Managers under the spotlight - Silvia Sticlea, Nestlé Romania

Silvia has 22 years of experience in Nestlé. She joined the company in June 2001 in the culinary products division. In 2006 she took over the position of Consumer Insight Manager located in Switzerland, followed by that of Marketing Advisor in 2009. In 2012 she was appointed Business Manager of the culinary products division at Nestlé Austria. Starting with 2014, Silvia takes over the role of National Key Account Manager in the South-Eastern European region. In 2015, she was appointed Business Executive Officer for the beverages, Confectionary and Culinary Romania categories, before taking over the regional position in 2018, successfully coordinating the Confectionery category in 9 countries. Since January 1, 2022, Silvia is the new Country Manager of Nestlé Romania.

As part of the CCE-R initiative meant to bring member managers under the spotlight, we had the opportunity to address Silvia few questions from both human and professional perspectives. Enjoy the interview down below!

1. What does a working day look like for you?

My working day starts early, with a good Nescafe cup of coffee, without exception. It continues with meetings, calls, and e-mails activity. The best part is talking to people, in the office or outside, physically or virtually, discussing the topics at hand, finding solutions, and deciding on the best course of action. Being part of a high professionals’ team makes my work very rewarding and my working day, no matter how long it is, very fulfilling.   

2. How is Silvia Sticlea outside the office?

Outside the office it’s the same me, only doing other activities, creating a good work-life balance: spending family time with my husband and daughter, having meals together, discussing family & school topics, playing with our dogs, watching movies together, meeting with friends. I enjoy reading to continue my personal development and I watch & read the news to be updated with what’s happening in the world, in our industry and in all the areas related to our activity.

3. Tell us about one important project you’re working on this year.

We have many important projects, it is hard to choose one, but I will refer to some of them from our perspective as a trusted partner of the Romanian economy and society. We launched more than 30 new products in all our categories this year, which shows our commitment towards the Romanian market. This year, Nestlé Romania donated 70 tons of products worth half a million CHF via the Food Bank, offering support where it was needed.  We are planting 20,000 acacia trees in the ‘Honey Forest’ in Giurgiu county during November, together with ‘Mai Mult Verde’ association and over 200 Nestlé  colleagues volunteers, with the purpose of supporting biodiversity and beekeepers’ community, and neutralizing CO2 emissions.   

4. What was one big innovation your industry has benefited from over the last few years?

One of the new introductions in the market recently is the great innovation coming from Nespresso, the Vertuo coffee system. Based on the unique CENTRIFUSION™ technology, Vertuo is an intelligent system that adjusts the brewing parameters to each coffee capsule, to extract every drop of flavour and top with a rich, smooth crema. Our consumers can enjoy the exceptional coffee quality and generous & smooth crema, delivered by this innovative coffee system. 

5. What’s one great challenge the industry you’re operating in is currently facing?

One important challenge is to find best solutions to keep the continuous supply and deliver the goods and products that our consumers are used to and love. In the last years we had to adapt very quickly to the new external challenges we all faced, maintaining the health and safety of all our people as priority and keeping our course as planned.

6. What’s your current hobby?

I enjoy very much to travel, and throughout my various roles over the years I was fortunate enough to visit many countries around the world, on different continents, to see many cultures, to meet and discover new people and places. I try to learn something new from each experience, to take with me and use it when appropriate, as I believe this was a gift that needs to be given further.     

7. Who is your favourite author?

I am the number one fan of Jane Austin :-).  I even started a challenge with my daughter; to introduce this great, classical author to her we started to read same book at the same time; so one of the latest books I read again with great pleasure was ‘Pride and Prejudice’, this time in original.

8. What piece of advice would you give to a newly appointed CEO / young entrepreneur?

I would advise them to be agile and adaptable to each situation and make the best of it, to see the opportunities, to persevere, to build a good team for which to be a caring leader, and to lead by example. At the end of the day, a positive attitude is everything!