"Standing up for myself
made me stronger."
Strong values and the ability to listen to people’s needs shape Jiří’s role as Customer Journey Expert and lead of the LGBTIQ+ network at Česká spořitelna, Erste Group’s bank in Czech Republic.
How did you grow up?
I’m from a small village; my parents are entrepreneurs. They taught me to be there for one another. Especially in the countryside after communism, I was taught not to stand out and to keep a low profile. When I was 19, I moved to Prague to study.
How did you end up at Česká spořitelna?
Česká spořitelna was actually my first employer. After a few years, I decided to explore new opportunities and gain experience elsewhere. Later, a former mentor reached out to me about an exciting new role and encouraged me to apply, which ultimately brought me back to the bank. At first, I participated in a trainee program focused on UX/UI. Today, I’m in direct contact with business customers to tailor our products and solutions to their needs and improve them. That means questioning the status quo every day, because feedback is constantly coming in. It’s important to meet customers’ needs as best as possible, and I just really enjoy that.
In addition to your job, you’ve also helped build the LGBTIQ+ employee network ‘Queers & Allies’. How did that come about?
After one of our meetings, a colleague approached me and asked whether I would be interested in supporting the emerging Queer & Allies network. I agreed right away because the issue is very important to me. And since I was the most outgoing person in the group, I was asked to lead the network. I believe that a queer employee network offers two key benefits: on the one hand, it shows that the company is open and inclusive by creating a community that supports one another and to which people can belong; on the other hand, this also projects an image to the outside world and makes our brand more inclusive and attractive. That’s extremely valuable. Queer & Allies have been officially established since 2026, but this was preceded by several years of preparation and groundwork. We used our first Pride Week to gather feedback. This was our biggest initiative so far and the first time we had such a broad opportunity to meet colleagues in order to gather feedback directly. It was a major milestone for us and something I am personally very proud of. Many people have come to us, who now feel more seen than before.
How does your job as a Customer Journey Expert connect to your role as Lead at Queers & Allies?
First, I wouldn’t have been able to fulfill my role in Queers & Allies at all if my team and my manager hadn’t supported me so much. That encouraged me to keep going. The common thread is probably that in both roles you receive feedback – on the one hand, from customers in my job, and on the other, from colleagues in the queer community about what they need. In my role, I see it as my job to listen to that feedback, meet people where they are, and respond to their needs.
Why is it so important to you to be accepted for who you are at your workplace?
I think I can’t even imagine the opposite – working in a place where I must wear a mask every day is unimaginable to me. It’s always been very important to me to be authentic and honest and simply to show respect toward others. That’s why it was also important to me to be honest when I came out. The process took time, but today I look back on it very positively. I would say it was worth taking that path. I also really identify with the narrative of Česká spořitelna which is #stronger. Not just because I’m a fitness instructor next to my job in the bank, but because I’ve become stronger by standing up for myself.
What is your wish for the future?
I really wish that diversity becomes more normal and queer people can share for example their weekend stories with their partner as openly as everybody else does – without being judged.