Kalle Kormi is the Controller – Western Europe at KFC in Lausanne, Switzerland. He previously spent over eight years at Alcon and more than six years with O-I.

How do you build a high performing Finance team from scratch?

It all starts with recruitment and recruiting the relevant people with the right competency. I want to recruit talent and, of course, a variety of talent. I also like to recruit a diverse team, so people who are at the beginning of their career, people who have ten years’ experience, more senior people - having the right mix of talent is very important.

First, I really focus on how to create the environment for a team to be successful and high performing. It starts with creating a safe space - a psychological safety that everybody in the team feels safe. You can take risks without being afraid of the consequences. If you succeed, or even if you feel insecure or even embarrassed, it’s a safe place for everybody; you can say silly things and you ask silly questions and are not afraid of the reaction or the consequences. It’s very important for me that I create a safe place for my team, because I think when you feel safe that’s when you can try to drive the performance.

The second point I normally focus on is dependability in the team. What that means is trusting my team, colleagues and teammates that they all deliver what they promise. For example, if I say, “I haven’t done that report, but I will get that report done tomorrow,” My team should trust that I deliver tomorrow. Also, finding out if every team member can trust all their team. What is very critical for me is dependability.

Next, the structural clarity. Knowing if everybody understands what the goals are, why we do what we do as a team. Also, the clarity of roles and responsibilites and the understanding of each other’s roles, along with if they need further clarification.

Team vision and where we want to be as a team, now, in the next three months, next year. Ultimately, if I look at what makes a high performing team, I need to know how to keep the team motivated. Knowing why this work is personally important to me. I mean, we all work to get paid, but going beyond that and what makes the work meaningful to me. Believing in the work I do, knowing if I am making a difference, what my role is and the bigger picture, why my work matters and what’s important.

What we do is very important for the crew, because ultimately it all goes to our external reporting, which is then shared with the investors in Wall Street. The work that matters and the bigger picture – those are the key factors.

Also, building a safe space, to give the team clarity, what’s the team vision, why we do it, can we count on each other, why the job is important, why does it matter to me - and it starts with recruiting the right people.

How do your outdoor activities help you decompress in your personal time?

I run three times a week and then I do hikes or skiing in winter. If I have a sport that gives me the chance to really focus on the activity itself, for example, if I’m skiing and I really need to focus and concentrate, or I am climbing the mountains, I forget everything related to work. I will just focus on the activity at hand.

It is very important for me that when I do activity outside of work, like a ski day, it really gives me a chance to forget work and give me the good, clear boundary between work and life.

How is KFC reducing bias in the hiring process?

First, I think it is very important for all of us - managers, people hiring - that we actively do training on understanding our bias. We all have both conscious and unconscious bias. There’s lots of online courses I’ve taken on LinkedIn, for example, which we give access to all our employees on how to train, understand, and recognise both your conscious and unconscious bias.

The first interview we do is usually with a camera off, so we don’t have influence based on the person’s looks.

Also, what is very nice is we normally have a number of stakeholders involved, so for any recruitment process, we have three or four people working on the role, and at least three people interviewing. We can then compare notes, so it’s not only my own bias, we always have a consensus.

I personally believe that everybody seems to be much more interesting when I meet them, compared to what the CV could maybe indicate. It’s also nice that, when I have interviewed people, there are usually silent competencies that I might only discover when I talk to people, which they might not highlight in their CVs.

For example, there might be CVs that I will just look at to see if they have relevant work experience or what their level of education is, and I could miss a lot of high potential people. Other times, when I do the interview, I discover they might have a silent competency based on their hobbies, or even just the way they interact and explain things, that they didn’t think were originally relevant for the role.

Of course, it’s a time constraint - I can’t interview every single person who sends a CV. I need to do some pre-selection, but sometimes I’m okay if the person doesn’t meet all the criteria. Nowadays, if I look at the requirements for the job, hardly ever will I meet a person who will meet every single requirement we put on the job ad tax ruling.

Switzerland has signed a tax rule with OECD, so we can’t compete with just lower tax rates, but I think most companies don’t come here just to benefit from a low taxation; we come here because Switzerland is very innovative and a competitive place for companies, and I think that will continue to develop more. Access to the talent pool is also very key - that is why companies tend to locate here.

What risks have you taken throughout your career and how did they help you to get to the level you’re at?

I have been mobile from a very early age in my career before having a family – it has definitely helped me a lot that I was able to be mobile and I took a risk. The first risk was in 1997, when I decided to go to study in the UK instead of Finland. That already opened my exposure to working and studying in a different language environment, which is more international.

I spent six years in the UK, before moving back to Finland in 2003, where I managed to stay for only two years. I joined an American multi-national and then they started a big integration process buying a French company, and they asked me if I’d like to move to Paris in 2005, and I said yes.

After four months in Paris, they set up a European Headquarters in Lausanne, and I came here. I was mobile first as a one-year project worker, and then they offered me an expat contract for three years, and I was mobile.

Sometimes, it’s not only looking at the vertical move - take horizontal moves in your career just to broaden your skills, plus your experience. I have taken horizontal moves; I am not always looking to go higher or get a promotion. Sometimes, horizontal moves have really helped me in the long-term more. I think that’s my advice for young people, and also, don’t always think you need to get a promotion or move up.

Also, I took a one-year sabbatical leave in 2011, and it definitely helped to realise what I want to do and where I want to go. If ever people have a chance to take sabbatical leave before they start their families and having children, I strongly recommend.

For me, it had no real impact on my CV, either. After I came back to Switzerland after sabbatical leave, it took me three months to find a new job. I don’t think people should be worried about having a career gap on the CV. If ever you want to have a little pause and think what you want to do, a sabbatical leave is a great opportunity for that.

What’s the secret to building a strong network?

You need to be frank and curious. Have a genuine interest in other people. People can easily tell if you just do it for self-promotion. Its just like, what’s in it for me? At some point, I stopped - it’s a very fine line.

There’s a lot of networking opportunities in Switzerland. I think I’m very picky and selective, like when do I want to go, what events, and is it a self-serving purpose. For the network I build, I think it’s important for people that they know that they can trust me. I generally care for people; I really want to be generally interested in people.

Never burn any bridges and, when you leave the company, always do it in a friendly way, because you never know what will come around. It has helped me; I stayed friends with the colleagues I had, they move around Switzerland, and we share career opportunities.

Be authentic. You need to be social; you need to show interest in other people. And also, the network doesn’t happen overnight. I’ve been here 17 years, so it’s come to over ten years that I have known the people, different consultants, different audit firms, different bargains I had.

If I look at the network that I have now, which is quite extensive, it didn’t come in one year - it takes some time. You can’t rush that. It’s the people you work with in different projects - the contractors, the consultancy you have used - you know if they are good, you want to work with them again.

What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

Professionally, I was told by my peers and even my ex-boss that I am a role model, and praised for how I care for and how I stand up for my team. I don’t want to be overprotective of my team, but I do stand up for my people.

Outside of work, I’ve been told that I have a great, but very twisted, sense of humour, and I guess that’s the six years in the UK. I love sarcasm – the British sense of humour is very dear and near to me. Ultimately, the best compliment I could say is hearing my daughters saying that I’m the best dad.

Particularly, since COVID-19, how have you seen your approach to Finance evolve?

I think the hybrid, flexible work models have become relatively normal. For myself, before COVID, I used to go to the office four days a week and have one home office day. During COVID, I worked for almost two years from home with my teams here in Switzerland, but also in Denmark, Germany and Italy, and we found an acute way of working.

We did quarter close, we did year-end close, we did audits, everything remotely. Now COVID is over, so I see sometimes we do need to have physical people at work, especially when building a completely new team of people. You need to spend some time with each other before you can get us on Facetime, and onboarding new people is easier.

That being said, I’m very flexible. I believe we can deliver very strong Finance reporting, Accounting whether you work three days, two days at home - I don’t really care. People are learning to appreciate this flexibility, and also flexible working hours.

If you don’t have a customer-facing role, I don’t really care if you just work from eight to six. If you prefer to work four hours during the day, take a few hours off to be with your family, and come back online after nine o’ clock, if that’s what suits you, I’m fine.

I think this is what more and more people are expecting from employers, as well. It’s better that you have a hybrid model, so that you can work remotely if you wanted to with flexible hours. We rely much more on things like Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

I used to travel a lot, as I had teams in Denmark, Germany and Italy. Now, I travel less. I try to make that travel more impactful when I go, but there’s less need to meet in person, which is also good, because sometimes it can be a hassle – for example, going to a country for a half-a-day meeting.

COVID gave us a chance to also question a lot of the habits we used to have and what really is necessary; I really like that, as we can work in a hybrid model - that’s at least the picture since COVID, and I hope this will stay.

Talented people know the deadlines. How they get there? I leave it up to them. I believe if I meet my people once or twice a week, it is enough.

Thank you to Kalle for speaking to John Bower, Director in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in Switzerland.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Jitka Carolin is the Director Sourcing Direct Materials MEU at Mondelez International in Zurich, Switzerland. She has worked for the business for over 13 years, in countries such as the UAE, South Africa and the Czech Republic. She started her Procurement career at Kraft Foods in 2005.

What do you see as the biggest challenges for a) your business, and b) your own role over the next 12 months?

As many other businesses, our business was battling with supply chain disruptions and enormous inflation. The challenge for the business that I see is to get more resilient – both from the supply chain perspective, but - more importantly - taking care of our people and focus on the mental health of our employees.

We also need to find the right value equation for our consumers, and make sure that our brands keep growing and we have the right product offering.

I am responsible for raw and pack supplies for our factories in Europe. With the challenge our Procurement team had to battle, on many fronts, people feel exhausted. My biggest challenge is to keep our people motivated and in good spirits.

Continue building on strategic relationships with our suppliers that have been key for the success of Mondelez during this volatile time. Take learnings we had over last two years (there have been many) and transform them into new, more resilient Procurement strategies.

Managing raw materials and packaging at Mondelez, I would imagine that ESG (environmental, social and governance) is a strong focus and driver. What do you/your team do to drive sustainability and the sustainable sourcing agenda?

Absolutely. Sustainability become the fourth strategic pillar of Mondelez, and it’s a testimony that sustainability is top of our agenda. In raw and pack materials, we focus on working closely with our suppliers and farmers on our signature programs in cocoa (Cocoa Life), wheat (Harmony), and also building a strong sustainability program in dairy, as it is one of the biggest contributors to our supply chain CO₂ footprint.

In packaging, we focus on packing our products in the “Light and Right” way, using the right pack material and using less, as well as recyclability of our whole pack portfolio.

We also have a strong program on supporting women and minority-owned businesses as part of our Economic Inclusion & Supplier Diversity program, and this agenda has really picked up nicely in the last few years.

You have a broad international exposure and moved across multiple countries and continents. Is there any advice that you would offer candidates looking at expat opportunities?

Yes, I had an opportunity to work in different countries and continents, and it has been invaluable. I have learnt a lot about business in developing countries, learned about different cultures, and also about myself. I hope it made me a better, more inclusive and more resilient leader.

My advice would be: embrace the opportunity! It is not always easy to make a decision to move to a different country - especially if someone in the family needs to pause their career – but, if you find the right balance, you decide as a family it’s worth it.

It is also the best you can give to your kids in terms of broadening their horizon, learning different languages; it’s just a cherry on top.

Is Switzerland a good place to live and why?

Switzerland is an amazing place to live; it’s safe, clean, stable, and - despite some biased opinions - also very full of friendly people.

What is a personal highlight of your career so far?

I would say it is my assignment in South Africa, where I was in charge of south, east and central Africa procurement. I came from the environment of Europe, with a mature market, mature processes, and established supply chains in an environment where day-to-day management of issues and smaller or bigger crises became a daily reality.

I still consider this period as the best and most intense learning period in terms of soft skills development, leadership and problem-solving. In the light of the current supply chain crisis and the high inflationary environment, I often go back to those days, thinking that the experience prepared me well for current challenges.

What is the biggest myth about your profession that you want to debunk?

I don’t know if there is a myth about Procurement as such. I think, often, people outside of Procurement might consider that Procurement is all about negotiation with suppliers. It’s a big part of it, but there are so many other elements of our work that are important; starting with creating the right sourcing strategy to executing it, addressing both what we buy and how we buy.

Especially in the last few years, the Procurement function proved that - if the right strategy is in place - it can become a key competitive advantage for the company.

Who did you most admire when you were a child and why?

I did not have a specific person of character to admire. I got lots of inspiration from my parents, who always put education as a key pillar and both were working parents. I have three siblings, so my mum raised four kids while still managing to have quite successful career. That is a model that I want my kids to see, as well - to see that anything is possible if one has big dreams and goes after them.

What is the future of Procurement & Supply Chain?

Only bright! Margin pressure in many areas will not go away, macroeconomic and political situations will not become less volatile in the near future, and there will be a high need for Procurement professionals.

We, as a function, however, need to make sure we evolve in line with the needs of the current business environment; we develop new capabilities and knowledge, and take learnings from the past few challenging years.

How can leaders create diverse teams?

By starting with ourselves – creating the right vision and demonstrating the right, inclusive leadership behaviours, from the way we recruit to identifying and eliminating biases. Simply practicing empathetic leadership.

I think that, by now, most leaders know that having a diverse team is essential for the company success. How to get there might still be challenge for many of us, however, I am confident that we are on the right track. The fact that many companies have Diversity & Inclusion on top of their People agenda is encouraging.

Thank you to Jitka for speaking to Charlotte Cruise, Senior Consultant in our Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment team in Switzerland.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Corina-Elena Breban is the Senior Director HR: EX, Leadership and Culture at Foot Locker EMEA in Amsterdam. She started her career in Psychology, before moving into the Human Resources function. Corina-Elena spent over ten years at adidas in the Netherlands, becoming Senior Human Resources Manager.

What strategies do you use for developing innovative, diverse teams?

As a leader, I am the one who lives for the future by making every moment count. My interest lies in seeing possibilities beyond what is already present and known, by using my intellect, intuition and ingenuity.

Driving a successful business starts with having the right team in place, and - because of my experience and background in organizational psychology - I go for using the following strategies:

• Hire for the mission.
  
  Many of you have probably seen the famous advertisement which, as the story goes, Ernest Shackleton ran in the newspaper to try to recruit men for his Endurance expedition: “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.”
  
  This advertisement is one of the most famous in history.

• Promote and preserve psychological safety.
  
  Psychological safety at work doesn’t mean that everybody is nice to each other all the time. It means that people feel free to “brainstorm out loud”, voice half-finished thoughts, openly challenge the status quo, share feedback, and work through disagreements together — knowing that leaders value honesty, candor and truth-telling, and that team members will have one another’s backs.
  
  When psychological safety in the workplace is present, people feel comfortable bringing their full, authentic selves to work and are okay with “laying themselves on the line” in front of others. And organizations with psychologically safe work environments — where employees feel free to ask bold questions, share concerns, ask for help, and take calculated
  risks — are all the better for it.

• Create and celebrate diversity.
  
  Celebrating our differences, as well as our common interests, to understand others’ perspectives, to broaden our own helps unite and educate us, and to fully experience and educate ourselves.
  
  Four terrific ways to celebrate Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace are to:

1. Pay close attention to pay equity.
2. Cater strongly to employee advancement; become an ally.
3. Build a company culture event calendar.
4. Promote diversity education and resource groups to employees.

• Drive common goals and value teamwork.
  
  Teamwork is important, because it enables your team to share ideas and responsibilities, which helps reduce stress on everyone, allowing them to be meticulous and thorough when completing tasks.
  
  Effective teamwork comes in many shapes and sizes, and has a significant impact on the success of the organization.
  
  - Hold a brainstorming session.
  - Great teams trust each other.
  - Willingness to share expertise.
  - Complement one another.
  - Be open to suggestion.
  - Rise and fall together.

Do you feel, as a woman, that you have encountered additional barriers in your career development?

Yes, I have put my career on hold for a time being. This trade has been there when building a family, getting children, and preserving the time and energy to spend with the loved ones.

What advice would you give to other women aspiring to be where you are?

There are many ways to arrive in the same place and no journey is the same. What matters the most to me is being authentic - live every day as the best day ever and utilize your flow. Let go of all that does not serve you and be aware of the impact you create.

One thing I wished I would have known earlier in life is to lean on communities and networks.

Think back to the best manager you’ve ever worked for. What did you like about the person’s management style?

The best manager I’ve worked for had a coaching style: give the space people need, give them the bigger picture, help them to change perspectives, utilize differences, seek for a large spectrum of ideas and ways. Let them grow and go.

Are there any women that you would highlight as being your key role models?

Last weekend, I was visiting Teylers Museum. A museum which was founded in 1784 and is the first and the oldest museum in the Netherlands in Haarlem. While The Lorentz Formula offers a spectacular experience that can be experienced exclusively in the Lorentz Lab, I have noticed a group picture on the wall with all the scientists at that time. Marie Curie was sitting on a chair in the front row, nearby Lorentz and Einstein.

Marie Curie was the first woman to receive a Nobel Price and one of five people to ever win two Novel Prizes; her life story is unique. In many ways, Curie has been called “the first woman to…”. She was both the first female Physics doctoral student and the first female professor at the Sorbonne, the first female Nobel Laureate and, in 1995, the first woman whose grave was buried in the cemetery on account her own merits. Marie Curie broke through the male bastion of science, without compromising her own work. She is therefore a role model for many female researchers.

You don’t need to get famous, or win the first prize ever, just follow your passion and follow your flow.

What challenges do you see for women in senior HR roles?

Getting a seat at the table as CHRO, and elevating and bringing the People function into the boardroom. While there are many women working in the HR field, there seems to be more men at the top. Remember that people are the most critical part of any company; only by investing in people will the business succeed. 

What is your opinion on the idea of a four-day work week?

I have experienced a four-day work week, right after my maternity leave when I started working one day less to take care of my child. In that reality, nothing changed in my responsibilities or volume of work; I was supporting the same business from the HR standpoint. That was the time when I started thinking of the 80/20 rule: the Pareto principle.

Time management is the most common use for the Pareto principle. Many people tend to thinly spread out their time, instead of focusing on the most important tasks.

Likewise, there is the idea that people must work excessively long hours to produce good outcomes. This type of thinking can create an unequal work-life balance, resulting in burnout and overall decreased productivity.

With the Pareto principle, you can save time on work tasks and get more done in a shorter span of time. Think, output and impact. 

How is the growing focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) changing the function and how does it relate to your role?

ESG not only makes a business favorable to lenders, but it contributes to improving the overall financial performance of a business. Even small efforts toward sustainability - such as going paperless, recycling, or making energy-efficient upgrades - can improve a business' bottom line and ROI .

From a People and culture point of view, the S component of ESG relates to corporate responsibilities in the form of the values and culture an organization wants to be identified with or have as hallmarks of their employer brand.

These include value manifestations such as Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEI&B), promoting volunteerism, and other ways of simply prioritizing doing good for society.

The G, or governance, part of the equation often connotes compliance considerations Other core elements of this ESG pillar include business ethics and accountabilities to all who have any relationship with that business.

And, although the data security and privacy topics get a disproportionate share of the attention within this pillar, there are signs that organizations are endeavoring to make ethical business practices just as tangible, to the point where businesses can lead with relevant examples.

What are the three main challenges that lie ahead for you as the Senior Director HR: EX, Leadership and Culture for 2023?

Digitalize EX, while preserving the workspace for our people to deliver team results, grow individually professionally and be part of the community.

Redefine our culture, which integrates and extends CX (customer experience) along with the future of work.

Lead with the future in mind for our People agenda.

Thank you to Corina-Elena for speaking to our HR recruitment team in the Netherlands, led by Katie Insley.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Michelle Wang is the Global Head SCM Contracting and Partner Management at Hitachi Energy in Zurich, where she was recently part of a leadership development programme. She has been an active committee member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) in both Switzerland and the UK, having spoken at our co-hosted 2022 event in Switzerland.

What excites you about working for Hitachi Energy?

What excites me most is the relevancy of what the company’s products and solutions do to improve our daily life and future. I am happy to collaborate with my colleagues toward Hitachi Energy’s purpose of advancing a sustainable energy future for all.

It’s absolutely inspiring to think that what we are doing every day positively impacts the company's purpose of a sustainable, flexible and secure energy system for today’s generations and those to come.

What do you see as the biggest challenges for a) your business, and b) your own role over the next 12 months?

The biggest challenge and also opportunity in our industry is accelerating the global energy transition. We are championing the urgency, pioneering technologies and solutions that are helping to accelerate the carbon-neutral future, improving quality of living for today’s generations and those to come. Together with our customers and partners, we are collaborating to deliver innovative solutions. We believe that collaboration plus diversity equals great innovation.

And, for my role, the biggest challenge is to support business growth within dynamic environments, while continuing to successfully manage the contractual risk profile.

You are very passionate about contracting and the value of the best-in-class approach to what contracting can bring. What are the main considerations Procurement professionals should be assessing? What are the most common pitfalls you see?

Every clause is worth something, so make good use of them. The most common pitfall is to treat the contracting process separately within the overall sourcing process. Early engagement is key here to understand each parties' respective positions, and, if needed, the contract can be used as a way of managing trade-offs during negotiations. 

As the Head Supply Chain Management (SCM) Contracting and Partner Management, you have a lot of touchpoints within the business. Who are the main stakeholders that you deal with internally and what is the biggest value you feel your department brings?

Within my role, I am supporting all types of sourcing activities, ranging from large Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) projects, sourcing direct material and services, to indirect, and transport and logistics, too.

As the function lead, it is important for me to stay connected with each business unit, so everyone that comes across contract at some stage in their work, is my stakeholder. Of course, the heads of SCM for each respective business unit are my main advocates. I also have a reference team set up within each business, who function as my eyes and ears on the ground and my communication channel to reach everyone in the organisation.

As a function, we bring consistency in how to contract, we bring control when it comes to risks, we bring expertise when there’s difficulty during negotiations, and we provide trainings for all of them.

I understand that you are working on a number of automation projects currently. How will digital transformation change the role of Procurement & Supply Chain and what are the areas that you see are the highest potential in?

The digitalization of the Procurement and Contracting function will be revolutionary, and is going to be one of the key differentiators and enablers for the future supply chain. Of course, there are lots of things which need to be in place first to make it happen, such as data quality, training and change management, to name but three, but, eventually, this is the trend that we are foreseeing, and we need to be adequately prepared for it.

Digitalization would not only impact the operational side of Procurement, such as order processing, invoicing, etc., but it would further create a level of visibility and transparency that was not there before. It will also change how we manage supplier relationships, risks and even contract negotiations in the future.

What is a memorable moment from your career and why?

When I got the Fellowship from the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS). I have spent probably most of my spare time involved with all different kinds of CIPS activities. I have done every single role at the branch level; I was Congress Representative and later had my three-year tenure in the Board of Management, as well as being the Trustee to CIPS Foundation.

So, I was over the moon when the Institute granted me such an honour! It’s also the same year I had my first daughter, so I will always remember it. 

Having moved from the UK yourself, what advice would you offer to someone moving to Switzerland?

There’s absolutely no problem in getting by in Switzerland - especially big cities like Zurich, Basel - if you do not speak German, as most people living here speak good English. However, if possible, try to learn the German language as early as you possibly can. It will help your integration and, the sooner you start, the easier it should be (I’m talking from my personal experience and something I haven’t done myself, which I deeply regret!).

How did you plan out your career development path? 

I planned and didn’t plan, in a sense. I knew I would like to stay within the Supply Chain function and to explore all the different supplier-facing activities. I spent time consciously at the early stage of my career moving around in different roles to really understand the different functions within the business and to gain a breadth of knowledge.

I then focussed on the commercial and contractual management aspect, and have recently taken on the additional responsibility of strategic partnership management, which is a nice combination of my past experiences added together.

You have been an active member of CIPS for a number of years. What is the secret to building a strong network? 

CIPS is a great place, where you meet like-minded Procurement professionals. I don’t know much about secrets, but I just simply put my heart and soul to serve the Institute, be present, be supportive of its members, communities, and activities. The more you put yourself out there, I believe, the more people will get to know you. A network is just the secondary result of these actions. 

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in Procurement & Supply Chain?

Don’t be afraid of trying different roles within Procurement & Supply Chain. This is the golden time where one can afford to undergo trial and error. Explore more before deciding what role suits you best. Don’t worry too much about job grade, organizational ranking or salary - do a good job in whatever role you do, and the money will come afterwards.

What are the biggest challenges for a leader in an international business/overseeing a global team?

Not being able to physically interact with your team members. The importance of personal touch and rapport-building is not being able to be replaced by Teams or Zoom meetings.  

At Hitachi Energy, we have a very good flexible working arrangement, which benefits both the employee and the company. I certainly hope, with the opening up of international travel, there will be the possibility for more face-to-face touch points with the team and stakeholders.

What do you think makes for a great leader?

The first few key words that come to mind are: Being trustworthy, a good listener, enabler, competent, and strategic thinker.

What are the current recruitment challenges that you face?

Finding the right calibre of person and being able to execute the recruitment process in a timely manner, as good candidates always get snatched up quickly, if we don’t move fast enough.

What is your favourite business motto and why?

"Trusted to Deliver Excellence" is my favourite business motto. I learned this from my previous employer, Rolls-Royce plc. This motto applies equally to a company, to teams, and to all of us as individuals. I believe, with the right attitude, the willingness to take the lead and the determination to do good things to the best of my ability, I can be the trusted business partner to deliver business results.

Thank you to Michelle for speaking to Charlotte Cruise, Senior Consultant in our Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment team in Switzerland.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Olivier Boujol is the Vice President & Global Head Structured Trade Finance at ADM in Switzerland. He started his career in the banking sector, before becoming International CFO at Viterra and CFO at Libero. He set up the Structured Trade Finance function for ADM, a Fortune 50 company, where he is Managing Director & Vice President - Structured Trade Finance.

How important is the trait of entrepreneurialism and a senior executive in a corporate environment?

I think it is really fundamental. Ownership and accountability does matter, at the end of the day - you have a strategy, you have a plan of action, you need to lead towards the direction that is being given by the corporation and then just scale it down to the organisation. So, I think the expectation here is that senior people lead their own individual area with an entrepreneur mindset.

An entrepreneurial mindset is at the epicentre of everything we do; from designing new solutions, designing new structures, interacting with third parties, negotiating contracts and doing transactions. I think that's an expectation, not only something that is a nice to have, but an expectation of senior executives that they act independently while in coordination with their organisation. Taking initiative, accountability, ownership is very important.

For somebody that is setting up a divisional group or function in an organisation, I would say it depends on whether you've been in the organisation for a long time or if you're new. I think it's about ensuring you know who the key stakeholders are - that is who you are serving beyond the organisation. Is that the C level? Is that the executive committee? Is that the board? Quite frequently, it's a combination of everything. Understanding all the stakeholders is always very important and getting help - you never succeed alone.

The identification of individuals that are willing to help you is important beyond the team you’re leading or have constituted, but always remember that with help comes time, energy and lost opportunities, that means your concerns are not necessarily the concerns of others, and aligning individuals and coordinating requires the ability to speak about your objectives, defining ultimate goals and purpose. The narrative is important and it has to be seductive somehow.

When you start with a blank page and a pen, you need to know how to set up the house, as I like to call it. That is processes, procedures, SOPs, your “go-to market strategy”. Also, nothing happens without a good group of people. Whether you need to go externally to hire or you inherit a team, it's about bringing people together with different strengths, backgrounds, and ensuring you have sufficient diversity. The more diverse your team is, the better. Starting with language skills - when you want to go international, having people that speak different languages is a plus. Having people with a different mindset and different expertise clearly is something that you need to have to coordinate action. This “business diversity” goes further than gender or ethnic origins.

It's a lot of effort when you set up something to make sure that people are working towards a common goal and understand the strategy and, eventually, you get together nicely. Have regular calls, regular meetings, regular catch-ups etc., and have these with a purpose. This is alignment and coordination, nothing comes automatically and remember that every individual has his own understanding and goes at his own pace, this is something you need to be aware of and respect, also to develop people, as a Chinese philosopher said, the journey is as important as the ultimate objective.

What was the best or worst interview experience you've had?

I think I have had some good ones and bad ones. In general, when you come to an interview, you need to come prepared. With social networks and all the electronic tools we have at our disposal, you should be able to obtain a fairly good overview of the company. What's the strategy? What are the key features of an organisation? Know the person you're talking to and their background, and be curious.

Sometimes in interviews I see this lack of preparation; they don't really know the company, they didn't really know you, they don't really know the business. They may not ask a lot of questions. They tend to talk about a few successes that they’ve have, but I think what is important is to show interest and establish a dialogue. It shouldn't be robotic; it should be really more of a conversation and - at least - what you're going to bring to the company. Your hard skills, your soft skills, your expertise, your ability to accomplish, and I think that's what needs to be demonstrated, in coordination with the company requirements or the company strategy.

I think that the best ones are when they come well prepared and somewhat a little bit relaxed about the interview. Where it becomes a conversation, not, “What are your hard skills?” or “What do you want to become in five years?” Those are not the questions I ask. I'm more interviewing people about typically what we just discussed, more the entrepreneurial mindset and the sense of ownership and accountability. Also, the way people work together and trying to identify whether they are a loner or whether they like to work in groups or teams. I think, these days, you need people that can interact, especially on the commercial front in the world. The questions I like to ask are around context, action and results (“CAR”), that is for the candidate to explain various situations they’ve been in and what they’ve undertaken to achieve the objectives.

The recommendation here is that we’re in a world which we need to design. If you want to compete, you need to be able to demonstrate that you can build on ideas and in coordination with people. In an interview, that’s what the best candidate should try to demonstrate. The worst interviews are the ones where they don’t relate to the role to fulfil  and they have a poor understanding of the company and the stakeholders – essentially, they come unprepared.

Without shooting for perfection, whether you like the person or the style of the individual, make sure that the skills are there. It is the same logic when you manage a team, it is nice to like people but they also have to be competent. One tip I have is to make sure the individual in an interview can give you a few examples of situations they were in, the action that had been taken and the outcome they obtained. If people can articulate a few examples, it shows they have been accomplishing a few things. I think it is important to rehearse and prepare, take a deep breath, be natural and don’t be robotic.

What changes have you seen in the employment market in Switzerland over the years and what in your opinion have been the drivers for those changes?

Honestly, it's going to be more about an interpretation, on my part. I think that the Swiss market in the last ten to 15 years has become much more diverse than it used to be, especially large centres like Geneva, Zurich and all the cities.

I think that the market is more competitive and a lot of people want to come to Switzerland, not only because it's beautiful, but because I think that Switzerland has a lot of a different and vibrant ecosystems, such as commodity trading and trade finance. It also has high-end industries (pharma, micro mechanic, biotech), and obviously very good universities that are teaming up with industries preparing the students optimally to enter the work force (EPFL, HECs and also professional schools).

I think that the market has become, in general, much more sophisticated. We're asking for many more things from the people we hire and that's what I keep saying to the youngsters. You have to think design, you can't think about execution or production. The old labour is gone and it is not about “working hard” but “working smart”, that is bringing a constant steady stream of offers that are valuable and turn ideas into opportunities.

The value added of any individual that is being brought in, especially in large companies, is about their ability to design, to think creatively, to “read” the world that is experiencing constant geopolitical change and macro changes. The ability to coordinate actions, get organized, manage timelines, etc is also critical.

With all that though, I think people should not be afraid - it is much more interesting for the new generations, more multidimensional and probably more rewarding.

What risks have you taken throughout your career and how did they help you get to the level you're at now?

I started my career as a traditional banker at UBS after an apprenticeship. I probably could have stayed there forever, but I was much more inclined to develop within a truly international industrial and supply chain related group. I moved at an early stage to Cargill and have been in the commodity trade environment for the past 25 years in various large companies, but also SMEs. I think that I will always remember one head-hunter telling me: “Who takes no risk, takes all risk”, and I kept that in mind when I had different roles, changed location or changed function and departments.

Eventually, I left Cargill on a promotion when I was 39. I accepted a new offer in a smaller Canadian company which was much more entrepreneurial. I think that has paid off.

Suddenly, you leave the golden cage, if you like, and you try something new and it's not easy, because you're totally outside of your comfort zone, but that's actually a good thing.

People shouldn't be afraid; if they want a career and want to be more impactful, they need to change. People need to take risks and the worst thing you can do these days is being institutionalised. Don't be institutionalised. Don't stay there because you're afraid of moving. Be up to the challenge.

I think the recommendation I would give is accumulate experiences and expertise and take risks. If you want to be valuable in a market that is a lot more demanding than it was many years ago, it is about developing a large panel skills and interpretations- and you mostly enlarge your skills set when you leave your comfort zone and enter in a “building mode” versus “stand still".

Career advice: What's the secret to building a strong network?

I feel that it's really about being out there and meet people whether in direct meetings or various conferences/seminar. It is also reaching out randomly to maintain your relationships. Don't be a loner and be interested in people, they help you read the world and shape your thinking.

There was a good book that I read a few years ago that says never eat alone - I think that’s an expression, more so – but it means, don't be on the side. Bring your colleague, reach out to a third party, be involved and participate. I think that’s how you build your network all the time and present the good things that you've accomplished.

Don't be afraid of putting yourself out there. Whether internally or when you have the chances of presenting something externally, just do it. People will get to know you.

I would say, with social networks or on LinkedIn, be active without being overly active. It's also a matter of credibility. Just make sure that you publish things that makes sense. Don't be afraid of responding to certain publications - I think that's how you get known and eventually your network will go up with time.

In the past ten to 15 years, we have seen networking brought up, also in business schools, and the thought that you never succeed alone. The bigger your network, the more chances you have to come together, bring an offer, bring a design and grow the business you’ve been assigned to and also your reputation - especially when you have a commercial function.

Who did you most admire when you were a child and why?

A few people I've admired, I'm not sure if it was since I was a child, but early on. I admire people that have very strong values, ethics and morale, demonstrate outstanding leadership skills, are truly competent, they don’t pretend or practice “games of power”, so I do admire people that are straightforward, are loyal, honest, and that don’t practice nepotism. Generally, that is usually the type of values that I admire.

I have somebody in mind that you know - one of your fellow citizens - which is Winston Churchill. I'm a huge fan of Churchill; I've been to his museum four or five times in London. That's a true hero. People that have been navigating against the current and accomplished a lot and somewhat improved the world. If I had to mention one individual, that would be him, but there are others I admire too, Bill Gates would be another one.

Thank you to Olivier for speaking to John Bower, Director in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in Switzerland.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Sabine Van Hooijdonk-Verboom is the Executive Group People Director at Royal BAM Group in Bunnik, the Netherlands. She was previously the Global DE&I Lead and Executive HR Business Partner at JDE Peet’s Coffee, and has held various senior HR positions in Royal Philips and Signify.

What excites you about working for the Royal BAM Group?

The reason I joined Royal BAM Group is because it's a purpose-led organization. It's intentional and a front runner in sustainability within the industry.

For me, it is important to work for a company that brings positivity to the world and to its communities from a Planet and People perspective, that is why I work for Royal BAM Group.

What do you perceive the biggest challenge to be at Royal BAM Group and your role over the next 12 months?

We have just launched our sustainability strategy; this is a big milestone for our company and for the industry at large. We have also introduced five new values into BAM: Sustainable, Inclusive, Reliable, Ownership and Collaborative.  

We also see that the world around us is volatile, which means we need an adaptive organisation that can easily transform to the needs of the market. Stepping up in strategic workforce management will also support us, giving a longer-term view on the workforce requirements for our future.

We have over 13,000 employees working for BAM; we need to have an attractive Employee Value Proposition and get better insights into our workforce. We have untapped potential in our employees, which we want to fully leverage, so they can be the best version of themselves.

A lot of opportunities for HR to contribute and make impact, which is also captured in our new People strategy.

Would you say that, from an HR perspective, is it a very data-driven organization or is that a journey that you're on at the moment?

BAM has made good progress in becoming a more data-driven organization in HR. In 2021, we implemented SuccessFactors and Crunchr, which gives us very interesting insights into our workforce.

Data also brings more objectivity to the discussion, which is important when you have People discussions, because it's a space where bias can easily come into play.

Our next phase in our digital journey is to move more towards predictive analytics.

If we look back over the last 12 months, what are the key learnings?

The biggest lesson for me has been to keep an eye on the end game and bring focus. That is how you drive impact, focus and connect the dots (thinking end-to-end).

Another thing I’ve noticed is that, even though I might be very eager to drive a change, the organization also needs to be ready for that change. So, timing is everything!

What is one of the myths about the HR profession you'd like to debunk?

At times, the People function is still underestimated, but - in the end, in every business - it all comes down to your own employees. Are they engaged, do they feel recognized, are they able to develop themselves, do they feel they can be their true selves?

How do you see the HR function evolving and changing in the coming years?

The further digitalization of HR is inevitable, as the operational tasks are not where HR can make the biggest impact as a function. The need for predictive analytics is also growing by the day.

The war for talent will require organizations to have a strong Employee Value Proposition that they live up to. It is all about the experience that you can offer as a company.

The focus on DE&I will put pressure on organizations to remove bias from their People processes, to secure an inclusive culture that is able to leverage the potential of diversity. 

We have exciting years ahead of us...

Looking back on your career, are there any things that have happened that have been particularly surprising or maybe highlights for you?

What I didn't expect when I started working was that it’s been very important at certain points in my career to have moments to reflect, to also allow myself space to feel comfortable and not always be in the stretch zone. I have, for example, declined promotions because the timing was not right.

You need to get in touch with yourself, to know your purpose, what drives you, what your strengths and weaknesses are in order to develop as a leader. The more responsibility you have in an organization, the more it's about leadership and the example that you set for the rest of the organization. It comes with a big responsibility!

Are there any books/blogs/podcasts you’d recommend?

I have three children that keep me busy, but I do listen quite a lot to podcasts, particularly when I'm doing sports. I have a few inspiring people I often listen to:

One is Brené Brown. She always has really interesting insights, for example, around vulnerability, that I can then use as inspiration in my work, but also for my own development.

I read a book recently, titled Born to Change the Game, by Carla Clarissa van Stralen. It's all about gender balance and how women can change the game, how women, within their communities - but also at work - can challenge the status quo and can bring their feminine leadership to the table.

We can change leadership, we can change the culture of companies and bring positive contribution to the people at the workplace, but also for our families and the communities we’re engaged in - how powerful is that?

Thank you to Sabine for speaking to Katie Insley, Associate Director in our HR recruitment team in the Netherlands.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.