At the intersection of HR innovation, project management, and workplace equality, Német Nóra has built a career defined by adaptability, clarity, and purpose. With experience leading strategic HR initiatives at organisations such as Wizz Air and McKinsey, and as the founder of ILDA Digital, she brings a thoughtful and hands-on perspective to the evolving nature of leadership. 

In this Master Talk conducted with Dániel Juhász, she reflects on the defining moments of her professional journey – from overcoming burnout to starting her own business – and shares valuable insights into modern work culture, gender equity, and the future of leadership

You’ve gained recognition for your work in bridging the gender pay gap, but not everyone knows about your role in project management. How did you transition into this field, and what do you like about it?

First of all, I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to do this interview. It’s an honour to talk to you. Let me briefly introduce my professional background. In 2021, I moved from HR consulting to IT and HR project management. When this shift happened, I quickly realised that for the previous seven years, before 2021, I had been silently doing project management; only the IT part was missing. I met my former manager and mentor at Wizz Air Hungary, and I took part in building up the HR operational strategy and HR digital transformation. It was project management at its hardest, with a cross-functional, yet also physically fragmented, project team across Europe and the Middle East. Colleagues were running this project on top of their other priorities. After the go-live and babysitting phase, I joined McKinsey and Company. I took part in an M&A transaction and managed the daily operations of HR strategy and HR policies in Hungary, and stepped in for the Romanian HR manager while she was on sick leave, in a joint effort with other HR colleagues from CEE.

After McKinsey, what I did sounds like a cliché: I founded my company, ILDA Digital, two and a half years ago. I took longer projects from the beginning – two one-year project management and team leadership assignments. Besides that, I hold training sessions in Data Analytics for Human Resources. Last year, I started working with four students in my company on a specific research topic: the (Gender) Pay Gap and Pay Transparency.

Looking back on your career so far, what accomplishment stands out as the one you’re most proud of?

Having the courage to do something on my own at the age of 32. Basically, founding a company is a 1-hour exercise at a friend’s legal secretary’s office, but anything that comes after is the real – and sometimes hard – work.

Do you feel like leadership style in Hungary is still reflecting industrial work habits and practices, where managers favour hard work over smart work, long stressful hours versus concentrating on deliverables?

think you already answered this question with good intentions.  But let me add my view on this. Leadership style… I agree with you (what you said in our previous conversations), that it is still reflecting the industrial work habits and practices. Why on earth are we forcing people to precisely work a minimum of 8 hours a day? It is ridiculous to me, after Covid-19, after becoming a wife and mother, your schedule in life is always changing. Let me share a story. One of my former colleagues said that although he hates his current job, he will not quit now, because he is training for the marathon in the autumn, and if he changed jobs, he would have to work a minimum of 10 hours per day at a new place to “bring something to the table.” So, he postponed the job change until after completing the marathon yet suffered under the bad leadership practices for a while. The famous millennial buzzword for this would be quiet quitting – not productive, yet not gone from the company – you can imagine how much suffering it causes for both the company and the person.

Deliverables come when you focus on one thing: being good in your profession. You are only capable of doing that if you have full support from your team and company to do so. Those forced long hours could also be productive if that fits the given person’s needs. I especially like to work in 2–3 blocks per day because this is suitable for my attention style and how I get things done effectively.

Do you think there’s a disconnect between what managers value in their teams and what employees need to be successful? What is the psychological and health impact of stress and micromanagement on the workforce?

I think it’s bad and it’s getting worse every day. New and young managers want to change old bad habits, but they were raised and socialised in these old-school leadership patterns and do not yet have the tools to change them. What I would do is invest in leadership development, but I don’t know who could be a good trainer on this topic right now… Gen Z maybe? I love them! They’re so smart and capable of doing almost anything.

Back to the health impact, well I had two serious burnouts in my 12-year of professional career, although I’m said to be too young to have experienced it.

Most companies are working on programmes to improve the mental health and psychological safety of their employees, but it is not enough to have a presentation by a famous mental health therapist at the annual company event once a year. We are moving in a direction where management is also in a position to support a healthy balance and (mentally) healthy working conditions. Small things matter, like asking how your father is doing two days after you had to leave a meeting to pick up the phone for him. Or offering help when it’s needed. Or even a step further: offering help when it hasn’t been said out loud, but it’s clear to someone who’s paying attention.

Are we moving towards more progressive management practices or are we still going backwards when comparing workplace trends globally?

When I see capable people in positions, I trust and hope that we’ll move forward. In Hungary we’re still a bit behind, based on my experience of working with international colleagues over the past few years. I see that they are better at taking responsibility and moving towards change, and that’s a good thing. Many people in Hungary also have the courage to take the necessary steps in new directions, which is a positive sign for both the short and long term – and ultimately a better future for us.

Are there any initiatives or policies that you’ve come across that have had an impact and are closing the pay gap?

We will be talking about this in two weeks’ time at the ILDA Digital training sessions in May and June, but I would like to point out that some of the companies that took part in our research last year have been preparing for the EU Pay Transparency Act for a year and a half to two years. They will be ahead of the game because they have been piloting and testing what works and what does not. I strongly believe that this is key, and another key is to talk to your employees, understand their views and needs, and educate them about their pay scale and total remuneration statement.

In industries where women dominate the workforce, is there pay parity or are there still differences?

Most of the European numbers analyse overall gender statistics, so I can’t think of any specific examples that look like this. I think there are fewer and fewer industries where only women or only men dominate. There are a lot of women in IT, for example, and there are men who work in nurseries. Anyway, it’s a good question – maybe that’s something that we could focus on in our next research.

Do you think organisations are doing enough to create equal opportunities for women to reach leadership positions?

Not yet, but some of them are already doing a good job of talking to the “focus group” who are directly affected by these newly created opportunities. I highly doubt that creating quotas would solve anything – sometimes it’s the worst thing that could happen. For example, I would probably get a mid-level IT role more easily than you would in companies that use gender quotas, just because I am a woman. That would be bad for me and bad for the company because I would end up in the wrong job – I might not be ready for that kind of responsibility. In such a position, I value formal IT education and real-life DevOps experience more than my own limited development experience, such as my low-code/no-code data platform experience with Microsoft technologies.

What advice would you give to someone facing gender-related challenges in their career?

Talk to your manager and use evidence-based arguments. It’s that simple. If it’s not solved within two months, then leave.

The shift to remote working has been a game changer for many. What impact do you think it’s had on workplace dynamics and employee satisfaction? And now that companies are moving back into the office, what will be the outcome?

Yes, it was a game changer, a good game changer. It has had a tremendous impact, both good and bad. Employees are satisfied when home/office work is based on their specific needs. And that is all.

The outcome of going back to the office, when forced by management is worse than you think. In most cases, it leads to quiet quitting and real quitting when a more flexible employer offers something better.

Other employment conditions can also lead to quitting, which employers may not take seriously, but employees do. If I have to drive 16 km a day (35 minutes), which is 1.5 hours to get to work by public transport, and the employer does not offer a permanent free parking space, but “encourages” me to go to the office every day during the six-month probation period, I will quit immediately. One of my former colleagues’ parking costs about 400,000 forints a year, which is the price of a mid-priced four-day spring holiday in Europe for two people.

Mental health and well-being are hot topics in today’s workplace. What steps do you think organisations should take to create a supportive environment for their employees?

It’s not just about an annual employee engagement survey and follow-up, which is often unsuccessful because of the limited effort and resources that are usually allocated to solving real problems. I think it should be an open conversation between employees and employers. That’s all it takes – they can work out together what’s healthy for both sides.

How do you feel in your project management role? Do you have enough support and empowerment to be successful in your work?

I’ve been mostly self-taught myself over the years. I’ve participated in two PM Master Courses at Wunderplan (Derrick and Harry’s blog is famous in Hungary for PM humour). Every year I take between two and five courses – online or in person – on various topics to stay relevant in the market. These include on-the-job training, online training, instructor-led training, face-to-face training, and training provided by former employers or clients. I have had good mentors, like Vera Jung when we were both worked for Wizz Air and Márta Ocskay from Präzi Flachstahl AG.

When it comes to modern ways of working, what are your tips and tricks for project managers?

Keep your knowledge up to date and don’t be afraid to pilot and test new methodologies. I like a mix of approaches: using a KANBAN board for task management, SCRUM ceremonies, precise planning from the waterfall methodology, SCRUM poker, and lessons learned sessions (such as sprint retrospectives).

Fortunately, there are more and more young managers. What would you advise them to do?

Be brave enough to study and experiment as much as you can. I see many talented young professionals spending even more years studying than our generation did back in the day, and I think that’s a good thing – especially if they focus on learning languages, leadership fundamentals, financial planning, and entrepreneurship.

What about mid-career project managers – are they still chained to the Ford-era working habits they have learnt from older generations, or are they able to follow new practices?

Both types of managers exist in the marketplace, along with many others. If old management patterns exist at the L1-L2 management levels, there isn’t much room for improvement because people still like to hire and retain those with a similar mindset, even though it has been proven that people are more productive when different methodologies and different skills intersect. There is hope, however, as more and more of our younger colleagues – those of Gen Z age – are taking the driver’s seat, or at least starting their own businesses while still at university.