PHILIP MORRIS TEAM

Text: Rodica Ciorănică
Photo: Victoria Wonka
Stylist: Loredana Anton
OUTFIT: SISLEY MOLDOVA
Project coordinator: Ana Bivol 

There are four PERSONS in this project of our magazine. Modern, open to challenges, with clearly defined values that keep them together both during working and non-working hours. Despite this century of speed and technology, strange as it may seem, people and the harmonious communication between them has become the most precious thing in a company. And creating a united team, where everyone knows how to listen, hear and create together, is probably a Mission Impossible. But not in the case of Philip Morris, an international company that is undergoing a continuous transformation, which supports  its people’ ideas and freedom to experiment.

We had a real revelation to meet each of the four fantastic people from Philip Morris. As involved and enthusiastic as I discovered them in office work, as crazy and limitless as they have been in the moments when they live their passions as a team.

Meet Evgheni Lucasov, Dragos Rusu, Valentin Dubrovschi and Dumitru Burac!

An ambitious team for a smokeless future

Dragos Rusu : 
25 years old, RRP Commercialization executive

Duration of employment at Philip Morris Company: 2 years.
Hobby: City breaks full of new experiences.
A dream that has not yet come true: A bungalow in the mountains.
The principle according to which he lives his life: I sleep 4 hours, not to miss out on life.

I think I was “fated” to be part of the Philip Morris team. Before joining the company, I worked in an agency that was preparing the launch events of the IQOS tobacco heater in Moldova. I was involved in organizing these activities and, witnessing all the processes, I was surprised by the company’s approach to employees. I liked how innovative and creative the trainings, team building and team activities were. One day, I received an offer to be part of Philip Morris and here I am. From the beginning, I felt good about the new job, especially since the integration in the team had started when I was working on joint projects. That is when I met members of the Philip Morris team, who accepted me as their own.

Here each employee has enough leeway to nurture his/her creativity. Everyone has the opportunity to experiment with the ideas, to come up with new proposals and visions and, most importantly, that even the craziest ideas are supported by management and can be turned into reality, to later become successful projects. One of the most innovative projects carried out jointly with the team is “Innovation Hub”, a place where the philosophy behind our smoke-free products intersected and we brought together the creative industries of Moldova. It was impressive to see how a deserted location turned into a new world, practically torn from the future, into digitized “art”. That is why I like Philip Morris, because there are no limits to what we do.

The time I spend with colleagues unites us. Undoubtedly. And I can already say that we are more than colleagues, we have become friends and we can count on each other even outside working hours. On weekends, we go on ATVs rounds together, to paintball or simply for a walk. The pandemic period united us even more and we learned to make sacrifices to help someone of the team when needed. I think that we never need mutual support as now. Each colleague is unique and from each you can learn something. Dumitru has a special energy and charges us every day with positive emotions. No matter what mood you came to the office, after a coffee with Dumitru you recharge yourself with motivation. Evgheni is the person who brings you down to earth, helps you organize your tasks and makes you responsible. From Valentin, you can learn how to find the balance between professional and personal life.

“The pandemic period united us even more and we learned to make sacrifices to help anyone from  the team”

Dumitru Burac

36 years old, Consumer experience executive

Activity in the Philip Morris Company: 4 years.

Hobby: Travel, active sports, walking the dog.

A dream that has not yet come true: To go around the world on a yacht.

The principle according to which he lives his life: To live my life here and now.

It is amazing, but Philip Morris attracts like a magnet the most talented people who, together, form the best team. I can say without hesitation that I work in the friendliest company. The people here are the ones who set the tone and create a productive and pleasant work environment. Everyone is a personality; he/she has the own talents and qualities. And even though we are different, this allows us to generate a lot of innovative ideas and achieve good results.

I love traveling and I am glad Philip Morris gave me the opportunity to break boundaries in my career. I have met extraordinary people in Philip Morris branches in other countries and each of them has left a mark on my professional development. One of the persons who changed my views on teamwork in a special way is a young woman from the Philip Morris Armenia team. I was impressed by the energy she emanates and the open attitude towards colleagues. Then I understood that the attitude creates the relationship and gives you the opportunity to motivate your team. Another example can be our regional director, who always says that people are the ones who matter and communication is the most important. It inspires you enormously when such an approach comes from your superior.

I was employed at Philip Morris during the period when the company decided to radically change its course. At the time, I thought I was coming to a company focused on traditional cigarettes, but in fact, I discovered something else. First, I found here a young group of enthusiasts who came together for a certain purpose. I was still surprised by how my attitude towards work changed over time. All processes have been simplified so that people can implement their ideas and focus on results. We started from the model in which each individual fulfils his/her tasks cascaded from the superior; we started working on projects with the participation of colleagues from different departments and even countries. Philip Morris is the company where every opinion is valuable and every initiative is tested. And if it works, we will use it in the future.

I find it extremely complicated to put together a team and find people who do not come to work just to put a check mark on their day. That is why we are always looking for talent and I am sure at Philip Morris there are talents. The teamwork only has benefits, you always learn from others and you grow every day. It is nice when you can have a seemingly crazy exchange of ideas. We write them all down at our meetings, after which we decide which ones we will propose for realization. We can count on others, and the distribution of tasks takes place in a very democratic way, so that everyone feels motivated.

“I love traveling and I am glad Philip Morris gave me the opportunity to break boundaries in my career”.

Evgheni Lucasov

35 years old, RRP Deployment Supervisor

Activity in the Philip Morris Company: 7 years.

Hobby: Football.

A dream that has not yet come true: Explore the Asian realms.

The principle according to which he lives his life: A new day – a new challenge.

Unquestionably, digital innovations make business processes more efficient and their importance cannot be ignored. But, I know for sure – behind any successful project there are people and their extraordinary approaches. Philip Morris has gone through an amazing process of transformation, a process in which people have become the most precious resource. People are the ones who move things forward, who generate innovative solutions and approaches. Just as every piece is important for a mechanism to work, for us every idea and opinion is important, in the end, they materialize and change the world, creating a new tab in history.

Germany, Georgia, Switzerland, Italy, Ukraine, Romania are the countries where I managed to go in the seven years of activity at Philip Morris. Every place I visited and subsidiary of the Philip Morris Company inspired me with approaches and work style. But most of all, I was impressed by the people and the friendly attitude with which they embrace you. Regardless of the branch you are in, you can openly exchange views and experience with colleagues there. I never felt any communication barrier; I was always like in a family. I am glad that the projects implemented in Moldova are also taken over by colleagues from other countries. Unfortunately, the pandemic has deprived us of the opportunity to travel, but technology facilitates our meetings and our ongoing collaboration.

Teamwork means taking on mistakes. If something fails, it is not only a person’s fault, the team always assumes its failures, and we celebrate the successes together with a beer or a wine. We are united in the difficult moments, but also in the good ones. Another principle I adhere to, as a supervisor, is not to impose my views and ideas. We gather all the opinions, discuss and experiment with them, this is the only way we can understand what works more efficiently. The best grade for a supervisor is the results obtained by the team. And my role is to contribute to the professional and personal development of each colleague.

Let me tell you what a working day at Philip Morris Moldova looks like! Different, every day. With new tasks, other challenges, interesting projects and, of course, an ambitious mission – a smokeless future. I like teamwork and the “madness” of the office, we don’t have time to get bored. I like that I can share the experience gained during my career at Philip Morris and also learn from my colleagues. The development and training process never ends here. At the office, we are free to talk about our life outside the office, which unites us even more. I have maximum confidence in my team and I feel that this is mutual.

“Behind every successful project there are people and their extraordinary approaches.”

Valentin Dubrovschi
37 years old, Marketing & RRP Supervisor