The year 2022 brought us new challenges that led us to the opening of the new branch in Split, expansion into new premises in Košice, establishment of new partnerships and to the acquisition of new projects. These brought new challenges in the form of large and interesting, but often demanding projects which tested our perseverance and ingenuity. Our international team grew by 40 members, we attended 3 weddings of our employees and many conferences, events, and workshops, among which were, for example, Qubit, Profesia Days or Dump Days in Croatia. Let's see what we experienced during each month.
January
The idea of expanding our unique company abroad was created well before the pandemic, however, the pandemic slowed us down a bit in its implementation. Finally, the launch of the branch in the Croatian city of Split took place at the beginning of 2022. This challenge, which we managed to successfully overcome, also brought organizational changes in the management of the company for us in Slovakia - Marek Bečaver became the new executive director. As our company grew rapidly, we decided to change our premises after careful consideration. Therefore, we spent January in the spirit of packing and moving things to the third floor of BCK III on Štúrova street. It was a tumultuous month that tested our stability and ability to stick together as a team.
February
We successfully managed the challenges of January, and with the beginning of February, we needed to furnish our new offices. We welcomed 4 new members to the team - Peťo, Marek, Kika and Evka, who strengthened our HR team. After more than 2 years, we brought our cooperation in building a branch for EPSA-Marketplace to a successful end. This talented team officially went independent, but our collaboration and great relationship continued throughout the year. Even though the end of February was characterized by unpleasant events in Eastern Europe, our sense of togetherness and solidarity with our eastern neighbours was prominent.
March
In the next month, March, new challenges awaited us in the form of projects for our clients operating in the healthcare sector, where our team of developers started working on an application for identity management. We also established partnership cooperation in the field of hiring and HR support for our clients. As we like to break IT myths, we participated in the 2nd year of the race PROFESIA virtual RUN. We expanded that month as well. Milan, Timea, Lucia and Mirko strengthened our Unique team in Slovakia.
April
In April, we successfully passed the ISO certification audit. After the lifting of all anti-pandemic measures, we were finally able to use our company premises to their full potential. As we consider cooperation with universities to be important, we participated in the UPJŠ Career Day, which was supposed to provide students contact with employers. Since we love to break down prejudices about the composition of employees in the IT sector, we were a partner of a practical programming workshop for female beginners organized by Košice IT Valley on the occasion of the International Day of Women in IT.
May
In May, our new Croatian team took part in the DUMP Days conference (Career days), organised by the students of the University of Split, under the heading of Unique People d.o.o. Some of the biggest experts in the field of development and technology presented themselves as speakers, including our Croatian CTO Denis. Subsequently, our colleagues Peter and Fernando also attended the Qubit conference in Prague, from which they brought a lot of information about innovative technologies and trends. We welcomed our colleague Martin and established cooperation with a new partner - the German company ISD FENIQS. We prepared a pleasant surprise for the citizens of Košice - since May, they could travel by Unique trams. That month, the first in-person international all-staff meeting of Unique People employees took place. At our company, May was truly blooming and rich in experiences.
June
The warm weather awakened the sports spirit in us. Our colleagues participated in a football tournament within the Employees' League organized by the daily newspaper My. The entertainment and atmosphere during the match were excellent. Our colleagues proved that they were a great team even outside the office. The visit of our Croatian colleagues in Košice was also precious for us, and we took part in Ostrožovič wine tasting as well. In addition to this, we finished furnishing our new premises and immediately invited our clients and partners to celebrate their official opening. Since we have been supporting young talents and foundations dedicated to them for a long time, we were once again partners of the World Robot Olympiad Slovakia. This year we were also very pleasantly surprised by the performances of the competitors and by their Lego creations. It is a joy to watch our little ones and their interest in robotics and IT and support it. And since some of our colleagues were getting married in the summer months, we also organized a women's team building, which was in the spirit of a bachelorette party.
July
Summer brought some nice duties outside of work hours with it. We attended the weddings of our employees, Evka and Peťo. We supported Jakub and the BEST organization as a partner of the international Javafication course. July was lively and cheerful and there was always something going on, but we also allowed ourselves to fully enjoy the holiday time.
August
In the middle of the summer, we welcomed another member of the team - Janka, who turned her part-time into full-time. We attended another wedding - this time it was our developer couple (Kika and Majo). But perhaps the biggest highlight was the offline meeting of all employees with cake and cookies. We had an enjoyable time and deepened our relationships in a relaxed atmosphere. The end of the summer was spent in a calmer, holiday-like atmosphere, so we had the space to find time for things that don't get done during the busy and hectic year.
September
After a restful summer, we slowly returned not only physically, but also mentally to our work duties. For a while, we were distracted from them by the team building that took place in the local craft brewery. We enjoyed tasty food and drinks and had a fun time with friends. Our Croatian colleagues moved to new, larger, and more comfortable premises. At that time, 3 new colleagues joined us - Igor, Gabi and Janko. We successfully handed over projects to our German partners and eagerly embarked on new ones.
October
We started October by preparing for Profesia Days which took place in the modern premises of Kulturpark. Among the 70 exhibitors, for the first time, there was our stand full of good mood and unique information. We also prepared special Unique competitions for all visitors and drew 3 winners. Our company held an offline meeting of all employees once again and we welcomed other new members - Natália, Braňo and Renáta. October is the cyber security month, so we spread awareness about the problems associated with it, for example by sharing an article on our blog.
November
On the occasion of Students' Day, we gave space to the young generation to introduce themselves more in the article on our blog. We are glad to have them in our team and to be able to support young talents. At the end of November, "Giving Tuesday" is organized every year as a reaction to consumer shopping during "Black Friday". We used this opportunity to strengthen our partnership with the Dedo foundation, with which we have a long-term cooperation and support the idea of ending homelessness in our city.
December
December was full of Christmas mood and the support of good activities. As every year, some of us participated in the Santa Claus Charity Run. Moreover, we supported cooperation with the Dedo Foundation once again. At the end of the year, our colleague Zuzka joined the team. After a long break, our traditional Christmas party took place in our new premises, where we celebrated the upcoming holidays. Many people came from far away, which made the gathering much more pleasant. With the old year behind us, we successfully handed in some of our projects, and we were able to embark on further challenges.
Challenges in 2023
In the new year, we will continue to focus on complex solutions in the field of software development, IT project management and infrastructure support (especially in technologies from Microsoft). We are about to open cooperations with new clients and deepen existing relationships. Our values remain the same - reliability and integrity - which is why we believe in continuous improvement. This is also underlined by our "Can do" mindset, which has always enabled us to respond quickly and in high quality to the needs of our customers. We want to let them know that we are here for them as a stable partner they can turn to and rely on any time. We plan to continue to focus on our greatest value - our employees - for whom we are preparing new benefits. We always appreciate their individual contribution, support them in their activities and strive to create a friendly environment so that they feel at home with us. Together, we are building a unique team not only at home but also abroad. Thank you for being with us!
