Humans Behind the Bot: Ivana Millasseau

1. Hi, Ivana. Tell us about yourself! What was your path to joining Rasa?

Zdravo! I have been in the HR space for the last 8 years and am simply loving it! Since the start of my journey, I have had great opportunities to learn and understand many aspects of the HR world. From hiring to exit interviews, I participated in all processes, creating and conducting them, and loved it! Just before joining Rasa, I became a Mom to a beautiful boy, Matteo - and now it’s all about People Operations and Cocomelon. 🙂

2. Take us through a typical day as a Senior People Operations Specialist. What types of projects do you work on?

My focus is on our teams in Serbia and France - making sure they have everything they need to be effective and to feel taken care of (drafting contracts, making sure we are aligned with the local laws, building or updating processes around the employee work cycle, payroll, etc.) But I am also working on all things POPS in general - from onboarding, offboarding, performance management, career development etc. I consider myself a floater - love to be everywhere, to understand all aspects of the space I work in, and to always make sure I am a good resource and support to Rasas. 🙂

3. Which areas of your work are you most passionate about?

Onboarding! I genuinely enjoy all aspects, but onboarding is simply the greatest experience. I love to see folks excited to get started, to understand their role and who Rasa is and what it provides. I love the questions and feedback on our onboarding process. The true content I feel from working in Rasa is something I love to translate into our onboarding experience as well, primarily in the sense of providing tangible examples as to why Rasa really IS a great place to be.

4. What's an important problem you're solving at Rasa?

As Rasa has its roots in many different countries, understanding the expectations, local laws and work-culture of the country we do business in and making it all work and co-exist is extremely important as the culture from the inside needs to adjust to the culture from the outside.

5. How would you describe Rasa in three words?

Empathic, open-minded and accepting.

6. How do you collaborate with other teams at Rasa?

I view all Rasas as one team, considering my role. Slack, Zoom, Survey, 1:1 chats - keywords feedback and connection. My intent is to build trust and create a safe platform for folks to feel they can really bring themselves to work.

7. What does a culture of diversity mean for you at Rasa?

That I can be exactly how I am and that’s ok.

8. How has working at Rasa helped your professional development?

Our DE&I initiative has been a huge eye-opener for a lot of subjects I have never even thought of. This alone has influenced the way I speak, approach our projects in general, with a much better sense on how to do/say the most right thing I can at a given moment.

9. What's the most interesting thing you've learned lately?

That babies love Queen, especially the Radio Ga Ga song. 🙂

10. What's the best career advice you've received?

There is always opportunity in chaos.

Thanks, Ivana! You can find Ivana on LinkedIn.