What have you learnt as a leader over the course of your career?

For me, there has very much been a pre and a post FMCG giants experience. Both P&G and Unilever have been great business schools. These companies really invest in you, but I believe you grow the most by being able to put what you get taught into practice in different environments. Test, fail, learn, to shape yourself in terms of who you want to be as a leader.

The two main learnings for me versus the conceptions I had in my early career is first that leadership is not about prestige and so much more than the size of the team, or the size of the business. It’s about the business challenges to overcome, the stakeholders, the network you need to influence, and rallying people behind you on a common vision, goal and objective, and this can be done at any level of the organisation.

The second one is when I think about the impact of a Finance leader or a CFO. I see that it now goes beyond what maybe it used to in the past. Of course, success is about delivering concrete results, but for me it is also about making sure that when those results are delivered, the organisation and every single individual has a sense of pride and belonging. The role of a Finance Manager is key in ensuring that there is a solid performance management structure in place starting from the top, and that throughout the goal setting exercise, every individual is clear in their contribution to the business. “What are the two or three big things that I am going to do to enable the organisation to succeed?” 

Enabling that as a leader is key, and very rewarding! The role that I have seen myself play in making that happen has evolved.

So, it’s about making everyone feel as though they have a part to play, whether they’re junior, an Accountant, or a Finance Director?

Exactly, it’s beyond just performance management in the strictest sense of the term, like, “are we on track or not?”, but really taking a more holistic view on, “do we have the organisation behind us to try and deliver on our goals? Are they clear on their objectives, are they motivated, do they have the tools?" Setting the objectives and enabling the organisation to go and reach them. It may be more relevant the more senior type of roles you take on, but the thinking is applicable at every level.

So my point is, you think you have that vision of what leadership and performance management is about, because you’ve learnt it in these amazing business schools - and I’m super grateful for these experiences - but I think I learnt more taking that toolbox and fine tuning it in different companies. That has shaped me more and enabled me to make bigger leaps as a Finance leader in recent years.

What changes have you seen to the employment market in Switzerland over the years and what do you think have been the drivers for these changes?

I spent the first four years of my career in Switzerland and then I went abroad for 11 years, but I stayed in touch with connections and friends, so I have never been too far away. As part of the life choice we made last year (relocating the whole family back to Switzerland), I’ve noticed both personally, and by discussing with recruiting firms or head hunters, that while the market was already competitive, it has become even more so.

Switzerland is a small country, but quite a significant market. It’s extremely attractive in Europe and worldwide due to the quality of life, salary levels and senior positions with a lot of international HQs, but you also have a lot of larger companies that have gone through transformation and cost savings programmes, so people are all of a sudden back on the job market but not necessarily keen on relocating. I think there is definitely a disconnect between availability of jobs versus demand, which has made the market extremely competitive and put pressure on overall compensation/salary levels over recent years.

My other observation is that the job market in Switzerland remains a less transparent market, in the sense that a lot of recruitment is done via network. Maybe I am answering one of your other questions, but in terms of tips on starting your career in Finance, etc., I see networking as being key. Even if you don’t like it for career driving purposes, at least do it for yourself; do it to build your skills, to be exposed to other thoughts. There are many great resources out there to learn and to grow, but I think keeping a good network in Switzerland in particular is really key.

Absolutely, 100% agree. It makes sense to move onto the career advice question. So, networking is clearly one piece of advice that you would give someone starting out, but what else would you suggest?

I think the first thing is to see the Finance career as a marathon, not a sprint. It is particularly relevant for people who are brought up in big multi-nationals that foster a very competitive environment. A lot of energy is spent on planning for your next move or promotion, but take a step back and really take time to plan a succession of roles that make sense, and that will give you the foundations to build the career you want in the long-term.

For example, I didn’t see production controlling as something really attractive at the beginning of my career, but it could have cost me my last appointment to not really have that hands-on experience. Lantmännen took a bit of a bet when they hired me as Division CFO, because they had a challenge with getting their overall Supply Chain performance management structure in place. Me not having a significant experience in production controlling/production environment was a key discussion topic throughout the recruitment process. I am grateful the company still put their trust in me, loved every bit of the journey and felt I made an impact, learning loads along the way. So, really think about a variety of experiences to build yourself as a well-rounded leader if, ultimately, it’s a CFO type of role you are aiming for.

The second one is less Finance-relevant, but maybe what we don’t see enough within the function is people taking time to invest in broader, universal skills; storytelling, influencing, presentation. These are key leadership skills, and still too many members of the Finance function are not able to boil down very clearly what the issue is and what they’re going to do about it. A good test is always: what would you say to the group CEO or Chairman of the Board if you bumped into them in the elevator and they asked you, “hey, what about this?”

You need to know your business figures and drivers, know what the one or two main issues are (or breakthrough opportunities, or risks) and really be clear about how to address them. It is worth investing time quite early on in the whole storytelling and presentation skills.

The third one is, regardless of your job in Finance, be in touch with your stakeholders and understand what their needs are. Don’t just take your game plan or what has been handed over to you and go ahead. First, spend your first 60 days in your new role getting in touch with your stakeholders, building that relationship, understanding what the two or three main things you can do to add value and to make those contributions to the business are. Prove yourself and earn that trust so that you’re not just seen as the Finance guy that occasionally they will run numbers by, but you are really the business partner that they can’t live without.

What excites you about working for Stäubli?

Funnily enough, despite being Swiss, I have never worked for a Swiss company in my 15+ years career, so I’m particularly happy about that. Stäubli is known as a hidden Swiss champion, and it’s been around since the 19^th century. It was founded in Horgen, a beautiful place by the Zürich lake. They have a workforce of about 5,500 people worldwide, operating in around 30 countries.

What excites me the most is that, after 15 years in FMCG and food manufacturing, it gives me an opportunity to operate in and learn from a brand new industry. This is exactly the type of challenge I was chasing with this relocation.

I’m the CFO for the Global Robotics Division, and the other thing that really excites me about the job is that I’m coming in right at the start of a new strategy and business plan cycle, so it’s great to be part of that journey.

It’s also high growth, which is refreshing after working in more stable categories; we’re looking at a completely different pace and I am also in a more global role compared to my last job, with China being the biggest market.

On a separate topic, how do companies reduce bias in the hiring process?

I think it all starts from an intentional strategy or tone from the top. Unilever is a great example. They’ve gone through a huge programme and are looking at fantastic results. They have managed to achieve a great balance, at least from a gender diversity perspective. I think it has to start from a well-defined strategy, but for me, diversity goes beyond gender.

It’s also about embracing different professional backgrounds, cultures and nationalities, which requires companies to be willing to expand the resources pool that they tap into to find talent. I still feel many companies think that they require candidates to have industry experience, that they need the resource to already be located close by, etc., but I feel that this really restricts the talent pool. 

In Finance specifically, I don’t believe you need so much industry experience. What makes a good CFO ultimately is not necessarily related to the type of industries that you have been working in, it is really about the learning agility, drive for value creation, and some of the other core functional leadership skills that you are able to demonstrate.

What’s great with LinkedIn is you have people that can apply from all over the world. I understand that it is hard to go through all applications, but in my previous company’s leadership team, we managed to hire from many different backgrounds and nationalities, and it really added to the overall performance – and credibility - of that management team.

Then, on gender diversity, I think it takes interventions and courage to make a step-change; for example, to open more roles for 80%, instead of 100%. A parent who has learned to structure and prioritise because they have to juggle a lot of things in their life and wish to work 80-90%; that person may be as or even more effective than someone who is working 100%. Trying to balance that view and again opening the resource pool to tap into is key, but again, it takes courage.

What do you see as being the future of Finance?

I think all the pressure we’re seeing now with regards to cost savings, becoming more efficient, automation, standardisation, etc., will continue to be important. One attribute that I try to drive and that I will always expect from my team is a continuous improvement mindset. You need to make room for that and you need to be very intentional about it, because everybody is busy and it can easily be missed.

The problem is, we are all guilty of getting into this busy bee syndrome where you don’t have time to step back and think, “okay, am I adding value?”, “what is really going to matter for the future?”, versus, “we’ve always done it like this and I don’t have time to think about any improvement”. It isn’t about adding more resources, but about doing things differently, and this is, of course, easier said than done.

It will really require, again, strategy and tone from the top, either from the CFO or from the organisation to say, “yes, we can invest in simplification programmes, new tools, etc.” Instead of just slicing the cheese, as we say, where you just try to look for a small cost saving here and there, look at what are big breakthrough interventions you can make to reinvest your time into more value adding activities.

There are a lot of podcasts or trends that you see on LinkedIn or other resources about great tools, great software, etc., but the reality is a lot of the companies are still struggling with legacy systems, and so there is a disconnect between what is maybe portrayed as the future of the Finance function versus where a lot of the companies’ Finance departments are. It’s a hard one to tackle, because it’s going to take one time interventions to change in a lot of cases, instead of trying to puzzle old software, old systems and try to improve them bit by bit.

It really takes intentional programmes to succeed with standardization initiatives, automate non-value creating tasks, so that finance controllers or diligent leaders can reinvest their time into more value-added activities. Once you get there, we’re looking at Finance organisations that are maybe going to be a lot more agile or mobile and not necessarily assigned to one division or assigned to one specific task.

Finally, what is the best piece of advice that you have ever received?

That’s a funny one. A former colleague and a good friend of mine said something to me very early on in my career that stuck with me. I was extremely frustrated in a meeting and clearly showing it. At the end of the meeting, we both stayed in the room and he said, “you really need to work on that poker face”.

I’m a very competitive person; I like to win and I normally tend to show my emotions. I don’t know if you’re familiar with The Strength Finder concept (Gallup)? I am a competitor, but also score high on empathy and relating skills, which is an interesting mix. I might be competitive and have a big drive, but I’m also very close to how other people feel and emotions for me are extremely important.

I think, as a leader, you should stay true to who you are as an individual. Learn to become aware of when your attitude is going to be a problem and you need to maybe tone some of the aspects down, but I really firmly believe in diversity of styles and genuineness to get the most out of people.

So that comment from my colleague was great, because it really made me realise, okay, I need to really be intentional about finding that balance between what I can express versus keep for myself. I still tend to show my emotions, but I always have that comment in mind to keep me in balance.

Thank you to Guillaume for speaking with our Senior Consultant, Emma Feneley.

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

As someone who has been working in Switzerland and Germany for many years, what changes have you seen to the employment market, particularly within Data and Analytics?

When I started, Data Science was very niche in companies. It was found in either companies that had connections with North America, where Data Science was already well established, or for very special projects, where someone would need a very specific and specialised model.

That’s very different from where we are today globally, and so I think Data Science is seen in Germany and Switzerland as more of a general requirement, and even further it now is part of the strategy of the company. You’re not just an isolated individual doing work - building a specialised model at a bank or building a requested model for recommendation in e-commerce. 

I think Switzerland and Germany have almost caught up to the rest of the world, even at smaller companies like start-ups. Everyone now knows they need strong engineering and data from the beginning - it's not something you think about later, but rather you need to build your fundamentals in terms of data - but that's also because most start-ups and business models are now based around data. 

Since your degree was in Physics, what would your second career choice have been, and why?

In the UK and North America, Physicists often end up doing something else - not everyone ends up being a professor or a researcher in a lab. It used to be that Physicists went into Finance - hedge funds and so on, whereas now, Data Science is a big draw.

I think one of the big advantages of being a Physicist is that we are trained quite well in problem-solving, abstraction and simplifying. We value the concept of insights from a scientific framework, rather than blind modelling, which I perceive as being the difference between scientists and someone who comes purely from a Computing background. 

In terms of alternative careers, I took some courses that overlapped with Electrical Engineering, and have some friends and colleagues that did that, and I think that Electrical Engineering is a good balance between what you get in Physics and what you get in Computing. Of course, this was in a time when these things were more distinct. These days, almost everyone's going to take some Computing courses, even if they're doing pure Physics. But if you think of Electrical Engineering, it combines aspects of Physics and Computing, which give you an equally broad education like Physics, but with a more Computing connection. 

In terms of wider career choices, I think that most of us had a plan of becoming research professors and when that doesn't work out, then it's really how do you adapt. I think the more interesting question is how do people who intend on becoming researchers then adapt to the real world and that's actually something that's well-structured now for Data Science. There are Data Science programs in the UK and North America, and now there’s also one in Zurich that takes people with recent PhDs and take them through an intensive course to become Data Scientists. 

So that's now a fairly straightforward course of action for people with PhDs in Science or Engineering to immediately become Data Scientists.

When I was younger, the world was very different - it’s changed so much now that you can really learn anything thanks to the internet and the range of online courses. There’s just a great exchange of information - blogs and videos - I think it's much wider. I think your career and education are much more loosely linked than they were in my time. 

What are your personal motivators?

For me, it’s about doing something interesting. As we discussed before, I wanted to do interesting Physics and research. Obviously, there’s interesting research in industry, but my career didn’t follow that path. I became more of a practical, applied person and a leader, but I always try to find something that’s technically interesting, whether from a Computing point of view, or from a Data Science point of view, or possibly from a Physics point of view. 

You might ask how I could have Physics in the work that I do, but I used to do research on complex systems, and come up with systems that involved networks and social interaction, so you know how something becomes viral, or how you can use a network point of view to solve problems. For me, it’s about something that’s an interesting problem in itself. It could be a business problem, could be a Data Science problem and there needs to be a technical aspect of it as well. I also need the social interaction as part of a team or group - and it should also be a fairly social company.

What would you say is the most rewarding part of your role? 

Now that I’m in a wholly leadership function, I would say finding business value in Data Science - that’s our goal, that's our job to do that.

But as I hire younger people, and the age between them and me increases, I really derive satisfaction from seeing young people grow in my team and when I receive the thanks that really means a lot to me in that sense. 

As we said, with the internet and the amount of information out there, people can almost do anything right now with their background, as long as they're educated in some regard. It's wonderful to see how people tackle their careers, relating back to the question before. I think career opportunities are so much broader than when I came out of university. There’s a vastly greater choice, in terms of topics. So these days I get a great deal of satisfaction from seeing people be successful in my team.

Looking back through your own career, what would you say was your personal highlight?

If I were to choose one highlight, then I would say that it was changing the view on marketing attribution at eBay, because it was not just at eBay, but it was also more globally. 

Prior to that, people had last click attribution and multi click attribution with static models, but we showed that all of these were, in a sense, completely wrong. In effect, no different than doing something random - we showed that you need to build dynamic models and that you needed some concept of propensity to convert at the basis of that. The fundamental notion of this was that channels have no meaning; looking at the customer is most important. Putting those together was how we solved it at eBay and then I spoke about it globally.

I think that was the most rewarding and truly a highlight. Changing something globally and having an impact on the whole industry. Related to that, I find it interesting that you can make that change, you can talk about it and you still find people doing it the wrong way, even today. 

I think it’s ironic that going back to the beginning of my career, the opposite of what I was doing as a researcher was where I have ended up - in marketing! However, marketing analytics does actually provide some of the most difficult problems in Data Science. People typically think of deep learning, computer vision and AI , but the whole framework of how ride-hailing as an experience will transform cities, and how technologies such as autonomous vehicles will evolve with it. And of course, people: from the interview stages to my current day-to-day, I love the Diversity and enabling culture of Beat. Plus, I report into a strong female leader, which will be a good experience for me.

The real reason, though, is to enjoy the food and people in places such as Lima and Mexico City. Post-COVID, of course.

Thank you to Suresh for speaking to us.

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

Your career began when you joined PwC in Israel. How do you think your time in the Big 4 has helped you in your longer-term career and what are the benefits of a Big 4 background when you are recruiting? Any drawbacks?

The Big 4 is a great school - you get exposure to many industries. I worked with Pharma and Hi-tech, for example – working in high intense projects which help to develop and set your mind when you start your career. It gave me quite some tools to take through my career: technical understanding; to understand Accounting; read and understand a reporting standard; to understand what it means and how it influences the overall financials. It is very, very key. There are few people in the business world, even in Finance, who can articulate something like that. As you progress your career, it’s really important to be able to ask the right questions.

When we moved to IFRS 16 – about a year ago – the tools that I had brought from the Big 4 helped me to really understand how it impacts from a performance perspective.

When you work for the Big 4, you need to write down and allocate hours you spend for each customer/project – this gets you into a mindset that every minute counts. Your day must be very productive. I still use this today, reviewing the work I did versus what I set out to do and ensuring that my calendar has served a purpose.

The other experience that’s really important is the customer interaction. In the Big 4, if you progress well, you can be working directly with customers quite quickly; even from a young age dealing with executives, authorities, commerce office, etc. The ability to work and understand the customer and provide them with comfort is a great experience for when you start to move into more commercial roles.

The drawbacks are that time is limited, and you tend to be focusing on technical skills and less focused on the business. It can become more routine and a little limiting in certain cases, especially if you want to have a more commercial role.

You have now enjoyed over eight years working for Maersk. How did you keep your career varied and challenging during that time?

I have had seven positions in almost eight years, so I’ve been very fortunate. It has been a great experience and there hasn’t been a dull moment. It’s a fast-changing business environment and so you constantly have to reinvent yourself. You always need to be on top of the business environment – the company has a very ambitious vision and, in addition, the people here are very driven and talented, and the combination of those factors makes this journey really great.

The world has been unpredictable in recent years, which only adds interest to the job. COVID-19 has changed the future of the way we work; supply chain, the products we buy and the way we buy. Without a digital channel in consumer goods, for example, then it’s difficult to survive.

At Maersk, I have had the opportunity to work in four different countries, in different roles, with different functions and teams, and I find it really exciting. It may seem a long time to have been with one company, but the opportunity to keep growing personally and professionally is extremely rewarding.

In what ways does Maersk provide a rewarding environment for young Finance professionals?

I’m often jealous of the new joiners to the company who join straight out of university, as we have several programmes which rotate them and teach them different skills in a variety of functions. In general, what is great as a young professional is that Maersk offers a career path, rather than a just a role. The ambition level is up to you and the geography, function and division, too. You can build a picture around yourself from many different perspectives of the business. In addition, you get a mentor who helps you and builds you up as you progress along the career path. You also receive a lot of training along your growth path.

Even for me, I started in the Port business and now I’m in the Logistics business, and it was an eye-opener, as I hadn’t before seen the overall picture and how everything connected together. It’s great for an inquisitive person! You work with colleagues from all backgrounds and all over the world.

As a senior Finance professional by background and a business leader, what trends do you notice in world of Finance? What do you personally do to manage the changes?

I’m going to answer from a two-headed perspective. In the last year, I’ve become a ‘general manager’ and so I’ve learnt a lot more about the value of a Finance function. Finance is a profession that has evolved radically in the last few years. When I started, Finance leaders/professionals were just expected to bring the numbers and not so much the insight, whereas now it’s a given that you will be asked, “what insights do you bring to the table?”. This is while you also maintain all the basic, good and effective essentials – such as tax, compliance, reporting – which on their own are hard work. More and more, the notion in business is that Finance needs to work efficiently and maintain low costs to compete in a highly competitive industry.

In addition, the movement to BI and receive the credit they deserve.

In addition, I try to listen carefully and without bias – so using data as much as possible. Data is the only thing that’s objective in most cases. This helps me to make an objective decision.

I also learnt to communicate effectively. So, for example, in the same way that receiving a short video message from a friend can be more impactive than a text, taking short videos of you delivering business updates/successes can be more impactive and time efficient than a long-winded video conference call or long email.

Last, but not least, it’s important to have an ambition and a plan to achieve it – in alignment with your key stakeholders. Ensure that everybody is involved, focused and aligned to work towards it.

Can you tell us of an impactful experience in your career with a leader/manager? What did it teach you?

I had many impactful moments in my career. My most impactful was actually as a Manager myself. The more I grew up the ranks, the more I appreciated diversity, and realized how key is it to engage teams and to strength your management team. When we merge between the Moroccan and the Spanish organization, it was a great experience and insight on how two different cultures could bring so many benefits to the organization, by combining their strengths and creating a stronger organization. Furthermore, this really boosted engagement, as colleagues were interested to know more about the cultural aspects of their new colleagues, whether Spanish or Moroccan. Lastly, on a personal note, this is inspiring! We all carry our culture, whether business or personal, it is fascinating to see ways of looking at things.bition and a plan to achieve it – in alignment with your key stakeholders. Ensure that everybody is involved, focused and aligned to work towards it.

What do you do to manage your time effectively? How do you ensure that you maintain a good work/life balance?

I think that good work/life balance is relative to each person. However, as a Manager, if you are passionate about your work, you realise that work doesn’t end while you’re on holiday or during the weekend. That said, when I’m with my family, I try to ensure I’m fully present, not checking emails, etc., but will set time aside for essential work activities. For example, I will set time aside early on a Sunday morning or late in an evening to deal with work emails.

Thank you to Elad for speaking with our Associate Director, Jenny Callum.

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

How important do you think it is to have a career plan and, when making career moves, how much did this affect your decision-making process?

I think it is very important to have a career plan and, at the same time, I think it is equally important to remain flexible and adaptable, because my experience has been that the path to the dream job is not a straight line. What I believe is essential is to be very clear about what you ultimately want to achieve and start developing, as early as you can in your career, your perspective about that dream job, that ultimate goal in your career, so that the moves that you make in your professional journey are aligned with this objective. If I were to ask this question to someone earlier in their career, they may not yet be clear about what they ultimately want to achieve, and that is perfectly fine in the beginning of your career, but, as you progress, you really have to be thinking about that end-game, so you can build the relevant experiences along that path. In my career, I have been quite flexible in terms of roles, locations and industries, while I was also very fortunate to have great opportunities in the companies where I have worked, to build the competencies and gather the experiences that allowed me to become a well-rounded Finance professional and develop my leadership skills in the pursuit of my dream job.

What would be your advice to someone at an earlier stage in their Finance career, aspiring to be where you are now?

The advice is linked to the previous question; the first thing is to be very clear about what you want to achieve, and what your ultimate career and life goal is. The second one is to surround yourself with great people, and that will change along an individual’s career. Sometimes, it will be to follow a fantastic boss, other times it will be to join a team of high achievers that has a reputation for delivering high results, and, as you progress up in your career, it is about building great teams, formed by the best possible people, with skills and competencies that will complement your own.  The third piece of advice would be to look for stretch assignments and to get out of the comfort zone every time, thus being willing to struggle in the job, at least at the beginning, and have some failures, as these provide growth and learning opportunities. I believe that, if you don’t have failures, you are not aiming high enough and that applies to the jobs you decide to go after. For me, these jobs have provided the biggest learnings and were the most rewarding.

Often when we are recruiting roles in the Life Science sector, we are asked to find candidates within an industry background. Having made this transition yourself from a relatively different industry, how important do you consider this to be and what were the challenges for you in making that transition?

It is an interesting question, because, throughout my interviews to join DSM, in the Life Science industry, it never came up as a topic. I guess that is because Finance is not really industry-specific, so the transition that I have done myself and that I have seen other people do, joining DSM, it has not been extremely challenging. What I found that helped me was that I was coming from a B2B business, where manufacturing was an important element. I think transitioning without the manufacturing or the B2B experience would have been a far bigger challenge. Some of the challenges the industry has in Finance are the long product cycles (which is specific to Life Sciences), innovation, regulatory, IP, or very heavy capital investments, which, for a Finance leader, are important elements that I had to become familiar with very early on. The global reach and the interconnected markets are a key aspect of this type of business, especially in large corporations, and being able to navigate the global environment is very important as you transition into Life Sciences, so having had that global background would be crucial. Finally, it is a market that is seeing a lot of consolidation and M&A [mergers and acquisitions] activity, so having M&A experience prior to going into Life Science would certainly help.

What are the most common mistakes you see at interviews and what advice would you give to candidates in regard to interview preparation?

One of the most common mistakes I see at interview is precisely the lack of preparation, and understanding the company and the role that they are interviewing for deeply. Not having done some research about the interviewers and, today, with LinkedIn and other social media, it is very helpful to know about who you are speaking to. When I see that someone has checked my LinkedIn profile before the interview, I take it as a positive sign; I can see this person is doing their homework.  At the same time, if you have not done your homework about exactly what you are going to interview for and with whom, you do not have the same opportunities to highlight your strengths, or your fit to the role and the company. Similarly, if the candidate clearly articulates how this role aligns with their career plan and has thought through that, it shows me that the person has accountability for his/her own career and has made a conscious choice to be there at that interview.

The second issue is not asking questions, or not asking the right questions. In my interviews, I always leave ample time for Q&A by the candidate. I will reserve the last 15-20 minutes for the candidate to ask questions, and I rarely need the time! It is a missed opportunity to show your edge and your passion, to build the connection, and to show what is really important to you as a professional and individual.

The last thing that I would mention is not noticing how important a first impression is. The first handshake, the first smile, the first walk from the door to the room, or in the elevator... Be prepared before you even go into the meeting room and be aware of non-verbal communication. 

Looking back through your established career, what would you identify as a personal highlight?

If I had to choose one highlight in my professional career, that would be my experience in South America, as a Regional Finance Director. I arrived in the region in very turbulent times in some of the countries, particularly in Brazil where I was based. It was an internal move, so I was familiar with the company and the industry, but as soon as I arrived, I had to get into turnaround mode, divesting parts of the company and rebuilding the motivation of the Finance organisation that had been through a lot of changes in the two years prior to my arrival. I left after two-and-a-half years, having built a lot of new skills, a stronger leadership foundation and great confidence. Equally important, I was succeeded by someone from my team, which gave me huge satisfaction. If I think about the experience that has accelerated my growth as a leader in my career, it is definitely this one. It was probably the biggest stretch assignment I had in my career, because of the different culture, the broad scope of the role and the challenging business conditions.

What would you consider to be the most rewarding part of your current role?

By far the most rewarding part of my role as a leader has been seeing the people around me grow and develop. This was not the most rewarding part when I was starting my career as an individual contributor, probably not even as a young manager; what gave me most satisfaction at that stage was to solve problems, make an impact and to be recognised in front of senior management. In the last five to ten years, I get much more excitement and happiness seeing my teams solve those problems, making the right decisions without me being involved, and them being recognised for their contributions and leadership. The answer to this question has changed multiple times throughout my career and I am sure it will change again in ten years from now. It is important to find the professional satisfaction in different places as you move on in your career, to keep renewing your own motivation.

What would you consider to be the most important attributes for a successful Chief Financial Officer (CFO)?

I found this a tough question, as it forces me to look at other CFOs and also to do self-reflection about the sort of CFO I would like to be. 

I would refer to three aspects of the leadership of CFOs: the first one being communication. It is often underrated and not trained enough, especially for a CFO that has to translate numbers into operational and strategic insights, and decisions. An effective CFO must be able to present information to a variety of different parties, both internal and external, and do it in an impactful way.

The second one is having a strong and intuitive understanding of the business. It is impossible to become a CFO without strong competencies in Accounting and Finance, but that is not enough, definitely not today and probably not enough in the past, either. A good CFO must have comprehensive knowledge of how the business works, especially the commercial aspects. Commercially astute Finance leaders are rare, and those who can also navigate the commercial intricacies are the ones that can become very successful in their role.

Last and definitely not least is integrity, because, to the outside world, the CFO is seen as the guardian of the shareholder value and the stewards of the company. They must also be the internal conscience of the organisation and, in my opinion, it is critical for a CFO to have and to show this high level of integrity. Walking this fine line between supporting the business and, at the same time, making the right decision for the corporation is what distinguishes the CFO from other executives.

Due to the current crisis, we have seen a shift to more remote and flexible working styles, and most businesses believe this will be a permanent shift. How do you think this could impact Finance and any potential challenges?

I have personally seen the great benefits of flexible work, and the opportunity it offers to employees to balance better personal and professional life, look after their health, and the positive impact to the environment. I don’t conceive a future of working that will not have an enhanced level of flexibility than in the past. Broadly speaking, the main challenge I see in remote working concerns the culture and values of the company, and our ability to keep them visible and present in our daily jobs; it simply makes it harder to create a cohesive culture when the interactions with colleagues and leaders happen over the phone or video.

As far as the Finance function is concerned, a big part of the value that Finance brings, particularly in business partnering roles, is the ability to connect the dots, to manage risks, and to anticipate results and events before they even happen. In a remote set-up, the interactions are obviously a lot more limited, the opportunity to connect informally, to hear about a customer or supplier information, or even just have an ad hoc discussion with a colleague are far less, hence the value or the role of an effective Finance business partner may be limited, due to the lack of opportunities to get information and connect the dots.

Digital transformation is a key topic currently. As a Finance leader, how actively do you involve yourself in the implementation of these technologies, and what do you foresee as the possibilities and challenges for your Finance organisation?

I have been getting involved in this area for the last few years, but definitely not as much as I should. I am very committed to changing that in my new role, as I see a lot of value that can be created in the digital space, particularly in Finance.

There are some obvious possibilities, the low hanging fruit of digitalisation that many companies, including DSM, have jumped into: automation and robotics; digitalisation of reports; and advanced analytics. When we speak about digital Finance in multi-nationals these days, those topics are typically part of their digital agenda.

The next step in the digital roadmap should be the application of Artificial Intelligence and digital tools for predictive analytics. This is where I think Finance can add much more value than we do today: predicting the future, through data, and using the digital opportunities that we have in our hands to stop looking backwards only and start looking forward to help steer the business with new insights. 

With regards to the challenges, the first one is that sometimes we are still missing the overall vision of digitalisation for the Finance function, or it’s too broadly defined. It has so many elements and is applied to so many initiatives that I have not yet come across that very clear and compelling vision and roadmap that everyone can understand.

The second challenge is the gap between the current capabilities and those that are required in digital Finance functions, starting with myself! The younger generations will be able to drive those changes faster than we will, but there is still a clear gap.

The third challenge, certainly connected with my Finance role, is cyber security. The more digital we go, the more data is available in the cloud in digital formats and is accessible all over the world.  Therefore, the higher the risk of confidential information ending up in the wrong hands.

Thank you to Ramon for speaking with our Associate Director, Meriel Graham.

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

Yahoo and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are 2 very different organisations. How have you managed the change?

Like any change there have been 3 elements; the culture, the sector, and the "process/system/environment" piece. In this case I was really quite lucky, as I had a good transition with my predecessor - having the handover period is a success factor. Another major factor is ensuring that the first 90 days are really dedicated to building relations with your key internal and external stakeholders, review status of critical projects, make sure you are visible. I met the team, the board, various key vendors, and project stakeholders. This allowed me to make immediate impactful tactical decisions, such as an ERP Migration choice, which saved costs and helped my new team.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming Ecopop Referendum?

Within Switzerland, the Lac Leman area has a history of being able to attract a skilled workforce from neighbouring countries. Also the Swiss economy has been a steady grower with low unemployment at about 3%.Current demographics and the mix of available skills create demand for labour. So government and industry have to find a solution to fill the demand. New training takes a generation even if there is a strong will to keep jobs within the native population, so there is no discernible short or long-term threat.  The labour market will settle down and- I believe in the pragmatic nature of the Swiss politicians, although it could possibly result in the tightening of quotas for specific countries in the short term.

If you could go back in time and give some career advice to your younger, graduate self, what would it be?

Mobility is key! The obvious thought here is geographic mobility, but I would look first at skillset mobility. Bridging over the different financial pillars earlier in my career (transactional, compliance, FP & A, Treasury/Tax) has enabled me to take on the broader CFO roles I have held more recently. Then we have to consider sector mobility. Each sector brings its own unique perspective. This enables one to experience different solutions for key business initiatives such a vendor financing program or key projects such as an ERP roll-out). Coming finally to geographical mobility - this has been essential for my development. It gives you a certain adaptability and agility which enables you to deal with a volatile and increasingly diverse and riskier business world. You get to understand not only different cultures, but different business structures, and tax regimes. Overall, with every different move, you learn to be more adaptable, and the benefit to a prospective employer is that you will be able to come up to speed, and have a positive impact, very quickly.

What has been your best, or worst, interview experience?

I had a pretty bad one sitting on the interviewer side of the table. The candidate knew nothing about the company he was interviewing for. It was clear he had not even done the most basic prep. So, we figured this out pretty quickly, but instead of admitting it and perhaps apologising and saying "I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was this level of interview," or something similar, he carried on, and invented facts about the company. This led to a situation where these incorrect facts were being given to me, and it became a little strange and very embarrassing for everybody. I had to cut the interview short.

What advice would you give to someone who is looking for to move into a new role at Senior Finance Manager/CFO level?

Continuously network through various channels - Alumni, LinkedIn, breakfast meetings. All of these things are good to raise your profile but get fresh ideas outside in.   . It will help you understand if your job is under threat, also you will already know people when you are in a situation where you need to know people. The Big 4 is always a good network route. Another thing to do is; always take the courtesy call from head hunters. It is an opportunity to exchange information. It is not always about you or about a job - it could be a request for a referral. Finally, you always have your career plan in mind. You need to know what you want, whether the opportunity presents itself in the next quarter, or in the next year, you need to be ready for it. If you plan correctly, you can fulfil your dreams.

If you could have had a career in sports, art, or music, which would it have been, and why?

It would be sports. Within sports, it would either be football, or cycling. I played in a football team, and the camaraderie and teamwork is very fulfilling. I still play for fun. Cycling is different, it's like mental yoga. You get wonderful scenery, and this feeling of melding with a machine.

We saw that Switzerland's economy failed to grow in the 2nd Quarter of 2014. What do you think are the major challenges that lie ahead for Switzerland's growth?

With the CHF seen as a "safe haven" currency by other individuals and economies, this certainly provides a short-term challenge to a predominantly export oriented economy. The longer term challenge is to transition out of these corporation tax reforms. Work has already started on this for example, with the abolition of tax holidays. Again, the pragmatic political approach should see the reinvention of some EU friendly, and EU/OECDcompatible, tax incentives. These will surely maintain and continue to attract foreign investment in Switzerland.

Finally, what challenges does the EBU face?

One example is the financial situation of our members. The EBU believes Public  Service Media is an essential element of democratic societies where  a strives a transparent world of communication for the common good, creating content that freely informs, educates and entertains the public, and continue striving to perform to the highest standards with moral integrity and maximum efficiency. If the political system closes a Public Broadcaster because there is "enough" public funding priority (as we saw recently in Greece), we have to state the very strong case that a free and democratic society needs a completely neutral media provider. Otherwise we risk a challenge in the sustainability of the public funding model. There is also a challenge in the delivery of media in a connected world, and how this effects the consumption of media content by the younger generation. Nowadays this could come through a phone, a tablet, online to a television set via on demand services. This is a generational change and the younger audiences are shifting away from "linear" television. So this is an operational challenge; we have to assist our members in evolving their offers in this new environment.

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

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) produced by Credit Suisse and procure.ch rose to 60.9 points in July, what do you think are the major challenges that lie ahead for Switzerland’s continued growth?
Switzerland currently faces a lack of highly qualified staff despite a good dual educational system balanced with immigration and it will face even a bigger problems when the ‘baby boom’ generation retires. Probably the skill shortage will be partially compensated through digitalisation, but the other part will definitely remain a challenge. Furthermore, Switzerland should increase its productivity. Especially the domestic economy as it is less productive than some international companies. There are several small and medium sized companies that took up this challenge and are highly productive and competitive, but the majority of small and medium sized companies still needs to make this first step.

As someone who has had over 17 years’ experience working within the Swiss market-place, how have you found the Swiss market & working environment has changed over these years, and what in your opinion, have been the drivers for these changes?
Major changes have characterised the past seventeen years, the strong internationalisation transferred the more simple and repetitive jobs abroad, especially to China and other low cost countries. The shift from the commercial-industrial sector to the service sector increased the need for a highly qualified work force. To cover this need immigration shifted from a blue collar workforce to white collar, a highly qualified employee. I saw this in ABB, too. Several production units were closed and moved to Asia and foreign academic colleagues increased in number throughout the company. When the economic crises of 2007 hit, it emphasised the importance of higher efficiencies and effectivity along the entire value chain, which in turn drove the need for capable and specialised staff even further.   

How attractive do you feel that Switzerland remains as a location for international businesses?
Switzerland has an excellent educational system, is a non-bureaucratic state (founding a company is very easy), politically stable, offers great logistic connections, has no unions (as in the rest of Europe), and offers to companies good conditions and low taxes. Definitely, Switzerland is not cheap; however, the conditions offered give it excellent â € value for money”?. Furthermore, Switzerland is number one worldwide for register patents. For the reasons above mentioned, I firmly believe Switzerland is a very competitive and attractive country now, and in the future, if the country is able to solve the major issues discussed in point number one.

What are the organisations growth plans?
ABB is working on several collaborations and acquisitions in order to fill strategic gaps in the geographic, product and end-market portfolio. Industry 4.0 is clearly a goal of ABB that should not be missed. Therefore, this year, ABB acquired KEYMILE’s to strengthen digital grid portfolio and software. With the acquisition of Bernecker + Rainer Industrie-Elektronik GmbH automation the know how was increased and with the collaboration signed with Microsoft access to digitalisation has been secured.

What challenges are await your business and how do you hope to overcome them?
In Product Group Gas Insulated Switchgear in the last fifteen years, competitors have tripled and the product moved from a highly engineered product to a commodity. To overcome the challenges given by this new market situation, products must be modularised and standardised, processes simplified and high intensive labour moved to low cost countries.

What does your organisation currently do to contribute towards the corporate social responsibility?
The corporate socially responsible portrait is linked to seven major themes: operational efficiency, maximum safety, environmental protection, quality & innovation, open dialogue, skill development and responsible citizenship. ABB is working on all seven themes, although during the past five years major focus was given to health & safety and integrity.

What recruitment challenges do you face?
Finding people with a wide hands-on experience in different fields or specialists with long term experience is always a challenge.

What attributes do you look for when choosing a recruitment partner?
The recruitment partner should be very professional and personal chemistry should fit. If I like the company and the recruiters, I am confident they will find the right candidates.

When interviewing candidates at an earlier stage in their career, what common mistakes do you see and what advice would you give?
Many of the young candidates ask first about the money and not about the content and challenges of the job. We look for people with an outstanding enthusiasm for the job.

In what circumstances do you think an external recruiter can add value?
Usually recruiters add great value when you are looking for specific, not common experiences of a candidate or if you are looking for managers with a bright experience.

If you could go back and give your younger (graduate) self some career advice, what would it be?
Usually, I advise younger colleagues to make as diverse experiences as possible during their first ten years of their career. A wide experience in different fields allows an understanding of the end to end process and the company as whole. 

What makes you relax  from working in such a pressured role?
Running, I run 40-60 Km per week. Otherwise, I read books and enjoy the big art offer in Zürich.

What are your personal motivators?
An interesting and challenging job in the right environment is definitely a motivator and great fun, too.

How important was it for you to develop relationships outside of your department for career development?
Every person I worked with during my career was important for my own career development, regardless of whether he/she was within ABB or external. Colleagues in ABB, especially if working at a global level, have a huge network as I have after 17 years. So, if you are looking for somebody, feedbacks and inputs of colleagues are very important and helpful.

What would you say is the most rewarding part of your role?
Managing complex tasks and projects at a global level with very different cultures is definitely one of the most rewarding part of my role.
If you could change one thing in your career what would it be?
I would have tried more different roles to build a 360° experience. For example, sales could have been an interesting option, too. Time will tell.

Looking back through your established career, what would you identify as a personal highlight?
Certainly, it was the period in the Generator Circuit Breaker business as operations manager. The environment was great, high empowerment, with huge freedom in acting and taking decision. With these perfect conditions, I learned most about change management and managing people.  

What do you think makes a good leader in Operations Management?
A good leader should enable collaboration, reduce internal transaction, decide goal conflicts, have a disturbance mandate (create new problems for the company) and make people successful.

What advice would you give to future aspiring leaders, and why?
To a future aspiring leader I would advise that they deeply understand the five leadership principle listed in the previous point. I firmly believe extraordinary leaders are characterised by these five principles.

What would be your advice to someone aspiring to be where you are now?
My advice would be to work in the first part of their career in an operative unit and work as close as possible with their subordinates in order to understand their work and the processes they are working in. To do this later in the career and especially at a global level this will no longer  be possible.

Who was your most admired person when you were in your childhood and why?
In my childhood I admired, as many boys, my father for his joy, curiosity and deep passion for life.

Who is your most inspirational person in business and why?
David Kelly and his company IDEO were extremely inspiring for me. The systematic creativity process he developed and the way he managed IDEO gave me great ideas for my own management style.

What books / blogs are you currently reading?
Currently I’m reading two books:
” Passion running”? from Rafael Fuchsgruber and ultra-marathon runner who talks about his experience of the last ten years
” Excellent company”? a book of two German consultant about change management.

Describe yourself in 3 words
Curious, structured and perseverant.

If you could choose an Artistic/Musical/Sporting career, who would it be and why?
At age of seven I photographed my first black and white picture and afterwards I learned from my father how to develop the film and print the pictures in the dark room. I was and I am still very passionate about photography, probably I would have chosen this career path. 

Do you have any hidden talents?
If I have hidden talents, then they are very well hidden. However, as already mentioned, I am very passionate about photography. Furthermore, I like painting and in sports running. If I am talented in these hobbies I do not know, but I have a lot of fun.

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