What brought you to the Netherlands initially?

I’m originally from Helsinki, Finland. I was finishing my MBA in Finland and decided to come here for an exchange year at the Vrije University. Midyear, I was lucky enough to get an Accounting Assistant role in an IT Distribution company and started working there part-time in the Finance Department. As the semester drew to a close, they asked me to stay on full time in an FP&A role - and I did. The company was a hyper-growth start up and was acquired first by Lockheed Martin and then by GE. With the growth of the company, my responsibilities kept progressing throughout the years and ultimately I became Finance Director. Career-wise there was more opportunity in the Netherlands and it made no sense to return to Finland.

What do you like the most about living and working here?

It’s very relatable for me coming from Northern Europe. It’s a very well run country; everything works well – there’s good infrastructure, education and healthcare and consequently very few frustrations and a good ease of living. There’s also a very good acceptance of the importance of work/life balance.

You have worked for Black Box since 2004. What have been the main changes to finance processes that you have seen throughout that time?

Well, my job has changed completely, a couple of times over, during this time. When I started, it was a corporate finance function. It was a decentralised matrix organisation; we did mainly strategy, corporate reviews and consolidation and were not very operationally involved. Over the years we became functionalised and in 2017 we created the shared service centre in the Netherlands – now it’s a completely operational finance function. Finance roles have also changed over the last 10 years – finance is now more focused on strategy and financial analysis, as a decision-making tool. What was the bread and butter of finance when I started - accounting and controlling - now has less focus, but is expected to work like a Swiss clock, always on time and never failing. Most of my day is spent on making decisions for the future rather than analysing historical numbers.

When I first worked here, I was the only person in international corporate finance! It was a satellite function, supporting the VP for the business unit. As SOX and other changes came in, we created more corporate finance functions. If you do something well then you get more and more to do, which we embraced, and so the team grew and grew and we now have 30 people in finance in the Netherlands (80 in total).

We have expanded our business, especially in Far East and APAC, and changed our go-to-market model in some countries to channel. We purchased an R&D company in Ireland and launched our own products. All these have had an impact on the blueprint of the business and also on finance processes.

What kind of culture have you created in finance at Black Box and how?

It’s always funny when people talk about creating culture, because ultimately we are just ourselves at the office. It’s a very transparent environment. It’s challenging but, at the same time, very considerate. We have a lot of humour of course! And a good team spirit, coming from the challenging projects we have completed together, particularly over the past two years. We have converted the ERP together, to Microsoft Dynamics, and centralised together. All of these projects gel you together as a team. Also, other factors which I take for granted like the fact that our kitchen has long tables, where we always have a sit down lunch and spend some time together to share the latest news – we try not to talk business. As we’ve expanded, the tables have gotten longer!

What changes have you seen in terms of the challenges you face when recruiting?

Although some language and technical skills combinations are hard to find, in general Netherlands is reasonably easy to recruit in. Language skills are becoming less of an issue as business language is English more and more. The challenge is more in finding the right people who are adaptable and with wide range of (transferable) skills to transform together with the company, as we grow and change. As the department has grown, we have been able to attract and retain great talent, as they can see the progression opportunities.  I am very proud of my team, trying to be a good leader for them keeps me going.

What impact will the recent acquisition by AGC Networks have on the global presence of Black Box?

Our geographical coverage is complementary, AGC is strong in APAC and Middle East and we in Americas and Europe. So it’s really a perfect match – together our offering is quite complete. Furthermore our managed services capabilities are complementary. In short, it expands our reach in terms of global markets, verticals and clients.

What has been the biggest challenge for you in progressing to become VP Finance?

I think the biggest challenge for us all, is to have the opportunity to work with people who will teach, mentor and believe in you, especially in the formational years of your career. I took on a Finance Director role in a 300M EUR turnover hyper- growth organisation at 28 years old and that was definitely challenging. But luckily the management team was very collaborative, supportive and really gave me a kick start. If you have the right ingredients in the beginning of your career, after that it is about doing the work diligently, being curious, learning new skills and not getting stuck in the comfort zone. A lot of people helped me along the way, and there are some people I am indebted to for sure – for example  a HR Director in GE, who really helped me as I was very young with little life experience and managing a big team. You can imagine that was sometimes challenging. So good peers, managers who challenge you but also support you, to take bigger steps than you might have done, are so important.

If you could go back and change one thing about your career, what would it be and why?

I wish I would have had exposure to various industries, such as HealthCare or FMCG. I feel we get typecast easily based on our experience, but actually the skills are very transferable and often a fresh perspective may open new ways of doing things. I’m not sure it achieves anything if we continue to take people from the same pool.

What do you love most about your role?

I love a lot of things about my role. First of all, most of us have broader roles than you would expect (for example in GE I also managed logistics and legal) and, secondly, we have become more like strategy makers, supporting the Managing Director/CEO. It is our job to explain the financials, tell the story of the numbers and translate the strategic plans to numbers to validate the hypothesis. Because we know the numbers and are neutral, due to our position, we are often invited to the boardroom alongside the MD. Being invited to pitch a new strategy with the MD – this is the area I particularly enjoy in my role. So when affecting major changes, we often have a seat at the table which is exciting. Sometimes it’s very funny because I can work from micro to macro in one day – debating a small charge on an expense report and then making a decision on a 2 million deal!

What advice would you give to women in finance careers who are looking to progress to a senior level?

Generally, just say yes to challenges, trust yourself and others and delegate if you need to.  There is nothing as empowering as taking on a new challenge. Things that you may see as limiting may be your biggest strengths, for example if you are short of time because of small kids, you are probably excellent in organising, prioritising and multitasking and family life has given you great interaction and situational skills. Sometimes the life skills we acquire as a parent are completely transferable in business.  So take the chances offered to you - once you have overcome something difficult, you gain confidence and get into a positive cycle, so be courageous!

Is there anyone, either in your personal life or in the public eye, who you would aspire to be like?

I don’t really believe in idolizing anyone. I appreciate people and read and learn, but in my eyes sometimes ordinary people are bigger heroes than people who get media coverage. We all have our own paths to follow and the responsibility to make the best out of them. In my family, my Grandfather came to Helsinki as a young man with no education and very little money in his pocket and became a successful  entrepreneur with several businesses. He was also a man of faith and so did missionary work. To complete his education, he went to university in his 60’s! He was, to me, a great example of being open-minded to the opportunities that life can give you and of being courageous.

Swarovski have been through a large-scale digital HR transformation; can you tell us more about this and what the business case was for doing so?

We started our HR transformation project in 2015. Before, we had a very fragmented HR landscape which made it very difficult to ensure a companywide digital HR transformation. Our transformation included systems, processes and roles of managers and employees. The project included all our 28,000 employees of Swarovski Crystal Business and the ultimate objective was to standardise and digitalise processes, systems, data and the roles of HR, line managers and employees globally. Not a small scope indeed, but the project was successfully executed from mid-2015 until mid-2018 on a global scale.  We closed the project with our executive Steering Committee just recently.

The pace of change in technology is having a profound effect on the human resources function. As a Digital HR strategist, perhaps you could give us your insight into what HR will look like in the next 5 to 10 years from now?

It is very difficult to look into the crystal ball, but let’s give it a try. First of all, HR will move in into the centre of the enterprise. The Head of HR is becoming the new business leader and is no longer just an executive of a supporting function. In the 70s the CFO was the most important person next to the CEO and this will change during the next decade. Second, HR will be by far more data driven than in the past and HR will move into fact-based decision making (without data you are just another person with an opinion). People Analytics will move into the centre of HR and will ensure that HR is broadly accepted by the business. There are already great examples available from data driven companies which move into this direction, e.g. Google, ING or ABN Ambro. Third, technology will be the main driver in HR. AI, robotics, automation and all the other technologies will be a naturally included in HR. For example, it is acknowledged for long that manual labour jobs are shifted to machines, but machine learning means that robots will also be able to take on many cognitive tasks better than their human counterparts. This will radically change the workplace and the workforce. HR will have to find and maintain a balance between machine labour and human labour, and potentially begin to deal with a re-imagining of human workers’ purpose and scope. 

How do you keep up to speed with the ever- increasing capabilities technology offers?

This is very simple at the end. What business value does technology bring for your enterprise? If AI, cloud, personalization – just to mentioned some of the buzz words – is not leading to better company performance then it is not worth moving into this direction. Additionally, you need also to be brave and just try things out. The old way of long-term planning is not as valid as in the past. A decade ago 5 – 10 year roadmaps were state of the art. Nowadays technology changes so fast that you need to constantly adapt your roadmap.

You have built and led teams in People Analytics, what recruitment challenges do you face?

This is a very good question and indeed recruiting in this new space is very challenging. The perfect People Analytics manager needs to have set of various skills. From my point of view this is mainly:

·       Business acumen: Financial literacy, Political astuteness, Internal and External awareness

·       Communications: Storytelling, Visualization, Writing, Presenting, Marketing

·       Consulting: Problem definition, Hypothesis building, Project management, Solution development, Change management, Stakeholder management

·       Data Science: Quantitative (mathematics and statistics), Computer Science (databases and programming), Data awareness

·       Human Resources: HR sub-functions, HR interdependencies, International HR, Privacy and ethics, HR «sixth sense»

·       Work Psychology: Industrial psychology, Organizational psychology, Research design and analysis

Typically, people focus on the last three skills, but the first mentioned are more important. The first three are the make or break if your People Analytics projects will have business impact or not. At the end stage you need all 6 of them to be successful.

We had a very thorough and well-structured recruitment process. I was very lucky with my first recruitments as they can cover all 6 needs skills needed to be successful in analytics.

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

I am passionate about a broad range of topics in HR and I enjoy building up new teams, efficient and effective organisations and working in projects connecting different cultures, countries, functions, units and processes. Nevertheless, what excites me most is having measurable business impact with the activities we are doing. Especially currently with People Analytics - if you do it right you can have considerable business impact and correspondingly great feedback from senior business stakeholders. This makes real fun and I enjoy this a lot.

Who was your most admired person when you were in your childhood and why?

My parents and my grandparents showed me how to enjoy hard work, being resilient and move things forward also under difficult circumstances. Looking back all of them contributed to the person I am today. I am very thankful to all of them.

If you could choose an Artistic/Musical/Sporting career, who would it be and why?

My biggest hobby is my family, but you are asking for a career. I love to be in nature and therefore I would choose one for winter and one for summer. In winter I would love to do ski tours and in summer I would love to kite surf. My wife and kid love both too, but especially I enjoy the feeling being in sync with nature with both sports. They combine nature, action, fun and are technically ambitious.

Given your experience across a variety of sectors including Consultancy, Legal and IT, what was the appeal to you of becoming a partner at EY?

To be honest, I wasn’t heavily looking for a partnership when EY contacted me. I was in a good position working at Lexmark, having joined in mid-2016 as Global VAT Leader, overseeing a large group with 80+ international entities for VAT (advisory and compliance). After 6 months, in December of the same year, I was promoted to Global VAT and Foreign Income Tax Leader – increasing the scope of activity dramatically. It was really speedy learning, as VAT and customs are very different to the direct tax environment which I was now confronted with. Issues included transfer pricing, local & global compliance and working with consultants from Big 4. This opened a lot of doors. EY were looking for a VAT partner in Geneva and previous colleagues from my time in Big 4, who were now at EY, talked to me about this opportunity.

A Partner opportunity like this is too good to refuse! I know a lot of people already within EY and knew it was a good place to work. The headquarters are in Zurich, but on the French side of Switzerland we are very autonomous and today I have a pretty open market to approach. Suisse Romande has around 40+ multinationals in global operations & trades and also the swiss market – including swiss entities and family owned businesses. We are covering all aspects and including more customs practice; we have issues to come in customs, with things like Brexit on the horizon. A hard Brexit would mean building everything from scratch with the companies, providing a lot of challenges.

What has been the most rewarding part of your career and why?

That’s easy. I started working in 1996 in international logistics, then joined Deloitte and onto PwC. In 2007 I left Big 4 and moved into my own business as a Tax Lawyer, establishing my own practice which ran for almost 8 years. I left the comfort of a salaried job to establish myself; it was a target of mine to do this at the age of 40. It was challenging and very much building from scratch, an experience in life which is very worthwhile, as you are doing everything yourself. The administrative part of running a business in France is quite difficult sometimes. I established a new network - not all big companies, but more middle market environment - learning how to react to CEOs, founders and owners of businesses. Itâ €™s a close relationship so if the fit doesn’t fit, it doesn’t work. Selling wasn’t the most difficult part but delivering – it can be a difficult time when being asked to do something you don’t want to do and sometimes even having to refuse.

What challenges will your new role provide?

When you’re a partner it’s a less technical, but more business development-focused, role. You go to the market and really work on identifying clients, meeting and serving them. We will be offering high level products, services around VAT, customs and indirect taxes.

Companies are moving more and more towards technology and the dematerialisation of documentation. The EU is looking towards safety – e.g. real time invoicing, order processing. We can expect that paper will have disappeared from these processes 3-4 years from now. We need to focus on this and to present this to clients.

The present teams doing returns will probably not have the technology skills needed for the future, so things will almost certainly change. The tax mission is really to go to the market and to meet people (which I really like to do) and, although we work to targets, at EY it is quite flexible compared to the other Big 4 as you have time to build relationships.

In the multinational businesses we deal with, we are working with people from many different countries and cultures, so I will continue to learn more and more - it’s a real ‘human’ adventure. It’s a challenge of the new role to go to business development, also to build the team and ensure they want to come to work and enjoy it, give them autonomy and ability to deliver. Retaining staff is also a challenge – young consultants know the industry is calling them. Nowadays people have a lot of opportunity and there is an ongoing ‘game’ between Big 4 and industry to attract and retain the employees. My approach is to talk to them about career development and aspirations and plan ahead. I try to be as close as possible to the team.

How, and in what ways, has your experience at Lexmark expanded your skills and knowledge?

The quick progression at Lexmark created an extremely speedy learning opportunity and expanded my knowledge regarding a range of issues – transfer pricing, M&A and accounting for multinationals, including reporting standards such as US GAAP. I also had opportunity to work closely with people and departments I hadn’t worked with before, such as IT. We implemented a brand-new reporting process worldwide and found that trying to explain invoicing requirements in the EU to pure SAP engineers was a challenge – especially in a massive organisation, with hundreds of thousands of lines. This experience was great and I’m very thankful to the person who hired me (VP Finance) – I had exposure to working with various cultural roots/backgrounds, learning how to work well together and different ways of working. I found the human side very interesting and the aspect with the biggest learning curve. I am extremely happy joining EY, but the time at Lexmark was excellent experience.

How do you feel that Indirect Tax has evolved globally in recent years?

This is the best part of the game! It’s moving all the time. 10 years ago, customs was on the front line; EU customs decided to rebuild environments for the customs code and also the technology – this was very interesting. VAT was at that time pretty old fashioned, with paper VAT returns, but now it’s moving to technology. A lot of companies in the EU have moved to e-submission – countries such as Norway, Poland, Spain, Italy, France are ahead on this and are also implementing tools to fight against fraud. Fraud on VAT is the biggest tax fraud in Europe, so they are very creative in inventing tools and proposals to fight it.

We are going to have a new environment. Since 1977 and the 6^th Directive, VAT was supposed to be in a transitory period. The European Commission is working on the final VAT position. This is very challenging as we will have a definitive VAT regime, will be facing technology issues, sometimes local languages too, customs & Brexit issues inside the EU and outside the EU (GCC) are still implementing VAT. This is hard to follow; you cannot standardise as it’s country specific. Even in the EU, you have to follow closely with local teams. Global projects are very interesting – you have to give countries rules to implement differently, including Swiss environment.

The interesting thing from my perspective is that VAT/indirect tax is talking real business, real life, cash, people moving from one country to another and a very economical way of behaving; if you don’t deal with it well, you’re losing money. I’m a big fan of VAT! You really have to be hands-on and meet people to do the mapping – go to warehouses, docks and to the companies.

What approach can future clients of yours expect at EY and why does it stand out from your competitors?

The thing I have noticed in my time at EY so far, is that it is so easy to talk to all counterparts at EY – across TP, Tax, all service lines, etc. - to share information and knowledge about clients. It’s very easy to get to know people and a trusting environment at EY, which creates a nice atmosphere. When it’s good internally then it’s good externally – I am having introductions to clients who are happy with the service they’re receiving from EY. I know I still will have to demonstrate our ability and deliver, but I have always done this. EY can provide the environment to implement what I want to, on a global basis.

I see this EY position as very much a long-term plan, to build relationships and build the team for the future.

What is your management style and how do you empower your team to grow the business?

I’m easy going and not into micro-management - it’s a waste of time - so I really trust in people. A manager is in that position because they deserve it, so let people do what they think they can do autonomously. My job is go-to market and to be in the office as little as possible, so it’s a question of trust and personal link – let people do what they want and like to do. If you constrain someone it will never work - I like to empower the team to run effectively whilst I’m away from the office.

I don’t class myself as a ‘boss’ as you’re only an effective partner if you have a good team. I encourage talking openly in meetings where everyone can bring their own knowledge and ideas to help find the right solution. When I had my own practice I really missed the opportunity to share the ‘wins’ with a team.

What are the core competencies that you look for in people who work for you?

Across Big 4 we generally hire the top level of students, but this being said, it’s then really a question of fitting. If you have two people with the same profile, you can feel the difference in how focused they are in interview. The company is looking for dedication and hard work but it’s the curiosity to look outside the box, an entrepreneurial way of thinking, to look beyond VAT rules at the global business, the global flows and complex environments – and this you have to learn. Be proactive, think about new solutions, new steps and make suggestions.

What or who inspired you to pursue a career in tax?

No-one really! When I was studying I wasn’t really a good student. I went to business school first of all and then went back to study CPA, after which I did a placement with a CPA firm. I lasted 2 days before thinking I needed to find a job instead! I went to a logistics entity and they had a position in fiscal presentation, customs & VAT – so I’ve really been dealing with VAT since day one. I finished as legal director at this company, then went to Deloitte and decided to become a lawyer. My mentor in VAT was a partner at Deloitte and she was really inspiring – an alien of the time as she trusted people so much and wasn’t micro-managing, covered my back for some mistakes and taught me a lot. She kept also telling me that you need 10 years to be a good VAT advisor because the experience gives you something you can’t find in the books. She will recognise herself!

What do you like about working in Switzerland?

I enjoy working and living in Switzerland. I like the work/life balance situation in Switzerland, you work hard but everybody is respectful of when working ends and private life begins, from CEO to the everyday workers. The Swiss hold great value to work/life balance.  

Professionally – in Switzerland you still have the opportunity to consider and work with mid and long term outlook. Focus, of course, is always on short term results but for the whole time I have lived in Switzerland you have the flexibility to plan long-term investment and mid-term initiative even without going under high pressure for immediate returns. The capacity to look forward is something I appreciate so much!

Organisation, clarity and stability of your position. You know what your duties are, you know your rights and they are defined and respected. I haven’t found such a similar situation in other countries. For instance, it is surprising approaching the tax cantonal authorities, to find not only a tax office, but a consistent reference partner too. From a Tax, Legal or Compliance point of view, these individuals will always give speedy response and support regardless of the query. I see this like a ‘paradise’ from a business point of view!

I sometimes miss flexibility and the opportunity to stray away from defined guidelines. Sometimes I feel a cultural resistance to think ‘out of the box’. The trial and error approach is not necessarily accepted in the Swiss community.

Can you identify how AMC stands out from the market and your competitors?

We have 2 main USP’s:

1.      The Quality of our product. We always aim to have super high quality in products. When I say products, I mean more than just manufacturing, but also the related services. We strive to make the customer happy with our product, our cooking methods and with their AMC experiences.

2.      We are a serious and trusted company, we have been in the business for over 50 years and this is because we do what we say – especially with the customer. We are a people business, we do not try and sell a product, we encourage people to join us and sell our product for us. We will keep a high integrity, even if it may not be the most profitable way for the company in the pure short term.

What challenges await AMC and how do you hope to overcome them?

Thanks for using plural but there is only one real challenge – people. We need to constantly recruit new, talented people in sales. Being good at this has directly led to our success. We do not just select at the beginning: everybody can work for AMC. We consider all kinds of people:  our motto can be summarised as ‘anytime, anywhere, anybody’ when it comes to recruiting our sales people. We  face diverse backgrounds, educationally and personally, and this requires flexibility and a strong attention to the human being. We are beginning to implement blended training in order to support individuals. Our main challenge is to find the person, train the person and make the person successful.

Are AMC planning to implement artificial intelligence/robotics to streamline processes?

Our robotics are mainly seen on our production line and not in finance. Robotics in our production were implemented more than 10 years ago and already a big part of our manufacturing is done by robots. 2 years ago we implemented a fully automised warehouse. Artificial intelligence is being brought into our training platform for our ‘blended learning’. We are in a pilot phase of digitising our sales process, with a direct link to our CRM.

We are making use of social media, particularly with our multi-lingual recipe platform where we have 600 recipes all available to the general public. This has now become a community where we act solely as a moderator. Every user can comment, download, interact, copy and upload a recipe. The goal of this is to create knowledge and commitment – we don’t sell or recruit through this platform we are just raising brand awareness. After one year with have over 30,000 active users.

How did you get to the level you are at? What great decisions do you believe you have made throughout your career and have you had to take risks?

My experience is very varied. I started my career by studying business administration by chance. I hated the beginning - accounting and all the repetitive procedures involved. I was more interested in controlling and the opportunity to run projects and this was the main reason my career developed the way it did. I developed an internal career within AMC. My development was founded on my flexibility and curiosity with a basis of professionality, education and preparation, but mainly on an urge to discover new things. My bosses always praised me on being able to see 360 degrees of any situation. I was able to speak about finance without being a pure accounting person. A key point is to be able to predict in which direction the business is going more than a typical finance individual. And of course you have to enjoy your work!

In summary, to somebody aspiring to climb the finance ladder, I would suggest: be curious, be flexible and consistently move out of your comfort zone. To quote Steve Jobs, ‘Stay Hungry’, don’t be afraid to make mistakes and make the most of your peers and wider network.

How important was it for you to develop relationships outside of your department for career development?

Very important - your wider network keeps you updated with shared experiences. Networking will also allow you to have fun; you will get the chance to meet interesting people who you can constantly learn a lot from. You can also compare your work with what other people are doing and take fruitful learnings.

For 15 years I was an active member of the ‘Direct Selling Association’ in Italy and worked as the President of the Legal Committee. The world is moving and changing faster than ever before and networking keeps you in touch critically with the world. This works both ways – you must be as willing to give information as you are to take. I communicate with my peers and competitors regularly.

What was the worst / best interview experience you have had?

When I interview I don’t prioritise an individual’s professional capacity - though of course you must be educated, have language skills and computer skills. I look mainly for mental flexibility and personality. Technical skills and processes can be learned, but what you have inside cannot be so easily changed. I look for people who are curious, flexible and open to new experiences. I don’t like people who are just ‘looking for a job’; the worst thing a candidate can do is ask about how many vacation days and working hours there are. In my department you can quite freely organise your job (of course in line and respecting the basic guidelines). As long as your work is done, that is fine with me. I feel this promotes a free and motivating environment, as well as an assumption of clear responsibilities and accountability.

What advice would you give to future aspiring leaders, and why?

Be curious, be ambitious and think out of the box. At the end of the day, finance people need to deliver part of the profit of the company. Every day I ask myself what my contribution has been. If statutory reporting is perfect and presentations are great, then that is fine, but it is only valuable if it has contributed to the overall profit of the company. I aim to more than repay my salary. This comes from seeking new challenges and projects to get involved with. You can be seen as a ‘number’ or an ‘actor’, I would rather be an ‘actor’ and add to the storyline.

Who is your most inspirational person in business and why?

Steve Jobs. He wasn’t necessarily a great personality or someone you’d meet up with for ‘fun’. But I respected him because he always placed the customer in the centre and considered their point of view; and of course his mantra, ‘Stay Hungry’.

My second is Mario Draghi, he survived as a Italian in a German world - not always easy, facing one of the worst financial crises. He supported Europe’s survival by going against the powers. I still have his famous ‘Whatever it takes’ speech in my mind. He took unpopular decisions against the powers and was successful.

If you could choose to be a sporting idol, who would it be and why?

As a sportsman, I would love to be Roger Federer. He is a great winner and is still coming back at 36 years old, but with the spirit of someone just starting their career. He balances his professional career with his family life. Nobody expected this performance and, when you look at how he achieved this, it was through hard-work, belief and choosing to focus on what he can do best.

What does the Asahi business look like today & can you tell us details about your growth plans ?

Asahi Group Holdings is a global beverage and food company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan.  Our domestic Japanese business is more diverse than our international businesses. We span multiple alcohol groups from our flagship Asahi Super Dry beer through wine & Shochu to our Nikka whisky, Foods & Soft drinks such as Calpis & Wilkinson, Wonda & Mitsuya Cider.

Internationally our businesses are heavily focussed upon beer with brands such as Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Grolsch, Meantime, Pilsner Urquell, Cricketers Arms and Mountain Goat. Today, our largest business unit is our domestic Japanese division, but through a series of acquisitions over the last decade, Asahi Group Holdings has expanded its footprint into Oceania, Europe, South East Asia & North America.

In terms of our aspirations, we at Asahi aim to surpass customer expectations in the products and services that we provide through the ‘Kando’ (deliciousness, happiness & innovation) of food.

Like many Japanese businesses today, growth in our domestic business is challenged by the ageing population. As a result we are committed to positioning our international business as a growth engine. Although it would not be appropriate to discuss specific acquisitions I can share with you the details that our CEO Akiyoshi Koji shared in a Reuters interview late last year: Asahi investment across Europe.

Where does Asahi Europe operate today and can you tell us about your growth plans ?

Asahi Europe Ltd is part of Asahi Group Holdings and our portfolio includes iconic beers such as Asahi Super Dry, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Grolsch, Meantime, and St Stefanus. We have key operations in The Netherlands, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Canada and Switzerland and our global partner network serves Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. In terms of our aspirations, we aim to be a Global Premium Beer Powerhouse, using our Global Footprint to bring Premium beers to consumers.

With sales revenues close to two billion Euros, five world-class production facilities, customers in almost 80 markets and 1900 employees, we deliver value into the category and aim to change the way people think about beer. Thanks to our aspirational brands, engaging marketing activities, agile distribution and premium execution we are well positioned to continue our growth and become a global premium beer powerhouse.

What opportunities can Asahi offer new employees ?

In the past 2 years, Asahi has made 2 significant investments in Europe by acquiring businesses from the former SABMiller plc. These acquisitions have brought in some iconic Premium beers, world-class assets and with the smaller business, the opportunity for a more agile, entrepreneurial way of working. This means that we have many opportunities for talented, mobile individuals who can adopt our ‘Challenger Mindset’. Such people can carve out a role for themselves as opposed to ‘slotting-in’ to a large, complex, pre-defined operating model. And, with an ambition to grow our footprint, there will be even more career opportunities.

How attractive do you feel that Switzerland remains as a location for international businesses?

Switzerland remains very attractive to international businesses for a number of reasons. The long history of stability, a central, geographical location & the infrastructure investments that have been, and continue to be, made have led to many international businesses establishing themselves here. This provides a great foundation and access to a large talent pool for businesses considering locating themselves in Switzerland. Seeing the business landscape evolve from a Pharma focus, through Supply Chain, NGOs and more recently Tech Companies alongside the moniker ‘Crypto Valley’ shows that Switzerland is ensuring that it remains relevant & appeals to both traditional and modern businesses.

When looking beyond the business reasons, reports such as the Credit Suisse Location Quality Indicator, the excellent healthcare system and low crime levels make Switzerland a fantastic, safe, enjoyable country to live and work in.

When interviewing candidates at an earlier stage in their career, what common mistakes do you see and what advice would you give?

I often see a competitive streak in interviews and a desire to narrow down one‘s career. My advice would be to let curiosity guide you, rather than seeing the interview as a competition that you have to win – it’s not great when you end up in an inappropriate role that doesn’t work out for either party, a sort of ‘Be careful what you wish for’ situation.

Similarly, few people know after university how and where they wish to spend their working life. For instance, how many of us know that we want to spend our lives peering into other people’s mouths as a fully qualified dentist? I’ve always respected people who can make this call, but for the majority, keeping an open mind and building experiences tends to give greater career flexibility and ultimately leads to a more satisfying career.

In what circumstances do you think an external recruiter can add value?

When seeking external candidates a recruitment partner, who closely liases with the business, can offer strong benefits. Firstly, when particularly unique skills or market knowledge is needed, e.g. the recruiter can pre-screen and select the good, from the average, applicant. Secondly, when there’s a need to act swiftly, e.g. a recruiter knows from its candidate base who’s immediately available and/or at short notice.

How important was it for you to develop relationships outside of your department for career development?

This is one of those areas that I regularly find myself revisiting.
As with many aspiring professionals, there’s a basic need to master a topic or skill that develops one’s self-confidence. From this foundation, moving onto a broader set of responsibilities means a significant shift in thinking and approach. There’s a temptation to stay close to the comfort zone, but to really become a change agent it’s the interactions & relationships beyond that are so important. Building a strong team that consistently delivers creates the space in order to develop relationships beyond Procurement. Sometimes there is something obvious that you can offer, but equally you can be pleasantly surprised by the demands and feedback from outside – such insights are invaluable in building one’s credibility within an organisation and securing one’s career ambitions.

What books / blogs are you currently reading?

I recently finished reading Sapiens & Homo Deus – two very thought-provoking books, but I wouldn’t recommend them for reading on the beach!

So, if dynamic, challenging roles within a supportive, fun network, working with employees who have an infectious passion for our beers appeals to you, then please feel free to drop me a line and enjoy a ‘karakuchi’ moment!

After a progressive, international career with Syngenta, you have recently moved into a new position with Thermo Fisher Scientific. What excites you about working for the business?

Two factors played in role in my joining Thermo Fisher Scientific. The first was our mission, which is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. As the world leader in serving science, with revenues of more than $20 billion and approximately 70,000 employees globally, we are fulfilling that mission everyday which really excites me. Second, the role as CFO Europe for the Clinical Trial business was the right step for me in my career as I have full financial accountability. We have three major sites in Switzerland, Germany and England with over 50 finance and purchasing professionals in those sites, and with that comes all the general financial responsibilities including the monthly closing, the budget process, statutory and tax filing and much more. Furthermore, in this role I am heavily engaged in the strategic development of the European business and it’s exciting and challenging to play a part in growing and facilitating that growth.

Can you identify how your organisation stands out from the market and your competitors, particularly in Switzerland where there are many life sciences businesses?

In Switzerland the Clinical Trial business of Thermo Fisher Scientific has the biggest footprint and is a service provider to the Pharma and Biotech industry. We are a global leader in the areas of clinical supply chain management and clinical supplies for patients worldwide. With approximately 500 employees in Allschwil, Basel, we manufacture, package, label, store and ship different medicines to locations globally. We are well placed in Basel with the proximity many Pharmaceutical companies.

With the recent acquisition of Patheon we now are one of the only companies that can offer the full end to end service for clinical trials. By adding Patheon's highly complementary contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) capabilities to our leading clinical trials services and bioproduction technologies, we are an even stronger partner for our pharmaceutical and biotech customers.

What other challenges are awaiting Thermo Fisher, and how do you hope to overcome them?

Like any other company or industry there are many challenges to tackle. The research and development of new medicine is becoming much more expensive than it was just 15 years ago. In addition, there is a shift in medicine where you won’t need many tablets any more than one, but it will be a much higher price. Hence Innovation is key in the industry and we need to transform and think differently for the future. Digitalisation will change how clinical studies will be executed and we want to be at the forefront of that development. For example, one of the more difficult aspects of a clinical trial is to find the people to test the medicine with. They need to get to a specific location that is licensed to hand out the medicine, and for some of the patients it will require them to travel for several hours every week to get there. A concept like delivering directly to patients, as opposed to them having to travel, would make this much easier for a clinical trial patient who may already be going through other health challenges. 

How did you get to the level you are at? What great decisions do you believe you have made throughout your career and have you had to take risks?

I had the opportunity to have different roles in many areas of finance at Syngenta which helped to round out my finance experience and positioned me well for my current role as CFO Europe, clinical trials business at Thermo Fisher Scientific. I have gathered practical experience as well as technical finance knowledge that is necessary to be a successful CFO. From an education standpoint, I added CIMA and other courses, including business strategy from Insead, to my master diploma which I was able to successfully complete in England (London School of Economics) and Switzerland (University of Zurich). This required a lot of discipline, endurance and interest. It showed me that life-long learning is a key ingredient for advancement.

There are, however, many other elements that played into this. First, you need to have dedication, hard work and show that you want to grow – but most importantly, you also need to deliver. This is key throughout any career. You must know your aspiration and where you want to get to and think about how you can get there. It is important to change roles every two to three years early in your career (also within a corporation) to gain a wide breadth of experience in different areas of finance. This provides the opportunity to see what areas of finance you like and want to focus on. If opportunities arise, take them. Be proactive, take on extra work and responsibility and a new role if there is an opportunity to do so.

Second, working abroad is still one of the best decisions I made in my career. It opened my perspective and I learned to adapt and manage in a different environment and culture. Those are crititcal skills to possess to succeed later in your career. Of course there is risk associated with moving and working abroad. In my first four years with Syngenta, I gained a lot of information on processes, systems and people, which allowed me to be ready to go out and use my knowledge. Luck also plays a part in the sense that sometimes it’s just being in the right place at the right time. However, you can influence your luck by doing a supereb job and being first in line when an opportunity arises. Don’t be shy, let people know what you want to achieve and work step by step towards it. You need to be realistic and not think you will be a CFO with just a few years of experience. 

Last, leading people is another milestone in a progressive career. I am a person that likes to manage, challenge, motivate and develop finance careers and ensure people learn and are set up for success. There is a risk involved if, for example, there is a need to manage people with more experience, but without people management skills they won’t progress far regardless of your technical skills. Hence, try to earn the opportunity to lead one or two colleagues early on.

What made you decide to pursue a career in finance?

I always had an interest in numbers and hence deliberately chose to study economics at the university. I have a business mindset and set up a small trading company while studying and realized early on that it is crucial to understand the finance. Only with solid profit and loss (P&L) and balance sheet comprehension can you steer a business in a professional and sophisticated way. Hence finance is a good base to build your career on, and it also opens many doors for career changes. Finance also provides a lot of career options and plenty of room for growth.

I grew up internationally and a background in finance makes it easier to be able to secure work opportunities globally. This can be more difficult with other careers like law, for example, which is more customized to specific regions. As I was glad to experience international mobility early on (I was born in Hong Kong and lived my first few years there, as well in Japan for two years. I saw the benefits of experiencing a different culture and saw how this broadened my horizon. 

What recruitment challenges do you face?

Talent is scarce and one needs to rely on their own network. It is also a motivating sign if somebody from the existing team can be promoted. However, if you have to go outside your organization, there are several recruiting challenges. First, time to hire. You are always late while you are recruiting as you normally start the process when somebody has resigned. To minimize the gap, and the extra efforts of current team members, establishing a bridge is key. Second, avoid making a bad hire. It is important to find the right fit long term that fits into the company values and culture but is also a fit with the current team. Thermo Fisher is a fast paced company with many projects happening simultaneously, which require management. Last, reduce costs. Recruiting can be costly as it requires the time of the HR department, business people for interviews, agencies and many others.

What books / blogs are you currently reading? What book could you recommend to accountants that are wanting to progress?

I like to read business books and magazines and I do that as much as I can, especially while traveling on a plane. It is vital to keep yourself up to date on what is going on, both in the industry and broader environment, to ensure you can ask the right questions for your company and department. A good book I read some time ago is called ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins. Another is ‘What Got You Here Won’t Get You There’ by Marshall Goldsmith. The first is about how companies need to transform to be successful and the second is more about yourself and what are the hurdles to overcome at different career levels to further progress.