We interview Michał Akszak-Okińczyc, co-manager of the largest Lexus and Toyota showroom in Europe, located in Kraków. The president was awarded the title Leader by Vocation this year. The WHY Story magazine nominated the company for the title of The Best & More for its effective luxury car sales, care for its employees and extensive social activities..
Michał Akszak-Okińczyc is a graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology, a member of the management board of ASO MR Sp. z o.o. S.K, which today has seven Toyota and Lexus car dealerships, a chairman of IFC Sp. z o.o. S.K., which manages vehicle fleets, but also a recognised social activist associated with the Confederation Lewiatan for 10 years as a member of the board, a president of The Employers Union of Malopolska Lewiatan and a vice-president of the Council of Regions. His activities also include acting as vice-chairman of the Voivodeship Social Dialogue Council and membership of the Economic Zone Development Board at the Kraków Technology Park or the Business Association of Entrepreneurs of the City of Kraków – Business Club.
It’s not easy to get you interviewed. Are you always so busy, or do you sometimes manage to take some fresh air?
Always busy, because it’s a big company and requires constant commitment. But now it’s even more difficult, because we’re busy promoting our pearl, the pride of the company and the latest model, which is simply equipped with everything the world has come up with. I even joke that if someone owns the latest private and exclusive jet, they will also find it in the now offered model. Unsurprisingly, its price is coming dangerously close to the cost of buying these flying suites, where cutting-edge technology meets unique design. This is the Lexus LM, the brand’s first van, which costs PLN 720,000, a substantial sum of money. I pay a lot of attention to the promotion of this model, so that future customers have the opportunity to get to know it well.
But this isn’t the only model you propose. There are other Lexus and, of course, Toyota cars available in your showrooms. How high is the sales volume?
Thanks to the fact that we deal not only with individual customers but also with fleets, in various forms of financing, we sell a total of more than 6,000 cars a year in all our showrooms, which makes our company a significant partner in the market.
With such a turnover, there’s a necessity for a huge team.
We are a large dealership group, which already employs nearly 500 people, and with the next year’s opening of further new showrooms along with service sections in Kielce and Radom, we will certainly exceed this magic number. Our focus is on employees, because people are the most important. We recorded employee rotation in individual showrooms in the short period just after they started operating. Afterwards, these changes were rare. We are perceived as a good employer, thus, surveyed annually for the past 5 years, the satisfaction rate of employees in our company is very high. Its worth emphasising that these surveys are anonymous, conducted by an independent research centre, so they give us an unbiased picture.
How do you achieve such spectacular results? After all, companies often go through great difficulties in hiring, don’t they?
I would say that we pay decently for good work, but that would obviously be far too little to make the professionals working for us in various fields feel valued and satisfied. Our attention paid to the atmosphere between showroom team members, as well as the climate in the company as a whole seem to determine real satisfaction. We organise numerous meetings and team-building events for employees at all levels, joint trips to cultural and sporting events, which consolidates and allows closer relationships to be forged. We try to ensure that not only the showroom teams, but all employees are close-knit, so that they can work together and exchange experiences even when they live in distant cities. Due to the company’s 30th anniversary, this year was particularly full of dedicated events, but we also organised a trip to Barcelona to see Robert Lewandowski play, and an outing to see the Polish national team play at the National Stadium in Warsaw. Of course, this is a form of reward for their commitment and long-term service. We often combine training with such events; sometimes the proposals for trips are mainly for managers, other times for direct service employees.
Do you also attend these events?
Yes. I try to attend all of them, I strongly point out that human resources are the most important part of this company and we truly care about them and I always have the time. My door is always open and anyone can come in need. This is a great opportunity to meet representatives from different departments, who often work in the same building but do not work closely together on a daily basis. For managers, it is also an opportunity to integrate with their employees, to get to know them directly, “without the suit”, in order to talk about private matters, interests and so on. I consider such activities to be a priority, because only a harmonised team is capable to win all market opportunities today. And today’s business is not easy even if you are able to use all your advantages built up over the years. Richard Branson said: Take care of your employees and they will take care of your Customers.
You are also involved in a wide range of social activities.
I try to participate in all undertakings important not only for the company I represent, but also for our local community or, in a broader sense, for society as a whole, because, for example, being a member of the Social Dialogue Council allows us to influence legislation. This is important for both businesses and employees. I try to consistently implement the principle “nothing about us without us”, because in the long run this is the only way to achieve results.
You run the company with your wife. Is it helpful? Or rather a risk of never getting away from your duties and talking about company matters even at home?
Of course, such conversations are unavoidable, but we share responsibilities and duties…. We spend lots of time at work, but it’s often not enough and we have to discuss things at home. We parent two children, so after work we try to focus solely on the family matters. In one interview with a manager of a huge company, a successful and award-winning CEO, I read that he was most proud of his family. I thought to myself at the time that I had exactly the same opinion.
Piotr Góralczyk
Beata Sekuła
