Large companies in Uzbekistan have largely eliminated gender stereotypes and traditional attitudes. This progression is evident in the increasing number of women in the work team, including in top management positions. Women are successfully breaking away from low-paying industries and securing high-level roles on equal footing with men.
Kursiv Research spoke with Nadira Shermatova, the Head of Marketing at Payme, about her experience managing the marketing department of one of the largest fintech companies in the country.
Through trial and error
— Nadira, can you share your journey to joining the company? What challenges and difficulties did you encounter along the way?
— I started my career in business relatively late, at the age of 27. Before that, I was on maternity leave and worked part-time as a university lecturer. Like many university graduates, I was unsure of my career path, jumping from PR to financial accounting. Eventually, I secured a job as a sales analyst in an international company, even though I had limited experience with Excel, the essential tool for the role. As someone who had always excelled in school, I found it frustrating to struggle to perform basic tasks. My constant mistakes drove me to madness, but within a few months, I mastered Excel. I transformed our reporting system into a different format, significantly reducing my technical errors and streamlining routine tasks.
After gaining experience in this field, I better understood numbers. While working, I also took sales training courses with my colleagues, which proved invaluable in the future. About three years later, I realised I wanted to transition into marketing, so I accepted a position as a brand manager. In this role, I was tasked with relaunching a national brand. I frequently faced challenges that required me to reassess my attitude and improve my communication skills to achieve results, even when plans went awry.
Eventually, I felt it was time for a change; the advertising restrictions at my current job were constraining my creativity. I left to work for another FMCG company as a brand manager. At the same time, I received an offer from Payme. At that point in my life, I was eager to embrace new challenges, so I decided to take the risk.
After working in the FMCG sector, which had remained unchanged for centuries, I initially felt out of place in a technology company. Surprisingly, I discovered more similarities than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I had to learn extensively as I progressed, experimenting and seeking the right solutions.
Value of practice
— How do you encourage innovation and creativity in your team? Do you have a specific strategy for encouraging new ideas and solutions among your employees?
— I hope to succeed in motivating my employees. My math teacher in school used to say, “If you want to learn how to solve equations, solve them.” That advice has stayed with me throughout my life. The same principle applies to creativity. Our team has many tasks, and as we solve them, we gain experience and insight, making it easier to be creative over time.
The company also encourages our development. We attend conferences and courses, hold internal brainstorming sessions, and share interesting cases. However, the key element in this complex process is still practice.
When it comes to overcoming difficult management situations and crises, the approach depends on the nature of the crisis. There are external crises where something changes unexpectedly, and our plans go awry. My team mobilises and works together like a single organism during these times. We know each other’s strengths, which helps us set deadlines and distribute tasks effectively.
It’s easier to resolve issues in challenging moments if the groundwork has been laid in advance. It’s similar to brand marketing—you engage with your audience long before they need your services. There are also challenging moments when my role prevents a problem from escalating into a more significant issue. I often remind the team, “The key is to perform your job as well as possible. Everything else will sort itself out.”
Simplicity
— What are your vision and strategic goals for Payme in the coming years, and how do you plan to achieve them in your role?
— We have a simple and clear objective: to become the best financial ecosystem in Uzbekistan. Payment is not just an app or a service; for many people, we have become a helper in the daily solution of many household and work issues. In this picture of the world, the role of marketing is to make people’s lives easier and more convenient.
—You represent one of the leading fintech companies in Uzbekistan, and this sector is actively developing today. In your opinion, what is the role of women in developing this industry?
— I think the progress of the industry never rests on the shoulders of one gender. I think it is inappropriate to divide women and men in this context, as success in the development of the fintech sector in Uzbekistan depends on each participant’s ideas, innovation and persistence, regardless of gender.
Equal development opportunities
— What is the current status of gender equality in Payme? Are there any measures to support women and their initiatives within the company?
— Payme has created an environment where every employee, regardless of gender, has equal opportunities for development and advancement. The company actively supports initiatives that ultimately stimulate employee professional growth and personal development.
Young specialists consistently participate in leadership and management training and mentoring programs and readily consult with more experienced colleagues. I believe these initiatives and programs help strengthen gender equality and foster a healthy atmosphere within the team.
At Payme, women are successful in various departments, including senior management, marketing, product development, and other technical specialities.
— Have you encountered the concept of the glass ceiling in your career? If yes, has it affected the progression of your ideas and projects? Is there no gender bias at Payme?
— I have never encountered a glass ceiling in my work. Moreover, I do not position myself solely as a representative of the female gender. From a young age, girls are often taught to be well-mannered, not argue with adults, not make the first move, and not impose their opinions. However, these behaviours can hinder effective problem-solving. I need to express my viewpoint and defend my opinion when necessary. Occasionally, I may need to put a project on hold to refine it and present it again later. This challenge is not about gender but about successfully executing a project.
Practical Gift
— Today, Payme is implementing social projects across various sectors. You initiated one such initiative, ‘ #On the Side of Women’s Business,’ which you initiated. Can you tell us more about it and its current stage?
— Each year, the celebration of International Women’s Day becomes a competition among brands eager to express their best wishes to women.
The principle of pragmatism guided our project; we believe that cards with tulips are not our focus. Ultimately, we decided that new clients would be the most valuable gift for aspiring businesswomen. Thus, we created a platform for young female entrepreneurs to showcase themselves and their products. The response was overwhelming, and we were unprepared for the large-scale project, so we are now preparing for a second wave.
— In your opinion, what is the key to the success of a woman leader?
— It has been scientifically proven many times that men and women have different leadership styles. However, I find it difficult to accept this statement. For me, a female leader’s professionalism is comparable to that of a male leader. The success of any leader lies in setting the right goals and surrounding themselves with the right people and a competent team.
