In Lithuania, it is already customary that the beginning of summer means exam fever and university admissions for high school graduates, while final-year students actively look for employers and plan their careers. Here, a young woman from Prienai, Greta Liaudinskė, the quality manager at the production unit of AB "Kauno Grūdai", shares that after finishing her studies in veterinary food safety, she unexpectedly found a responsible yet incredibly dynamic and interesting job in the city of Alytus.
A graduate of the Veterinary Food Safety program at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Greta shares that she chose her studies by chance, as she wasn't sure what she wanted to study after finishing school. The studies themselves later dictated the direction of her job search, related to food. As the specialist explains, many students of her course dream of working for the Lithuanian State Food and Veterinary Service, but Greta is happy today that she chose to go into business and found her path in the food industry sector.
"After finishing my studies, I uploaded my CV to a job portal and soon received a call from the quality director of "Kauno Grūdai". I was invited to work at the "Kauno Grūdai" factory in Alytus that produces extruded products. Honestly, the first impression for a young girl who had just finished her studies and had no work experience was not the best. The factory environment, raw materials, and noisy equipment were not what young people usually dream about. However, I was brought up to understand that work needs to be done, not feared, so I accepted the challenge. Moreover, from the first day, I felt the support of the managers and knew that in this company, if I proved my abilities, I would not go unnoticed and could expect to achieve more," Greta recalls her career start with a smile.
A career leap did not take long
After working as a quality shift supervisor for half a year and getting to know shift work, Greta received an offer from her manager to move to another "Kauno Grūdai" factory in Alytus, which produces instant food products (instant noodles), to work as a quality manager. "I was not very familiar with this unit's activities, I just knew that "Kauno Grūdai" has a very wide range of operations, from various feeds to food production and other services. Indeed, coming here, I discovered a completely different work routine. The new position did not involve shift work, the factory itself was new, just starting to operate, with the latest equipment and the highest quality standards required by foreign clients. As a quality manager, I was responsible for several areas, including raw material control, production supervision and control, and all necessary documentation. Thus, after 2 years, I was offered the position of quality manager of this unit," says Greta Liaudinskė.
New challenges await
Today, leading a team of 9 people, Greta says that as a manager, she continues to learn to this day because, according to her, a manager, like any other specialist, must constantly grow and develop not only professional but also human competencies. "Managing people is a great responsibility. It requires flexibility, empathy, and firmness. We are currently expecting significant team growth, as a new "Kauno Grūdai" factory will soon start operating in Alytus, new production lines will be launched, and the production volume will significantly increase. This means that our quality team will grow, new people will need to be trained and integrated into the team," Greta hints at new perspectives.
When asked if it is difficult for a young woman to hold a managerial position in a fairly male-dominated industry, Greta replies that success in such positions is determined by the motivation to grow comprehensively and the ability to respond promptly to arising situations. And these qualities, according to Greta, are defined by the person's personality. "When you prove everything through your work, others have no doubts about your abilities. I like to arrive at work early when almost no one is around. I calmly walk through the production, greet everyone, talk to them - after all, everyone likes to be addressed, and for me, as a quality manager, it is important to hear what colleagues are dealing with, what challenges the night shift faced, and together we look for solutions. In general, in the quality field, you can never relax, as we are talking about ensuring the quality of food products for people. Another part of my team's daily routine is audits. Both clients, of whom we have many, and audit companies that issue necessary certificates for our work want to conduct quality audits. Audits are carried out in two ways - we either know about them in advance or not. Because of the latter, so-called unannounced audits, we must work at the highest level every day," the quality manager shares about her work specifics.
Named "Kauno Grūdai" Specialist of the Year
Speaking about her experience at the company, Greta modestly mentions the award she received last year as Specialist of the Year. "Such awards are given at the end of each year to the most outstanding employees. Indeed, being recognized and noticed is very pleasant. The next day I returned to work with even greater motivation and ambitions," she shares.
When asked if she ever thinks about taking different paths, Greta replies that her current company, "Kauno Grūdai," inspires her to grow right there. "In such a large company, there are all the conditions to gain diverse experience and get to know different productions - from feeds to various food products. I felt a significant change after the company joined the AB Akola group. My colleagues will confirm how much the organization is now focused on people, making great efforts to create additional benefits for employees, from health insurance, training, motivational bonuses to a large number of events, sports programs, and gifts. In general, as an employer, "Kauno Grūdai" has recently been paying a lot of attention to the city of Alytus, contributing to cultural or charity events, involving volunteer employees," Greta Liaudinskė concludes.