
From Civil Engineering to Talent Recruitment, Szymon Murawiecki, Talent Acquisition Director, EMEA, is a Renaissance Man

Meet Talent Acquisition Director - EMEA Szymon Murawiecki, who boomeranged back to McCormick “because it feels like home.”
Szymon Murawiecki has many interests, which has made his career journey more of a fun and winding road as opposed to a straight line.
“I like to try new things. The different experiences I had in each of my roles have made me a better manager and talent recruiter.”
While he earned his first degree in civil engineering, he worked as a recruiter in different agencies in Poland. He also led a team of people at a steel manufacturer, where he worked in operations, overseeing manufacturing, service, and maintenance teams and managing a P&L. For a brief time, he was responsible for compensation and benefits at another company.
Along the way, he picked up a degree in Human Resources.
“I really enjoyed the work at the talent agency but wanted to be embedded in an organization that supported internal stakeholders in finding the right people. I saw an advert for a talent acquisition role at McCormick and jumped at the opportunity. After the first interview, I knew that McCormick was the place for me.”
McCormick was the perfect fit for Szymon as he was able to merge his diverse experiences working in both talent acquisition and manufacturing.
“Because of my manufacturing experience, I shared a common language with our Global Supply Chain team. I understood the unique roles that they needed to be filled.”
While Szymon loved his job, his commute to McCormick was a challenge. To spend more time with his family, he made the decision to leave.
It didn’t take long for McCormick to ask him to come back. It was after the pandemic, and the company offered Szymon a flexible work schedule to overcome the barriers he was facing with his commute. He decided to boomerang back and rejoin the team.
“I personally feel a strong connection to this place. I love the way people talk to each other. I love the culture. Because they were willing to be flexible and help me balance my family and work obligations, they made my return possible.”
Szymon was brought back to further advance programs that were already in place to improve performance and take the EMEA team to the next level
“I’m passionate about people, and I know that there is always room for improvement. Companies and people are often covered in dust. It just takes some time to remove the dust and bring out the hidden gems inside. Nothing is really ever finished, because you can always make things better. It’s quite a lot of work, but I love it.”
He enjoys coaching junior team members and talking to people about their career journeys. He has two key pieces of advice – be open to feedback, even if it is not what you expect to hear, and speak up.
“Every piece of feedback allows you to learn and grow. You also don’t want to be the person sitting in the corner. Speak up. No idea or question is too silly. Remember, a long time ago, someone had the idea to leave the cave to see what was out there. It may have seemed silly at the time, but because of that, we are no longer living in a cave.”
He also reminds people that not everything will run smoothly, people will not always be nice, and the sun won’t constantly be shining. But if you enjoy what you do and you feel like you are part of a team that supports you, then you can work through any challenge and grow both personally and professionally.
“I tell people that McCormick is a global company with a family-owned flavor. We are a big small company where we all know each other and work closely with teams both in EMEA and across the world. That is our superpower.”