It was in the 2000’s that Balanças Marques started the great adventure of exploring new markets. Our scales, weighbridges and software travelled to conquer the world. And our doors opened even wider to welcome culture, languages and people from all the parts of the globe.
After a successful internationalization process, today we count not only on clients based all over the world, but also on a polyglot and international team. Mainly on our Customer Support Department. Because to be able to respond and offer support to our foreign partners, we had to turn it into a place of multiculturality.
There, we have a workplace with people from diverse backgrounds, distinct cultures that come from several countries and even continents. But, as themselves say, that doesn’t stop that each one feels welcome, that each one feels like they belong to this big family that is Balanças Marques:
- Raul
For Raul, it’s an honour to be a part of this company that offered him a job he describes as “attractive and motivating” and that welcomed him since the first moment. “My colleagues are always ready to help, which made the integration really easy”, he explains.
In Portugal since 2005, Raul was born in Spain, but it’s in French speaks most of the day. Fluent in three languages, it’s common to hear him mix all of them in a single sentence, when talking to his colleagues. Which, inevitably, sometimes causes a choir of laughs on the department where these are only some of the funny episodes that happen as a consequence of the blend of languages spoken around here.
- Jhonny
For Jhonny, there’s mostly a feeling of gratitude towards the company that gave him an opportunity, which “only a few would offer”, and that gave him not only an experience of “learning and growth”, but also an easy integration. “The work environment in my department is very comfortable. All my colleagues are always in a good mood and trying to help”, he tells.
Born in Venezuela, Johnny first came to Portugal in 2016 and started to work at Balanças Marques to give technical support in Spanish. Although Portuguese is not his mother tongue, he already feels comfortable speaking it. But sometimes he still commits some “gaffes”. Like when he told his colleagues that he had “vacuna” (in Spanish), meaning he had a “vaccine” and leaving everyone perplex for a few moments, trying to figure out what kind to disease is “vacuna”. No need to say this is just one of the stories involving linguistical confusions that happen around here, every day.
- Abdou
For Abdou, working at Balanças Marques has really been like working with family. “I can only thank all my colleagues for their help, for always being so kind and for turning my adaptation to this family so flexible. Everyone makes me feel like I’m home and I had no difficulty integrating on the team, even though I don’t speak Portuguese”, he declares.
Among all, he is the one who has been in the country for the least time. In Portugal only since early 2020, Abdou came from Argelia and one of the first Portuguese words he learnt was “no”. Word he started using to answer everything he didn’t understand. Which resulted on a rather funny situation when a colleague asked him, in Portuguese, if he was enjoying his work at Balanças Marques, to which he immediately responded “no”. The confusion was quickly dealth with, but this certainly one the stories that will be in the History of our Customer Support Department.
As our company and this family grows, in clients and employees, we are sure that Balanças Marques multiculturism will grow too. And the walls of Customer Support Department will continue to witness all this cultural diversity and many other stories that end up in joined laughs.
