“Micromanagement is over. We have to trust the employee” Antigonos Papadopoulos, Cardlink CEO, at the CEO Initiative Book

“There is usually a concentration of decisions at the top. It’s a matter of culture to make decisions at the lowest possible level.”

The word of 2022 from Collins Dictionary is “permacrisis” – a word with a Greek root that describes the sense of living in a period of permanent crisis, a crisis rooted in the geopolitical instability, the threat of war, the socio-economic crisis and the consequences of climate change. And all this after a period of a widespread health crisis.

This word describes the dynamics that are shaping globally a new environment in which crises, large or small, are no longer the exception and tend to become the rule. In this context, businesses in our country, and internationally, are required to grow, evolve, gain their customers’ trust, as well as emerging as an employer of choice. In a landscape of change and instability, building trust and increasing loyalty are perhaps the biggest challenges. And this concerns both external and internal stakeholders of every company.

In our 18 years at Cardlink, our ultimate business goal is to simplify the day-to-day life of businesses, so that they can focus on issues of substance and strategy, and increase their productivity. We consistently support them, including the most challenging periods, to design, build and deliver the solutions and tools they need in order to provide the best possible experience for their customers.
As an organization with a culture based on agility, an organization that constantly seeks the best possible solutions for its customers, we can’t help but adapt to the new realities brought to the forefront.

Digital transformation is changing business models, as well as the way people live and work. The hybrid model has come abruptly, but all indications are that it is here to stay. Although many believe that the biggest challenge for employees is to maintain high levels of productivity remotely and achieve a work-life balance, in reality the big challenge remains on the side of managers. Management teams were used to leading in physical presence. They were after contact, they wanted to see people at their offices. Today, we all have to learn to lead from a distance. It’s not simple. But we have to learn from our failures and look for ways to improve.

In the hybrid working model there is no room for micromanagement – in fact, micromanagement as a concept has ceased in the modern era. We now need to trust employees, and bring out human being as a key reference point.

Technology is on our side through the current transition period. There are platforms at our disposal, but we also have the necessary tools, so we need to focus on interacting with people and building trust.

Trust in work environment is also directly linked to the issue of decision making, which is emerging as a very important factor in the agile way of doing business. Speed is what we call “the name of the game”. In the past, not so far away, business models were completely centralized. This leads to teams not having the ultimate responsibility. As a result, people lose the motivation and empowerment they need, and at the same time they feel they are not evolving. In a culture of adaptability and agility it is important that decisions are made at the lowest possible level.

For us at Cardlink, our people are our strength! We invest in their growth and development with the same energy that we invest in innovation and meaningful support of our customers. Our culture of adaptability, built through flexibility and resilience, is our vehicle to evolve inside a new reality and a landscape of constant change.