"I wish that we become a united team!"

Interview with Florentina Stan - CFR SA Patrimony General Manager

 

 

Personal Data:

Name: STAN
Surname: FLORENTINA
Date of birth: November 4, 1962
Place of birth: BUCHAREST
Marital status: married

Professional training:

1982-1988- Civil, Industrial and Agricultural Construction Faculty within the Bucharest Constructions Institute;
1997-1998- Economical Academy-post academic courses in the Business Administration field;
1998-Ministry of Justice - Technical Expertise Central Bureau;

Professional activity:

1988-1989 - engineer at the Building -Projecting Department of the CFR Bucharest;
1989-1992 - engineer with the ACM Technical Bureau of the CFR Bucharest;
1992-1995 - chief of the ACM technical Bureau of the CFR Bucharest;
1995-1996 - Contacting Service with the ACM of the CFR Bucharest;
January 1996-October 1996 - chief engineer Site 3 -ACM of the CFR Bucharest;
October 1996-December 1998 - Chief of the Technical Department of the Sportive Railway Complex Rapid with the SNCFR-DGP;
December 1998-August 2000 - general manager of the Sportive Railway Complex Rapid with CFR-SA;
August 2000 - general manager of the Patrimony Branch

Railway Journal: Do you consider as difficult being in this position considering the fact that you worked previously within the Railway Sportive Complex Rapid?
Florentina Stan: My profession is that of a constructor engineer so that the character of the activity with the Patrimony Department of the CFR-SA is not a new one for me. That is why the activities having to do with the building field are our main activity; our department has as basic task the administration of every building within our railway infrastructure. It is a very interesting activity offering me the chance of proving that women too are capable of leading this branch.
RJ: Your confidence makes me believe that that once you was appointed in this position you already have been "caught up" by the fever of this activity.
FS: it is true. The first thing I did was a small reorganisation, in the sense that I created a new department- the Development Technical Service. Totally we have eight departments, very well organised and structured:
1. Patrimonial Business Department
2. Maintenance and Repairing Department;
3. Administrative and Economical Department;
4. Development Technical Department;
5. Administration Department;
6. Commercial and Cost Department;
7. Financial Accounting Department;
8. Economical Evaluation and Analysis Department.
Actually, by the personnel restructuring process we have tried to insure a co-ordination as accurate as possible. Information gets faster to the employees when each department is well structured. We all know that a "cell" if we may call it that, with a large number of personnel will not bring the same results as a smaller collective where everyone knows exactly what to do. My goal was to have a clear overview of the Patrimony. That is why we founded the Technical Service - that will provision every work so that we know what regime we can apply - investments, RK - to insure the quality of the works.
RJ: What exactly is the object of activity for the Patrimony branch?
FS: We are trying to administrate the patrimony and the funding that we received to improve service quality in traffic areas and at the same time to insure supplemental services for travellers. Practically, our whole activity must be realised on commercial principles. Our object of activity is managing, administrating and putting to good use the private patrimony of the Railway in conditions of economic efficiency. Our branch has field divisions in every region and a few external sub-units with a great activity related to the use of the patrimony by economic agents, indirect exploitation of the patrimony in various ways, insuring necessary space for railway activities of economic agents belonging to CFR, direct exploitation of the Patrimony to secure income. To these activities are added as well the management and the administration of the habitation funds and selling or buying investments. Practically the Patrimony Branch guides and co-ordinates activity of patrimony divisions and sub-units and is responsible for attributions and assuming responsibilities for these units.
RJ: Did a direct contact occur between the leadership of the Branch and the sub-units?
FS: Of course. New persons were appointed in superior positions and we also started an ample selection program for as many engineers as possible. When I came here, this unit had mostly economic and juridical personnel but no engineers. Engineers are badly needed by this activity. That is why I will try to redistribute railway engineers in al vacant positions.
RJ: What is your main preoccupation presently?
FS: Currently, we are running a cleansing program for all railway stations in the country. The status so far shows that out of a total of 1096 stations (on 29.09.2000), 640 were already cleansed, 387 were in the process and only 69 remained to be "attacked". The final term approaches, the work volume is large which means we will have an extremely busy period. I insist on quality! Although impossible, we will try to bring this program to term.
RJ: Cleansing railway stations is your sole preoccupation right now?
FS: No, certainly not. We have another modernising program, this time for frontier stations. We also started a program to improve working conditions for our employees and from those for CFR Freight. The situation for the latter is not very good, I must admit, but you have to remember that every work is running in parallel with several projects, which determines a slower rhythm. We are not discouraged though, because we have to go forward, no matter how hard it may be. When we took over these activities we decided to keep the schedule. Even if we are a bit late, it's all for the better, because we will gain more quality wise.
RJ: These programs are made in collaboration with other companies?
FS: Most of the works are executed by construction companies, hired through different procedures (analysis, offer or auction) depending of the value of each contacted project. Our task is to monitor through operatives the schedule for the projects. With our own personnel we only deal with maintenance, because completing a whole project by ourselves would mean a very large number of employees.
RJ: When does it start and when does a day work end at the Patrimony Branch?
FS: Our program starts at 8.00. After the operative meeting that takes place every morning we start field activities. When I have to be ready to find the best solution should a problem occur. You cannot take a viable decision from the office, only from the field. Out there I work with my colleagues to find the best solutions. I know when my day starts, never when it ends. I can tell you that only after 20.00 I manage to take a look and see what can be solved from the office. It is a busy period as final terms are nearing and we have to respect the deadline even though the distance between the two moments - my being elected and finalising the programs- is very small.
RJ: What can you tell me about your team?
FS: We are really a team. I have two special ladies beside me: Viorica Moloce, Economic Manager and Mirela Ispas, Exploitation Manager. The office activity is the responsibility of the Economic Manager and the Exploitation Manager and myself share the field tasks so that we can cover the whole activity area. The service chiefs are also there for us. In my opinion, we have great chances of becoming a good team. We are still trying to get acquainted with each other. The others have it more difficult because of my alert work system. I am sure they will get used to it though. I wish we become a united team and to surpass the accommodation period the soon as possible.

Reporting Oana Bran