Meet The Leaders: Mihaela Suciu, General Manager of Distributie Energie Electrica Romania (DEER)

The business sentiment for 2024 in the electricity distribution field

Distributie Energie Electrică Romania – DEER, the largest national electricity distribution operator, with a coverage area in 18 counties, representing 40.7% of Romania’s territory, is a valuable, profitable and performing company.

The special results obtained are due to the team of professionals, the management team, which promotes efficiency and proactivity, but also to our strategy, which aims to satisfy the needs of almost 4 million users. The year 2023 was a year with good financial results and investments made in the electrical infrastructure, but also in digitalization, thus managing to increase the quality of the distribution service.

This year we continued on the same upward trend, we really pressed the accelerator pedal, and the results for the first semester are in line with our and the group’s expectations: a 15 percent increase in revenues, exceeding 2 billion lei, an increase of about 5% of the volume of energy distributed, and the value of the investments assumed for the first semester of the year is close to 100%.

Personally, as the leader of a team of professionals, a motivated, dedicated and visionary team – DEER Team, I am very satisfied with the performance of our company. Of course, there is always room for improvement and we want even better results. And I am convinced that it will be so, and the DEER team will continue to perform.

We have all the prerequisites: we have a strong team and we have financial resources, being champions in accessing non-refundable funds, with a total value of the funds accessed, in the period 2023-2024, of 2,684,945,973 lei without VAT, of which 2,048,771,853 lei are non-refundable . We are proud of the fact that DEER’s efforts to identify other financial resources for investment projects have been a real success. And I congratulate on this occasion the colleagues who managed to realize these important projects.

But, even if we managed to get financing for the 18 projects, know that the difficulties arise only after the signing of the financing contracts. We are talking here about the co-financing that we have to provide from our own funds, which is 1.2 billion lei including VAT.

The consequences of the crisis are still being felt: the banks still have some reluctance to grant loans in this area, and the lack of money, including that owed from the budget, makes it quite difficult to provide co-financing for the projects made from non-reimbursable funds . And the projects we carry out with our own funds are even more difficult to finance.

The Fundamentals of Leadership: I follow the 3️D: Debate-Decision-Discipline

At Distribuție Energie Electrică Romania, we act like disciplined soldiers, capable of taking effective decisions and measures in real time, in order to prevent or remedy critical situations arising in the network, in order to ensure the approximately 4 million users a distribution service of electricity in safe and permanent conditions.

As the foundation of my management style, I have always applied the SO strategy and turned challenges into opportunities. And this is, at this moment, also the mentality that we promote within DEER – to focus on progress, learn from mistakes and support each other in achieving the goals, keeping the same commitment and determination.

In the discussions with the social partners, with the union, which represents the approximately 6,500 employees of DEER, I always tell them that I am their “competition”, because I want a lot for my colleagues and I fight for it.

Just one example: the wages of employees must be recognized in the distribution tariff. But if we raise wages, the distribution rate should increase and, consequently, the bills of our users. So, together with the company’s management team, we are looking for solutions that lead to increased income for employees, but without increasing consumer bills. And I think that this has been seen very well since I took over the mandate of General Director and I can give an example with the year 2023, when the highest salary increase that was granted to employees was recorded. If we have a professional relationship based on trust, collaboration, development and performance, we can do this more easily. I’m a big believer in the power of team, I always talk about Team DEER.

My colleagues also believe in the team they belong to, and the results are visible.

I have to admit that it was quite difficult for me in 2022. When I was talking about Team DEER, no one seemed to believe, they looked at me and smiled, saying that it was just a slogan. But I really believe in them, in the people, in the team, and now everyone fully understands that. My greatest satisfaction is when I see how easily they communicate and interact, even though it took me two years to get to that level. We have not yet reached perfection, but the current state does not compare to what we found when we took over as Director General. So trust, honesty and sincerity. These values ​​guide my entire activity, professionally, but also personally. I am transparent, direct, fair and open every time, in every situation and with everyone.

As for the personal approach in leading teams, it is based on a transformative leadership philosophy, encouraging continuous feedback and the active involvement of the team in the decision-making process; my approach focuses on creating a collaborative, innovative and sustainable environment where honesty and trust become cornerstones, promoting a strong organizational culture.

Another challenge, perhaps the biggest, which is very present not only within our company, but in the entire energy sector: the specialized human resource

People in all fields and all qualifications are needed. We make every effort to attract labor within the company: scholarships for pupils and students, partnerships with dual education institutions, partnerships with technical universities, recruitment and retention strategies, effective promotion and performance stimulation policies, employee specialization on which we have, through continuous training courses. We are determined to invest in our colleagues, but also to create future specialists. Time is another challenge we face. In order to achieve the decarbonization targets that we have proposed at the country level, until 2030, charging electric cars, taking over the energy production of prosumers, electric public transport, etc., the electric network must “resist”.

This requires massive investments. No one in Europe is ready, all countries have networks older than 40 years, according to the European Commission. Five years to complete the modernization of distribution networks is an extremely ambitious deadline, not only for us, but for all EU member countries.

In conclusion, for DEER skilled labor, time and money are the main challenges we face and, in my opinion, will continue to face. But we have a clearly defined strategy aimed at a distribution service at high quality standards, by reducing the number and time of unplanned interruptions, by modernizing, automating and digitizing our networks, so that we respond quickly and efficiently to the current needs of consumers. And to achieve these goals, we make all the necessary efforts, regardless of the difficulties and challenges we encounter.

For a leader, the most important thing is the team, to have professionals, visionary managers and involved employees next to you, with whom you can achieve results, to have mutual support and a common vision on the objectives. I believe that one of the most important qualities of a leader today is the ability to inspire and coordinate the team, this implies not only the ability to set clear strategic visions, but also to create an environment where innovation, ideas and initiatives are capitalized.

My message to the teams I coordinated, but also to all employees, is to always have courage, to have initiatives, to put passion and energy into what they do. I personally admire and encourage enthusiastic, proactive people.

Nurturing a strong performance culture

A lot has already been changed within DEER. When I say this, I am referring to the period since I took over the mandate of general director.

My main goal was and is to build a strong team, and communication in an organization is key. I have worked on this aspect and I can say that the evolution of this area can be seen very clearly, both internally and externally. Personally, I am a fan of close, open and honest discussions with people, because this is the only way we manage, at the level of company management, to identify and know the problems of all hierarchical levels, to know the realities on the ground, which we then analyze together and find solutions. We need, and we promote within DEER, people with initiatives, proactive people, people who want and can bring added value to this company, DEER employs experienced, professional people who know their job very well, are dedicated and committed .

What we have managed to do, especially in the last 2 years, is to present ourselves better and value ourselves on our way to success. What needs to change in the way people approach work? As I said above, the attitude with which they relate to what they do and the energy they put into each action. I have always been convinced that when you do what you like, put positive energy into your activity and come to work with pleasure, work becomes a bridge between desires and achievements. And one more thing: I support employees to interact more, both in the work environment and in the informal environment, to learn to work in a team, promoting collaboration and excellence in all aspects, and for these goals we have different programs dedicated to building and the development of a strong organizational culture, but time is still needed.