now AIESEC in Costa Rica only makes very small impact on the country.
3. AIESEC is more that halfway towards 2015 mid term ambition. Evaluate our key achievements so far and key things that should happen globally next term to proceed with the evolution. Please answer referring to the global association and not solely AIESEC in Costa Rica. 5 years of evolution and 5 different teams is hard to evaluate. However, from a personal perspective, the key achievements are the ones that created the most impact in the entities drove the most exchange. The main achievements are:
Main achievements
Customer focus – creation of processes according to customerjourney, customer map, customer experience (NPS)
Creation of Marketing in the entities and AI
Next focus
Expansions – more AIESEC countries/entities = more life-changing experiences. This is also connected with 2015 BHAG of engage and develop every young person in the world
IT innovation – follow up on using OP and ORS, apps, matchability of the profile – we live in 21st century so we need to have 21st century technology on our side
Matching GIP supply and demand as well as sales
Focus on GCDP and its growth
TMP and TLP supporting exchange – structures for the LCs, LEAD programme
Customer orientation – focus on being able to measure leadership in our customers
Measure the impact we create in the world – especially with the alumni and TN showcasing, but also OGX showcasing
Focus on WHY of AIESEC
TMP driving exchange
4. What are the top 3 strategies to make sure that all our programs (GIP,GCDP, TMP,TLP) grow like never before, develop leadership for every of its participants and creates loyal customers? To start with, I want to say that it’s impossible to grow every product with the same growth pattern and speed, therefore the strategies given for this questions are very general. My three top main strategies that would grow the things mentioned above are:
Relevance to the market In order for AIESEC Costa Rica to grow, our products need to be relevant for our market and our members need to understand the irreplaceable value AIESEC creates in the markets we tap. Moreover, our products cannot be only relevant, but also attractive to the customers we are selling to. What is means for us is to focus on Costa Rica. Look at the market here, it is industries, student patterns and other stakeholders and offer them what they need. Only then we will ensure growth in all the programmes and create loyal customers that see value in our products.
TMP driving exchange 60% of the results come from having the right people in the right structures. Therefore it’s crucial for AIESEC Costa Rica to have focus on high quality and relevant experiences or people driving exchange. We all know that only through working on exchange, AIESECers live the real AIESEC experience and become change agents Costa Rica needs. Main parts of this is focus on recruitment of the right people, tracking, ensuring integrated experiences and develop TLP driving TMP.
United AIESEC Costa Rica AIESEC Costa Rica has grown a lot, however, not as one country. We can see different functions growing, different LCs, however, there is still culture in AIESEC Costa Rica to take care of “your own business” and not to do things for the country as a whole. Therefore it’s very important for the LCs and functions to drive national projects and collaborate and share resources and work on activities, such as events, promotions, etc. together instead of focusing on their own LC or function.
5. In the context of the 14-15 year, rank in order of importance the key responsibilities of the MCP (Strategic Direction, team management, financial sustainability, governance and accountability, plan tracking and reporting, engagement and communication with the global network, and external representation) and the brief reasons for your ranking. In order to see my priority list for 1415, please see the table below. Below the table, you can find the why of this selection.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Strategic direction Team management Financial sustainability Plan tracking and reporting Governance and accountability Engagement and communication with the global network External representation
WHY? I see Strategic Direction is crucial for a country’s development and this should be a priority for every MCP. The reason is that in order for an AIESEC country to perform, it needs to go united in one direction, striving for the same results. This also connects with the clarity of the WHY – why of AIESEC and WHY of AIESEC Costa Rica. And this is not only for the LCs, but also for the MC team I would lead.
Team Management. As a leader of a team, the responsibility of me as MCP would be to ensure the developmental experience for every member of my MC team, but also of the BoP. The main reason is because through team management, AIESEC Costa Rica can drive results, and results bring impact and financial sustainability
Financial sustainability is next on my priorities and the reason behind is that AIESEC Costa Rica is still young and fragile. Therefore I see that my responsibility is to ensure that us as the organization make smart investments in exchange projects and cut unnecessary costs and look for alternative sources of revenue. That would, of course, include smart choice of the team members as well as cash-flow management and tracking.
Plan tracking and reporting is number four because as MCP, through tracking and reporting, one can ensure proper goal and quality delivery as well as transparency. In the ideal state, 80% of the plan should be fulfilled and as MCP that would be what I would strive for.
Last three are not “left behind” because they are not important, but mostly because they allow decentralization as well as delegation of these under other functions. These are mostly process-oriented and need to be done, however, with a great team can be delegated to, for example, MCVPFLA or MCVPER. For the global network, I will embrace and network and create strong connections, but I believe my personal network now will help me and I won’t have to spend too much of my energy as MCP on this.
6. How do you plan to ensure the development of the national leadership body? As I see it, there are two ways to ensure the development of the national leadership body – one is of the current leadership, and the other one is of the future leadership.
•LEAD for TLPs •As already implemented in many countries, LEAD programme can be very useful to develop the skills of the leaders in AIESEC. For that I would use external and other learning partners to first of all develop a programme and then implement it. LEAD programme focuses on developing leaders on different levels – leadership within, leadership and the team and leadership connected with the world. Through conferences and educational cycle for TLPs, the leadership development of the current leaders can be very successful. •Learning by doing •How I see this one is to give people space to learn by doing. To offer the right direction, challenge them and give people space to learn. As well, part is to keep coaching of the EBs through LC Current coaching. Leadership •Personal coaching of the BoP •BoP is an important entity and as MCP, one of my strategies to develop leadership is through coaching and mentoring the current BoP. This will also ensure very good pipeline for MC not only in Costa Rica. •Skills development •Apart from the direction, in order to develop leadership in our members is to offer relevant tracking and management tools. The main channels would be through functional training at conferences and functional summits.
•Offering relevant experiences •This is a very important factor, as many of the current leaders would not have become leaders if they didn’t have the developmental experience that AIESEC offers to young people. Therefore it’s very important that we are delivering experiences that members want to live and develop and we have clear JDs for all our members. •Career plans •For every member of AIESEC Costa Rica, if we want to create a great pipeline, there is need for them to develop individual career plans. This would include what they want to develop, personalized personal and professional goal-setting as well as looking into all the experiences that AIESEC offers. •Leadership pipeline management Future Leadership •There are many leadership development models for the organizations, and the one I would look at is actually not within AIESEC. IBM, as an international company has a great leadership development model that inspired me personally and I would love to see it implemented in every LC. First of all, it’s important to start with choosing the right people with the mindset to the organization that want to stay for longer and AIESEC is clearly a developmental platform for them. Then the role of the current leaders is to spot the right people with the potential and put them into challenging environment – in AIESEC that could be a TL position, OCP of a project, or project manager on a smaller scale. In order to develop pipeline and implement new leaders, the organization also needs a capacity to offer experiences and opportunities. So LC-wise it would be important to have opportunities where people can grow. The ongoing part is promotion of the leadership in the organization. What happens in many LCs is that promotion of the leadership positions come only few weeks before the EB elections, or similar and therefore people don’t have enough time. The strategy would be to ensure ongoing talk and promotion of leadership as something exciting and ensure the current leaders are well aware and drive this. The last part is RnR – very important part to reward and recognize the right people and inspire others to take action as well. This could be done through different certification or reward systems for the members.
7. What do you think is the role of AIESEC in Costa Rica in IGN, and how would you like to drive, as MCP of this region, a BIG IGN network based on that?
IGN as a region IGN is a region that does the most exchange within each other and that is something we definitely need to capitalize on. Another interesting thing about the region is that the language connects the region and separates it from the rest of the world. IGN is as a region focused on GCDP, with some exceptions, such as Panama or Mexico that focus on iGIP. It includes one of the strongest countries in AIESEC network, such as Colombia or Brazil, growing entities, such as countries of Southern Cone or Peru, and small countries, such as Costa Rica.
CR in IGN Costa Rica has been part of CAS for many years and now when we have split, the whole network is looking at what will happen with us. We have shown the network with our big growth in Q3 that Costa Rica is here, however, we have not been persistent in our growth. What I see the role of Costa Rica can be, is to set the trends in sustainable growth and market relevance. With the right approach, strategies and people, we could win the next global award for the highest, but sustainable growth in IGN.
Me and IGN How I would support the region as MCP would be with three Cs: •Communication – to foster the communication among the countries, be active participant and leader in newest discussions about the direction of the region •Collaboration – support CEEDership, CY2CY and LC2LC cooperations, but also through connections with the other MCPs work on making this region and therefore Costa Rica stand out •Commitment – to help all the MCPs commit to drive the region as a whole. As I want the LCs in Costa Rica to be united, I also see that we can make more impact in IGN by approaching our markets, partners and the rest of the network united.
8. Where do you see the biggest challenges concerning talent capacity in Costa Rica and what would be your suggestion to change this?
Bottlenecks: -
-
HR allocation Structures supporting growth Educational cycle Goal setting in TMP and TLP Ownership of the organization and impact it creates Insufficient tracking Retention Management skills of TLPs
Strategies: Standardized recruitment process -
Inductions checklists for all the members Goal setting Career plans Optimize interview process Role-based recruitment
National and local RnR Member tracking and evaluation -
Member tracker Evaluation systems
Leadership pipeline development -
See question 6
National and local educational cycle -
Align the cycles, functional, local, LEAD
LC and team structures according to the LC state and goals -
The LC structures need to reflect the goals that LC has and how different functions support exchange in the LC
Setting standards for TMP and TLP experiences Focus on delivery of the WHY to members of AIESEC CR
9. How will you evaluate the development path of AIESEC in CR in past 5 years? i. What are the next steps for the network development path? (Consider OD model, expansion, conferences, your MC possible structures and the local structure) ii. Please briefly share your perception of what the strategic focus of MC should be for the term 2014-2015? From the knowledge I have acquired, I got to know that even though the MC has been split between the two countries, there was some innovation as well as
learning points to be looked at from the past of our entity. From the past 5 years we can see the following main points/learning: -
Use of strong BoA as support for the MC Educational cycles CAS separation Projects to increase exchanges by bringing interns of South America to give workshops at the universities Close work with Panama – sharing results and finances New established entities Lost AIESEC ULATINA partnership Lack of MCVPTM in the country for past 3 years
NEXT STEPS:
Planning
LC Coaching
• united and interconnected
• Downscale strategies • Customized strategies according to LC state
Expansions • driven by LCs or MC • China 50% of their goals from SUs
National education cycle • refreshed conference cycle • aligned cycle with country needs
LC structure SONA and National tracking
• according to the stage the LCs are in relation to exchange
STRATEGIES FOR NEXT TERM
oGCDP 3.0
TMP driving exchange
Leadership in every experience
oGCDP 3.0 oGCDP has gone through 2 stages of development, first implemented as a focus, and second, making it more strategic by having a strong synergy with marketing -
expansions – AIESEC for all youth in Costa Rica optimizing processes and conversion – right now the biggest bottleneck clarity of the information towards the customer all channels all the time used for promotion national product used by all the LCs strong showcasing culture of EP but also TN experience
Leadership in every XP -
leadership and management skills for the TLPs LEAD for interns and EPs Measure leadership towards our customers Relevant projects for the society and the individuals Showcasing the success stories
TMP driving X -
Right HR recruitment and allocation Structures supporting growth Education cycle national and local TLP driving TMP o Tracking o Personal and professional career plans
THANK YOU FOR READING MY APPLICATION!