Unsung Hero - Ekaterina Davidova – HR Manager

Ekaterina joined the school in February 2019, as maternity cover for a HR Officer. At the interview, she was told that once the individual on maternity came back, Ekaterina could certainly apply for a Teaching Assistant post, which is what she was keen on at the time as she loves children.

Ekaterina has always displayed leadership qualities, and as the eldest child in her family has been quite responsible in helping raise her younger brother Denis (who is 19 years younger). At school, she was the class prefect and the right-hand of the Teacher and at university, she was also a student representative, balancing academic excellence with extra-curricular activities.

As a child, Ekaterina wanted to be on the stage and loved singing, dancing and performing. A highlight was when she played the lead role in Pushkin’s, the Golden Fish and showcased her acting prowess at different schools in the city. However, she later decided that actresses in Uzbekistan have an uncertain future and not the best salary so changed her focus to studying languages.

Ekaterina loved the English language and decided to pursue English Philology at university. Her thesis looked at comparing different Russian translations of J. K. Rowling’s, Harry Potter books and then coming up with her own. Her favourite character is Lord Valdemort and in Star Wars its Darth Vader. Ekaterina respects strong, charismatic leaders, who can easily control large groups of people. However, she has never wanted to be the “top dog” herself – she would rather be the leader’s right-hand person and make sure things happen.

Prior to joining BST, Ekaterina worked at Indorama as an Assistant, then at the Marakand-Karshi Railway Electrification Project and lastly at the Latvian Karshi-Termez Railway Project. At BST, Ekaterina was given a list of duties as part of the handover process for maternity cover. However, there was no one in the department who could teach her how to accomplish the tasks assigned to her. So Ekaterina spent the first two months, going to different parts of Tashkent and meeting peers at the Visa Office, Registration Department and the Foreign Affairs Office. There, she asked lots of questions, built networks and sought advice on how best to accomplish her job. This was a steep learning curve for Ekaterina but a useful one and the process allowed her to make many new friends and have greater confidence in her own skills.

In December 2020, Ekaterina’s hard work paid off and she was promoted to HR Manager. Ekaterina may have given up her dreams of the stage, but at every BST event she is the first one on the dance floor and encourages everyone to join in the fun. Although, she no longer wants to teach children, we think Ekaterina’s patience and interpersonal skills make her the perfect HR Manager and if she ever wants to teach again she may want to teach adults how to Zumba!

We are sure Ekaterina’s hard work, commitment and sense of humour will help her progress even further within Nord Anglia in future.