Kenneth Eintoft is the VP Group Finance at DFDS with over 25 years of experience in global, capital-intensive industries. His international assignments have included roles based in Denmark, Panama, the USA and the Netherlands.

Kenneth specialises in financial reporting, M&A, and full funding strategies for large organisations, including financial process optimisation through technology and offshoring. He also contributes to the creation and application of IFRS accounting standards.

What risks have you taken throughout your twenty-five-year career and how did they help you reach the level you’re now at?

Throughout my career, I have taken calculated risks by ensuring that 75% of the new role was within my expertise while 25% was an area for growth, allowing me to continuously improve. I also transitioned from smaller to larger companies, with the exception of my current role at DFDS, which is smaller than my previous employer, Maersk.

I believe in taking risks that offer a reasonable chance of success and I’ve mentored others in my team to do the same, ensuring they have a solid foundation to build upon. While the '75/25' split mentioned might not be exact, there should be a balance between familiar skills and new challenges; it could be a 50/50 or 60/40 split.

I joined DFDS for the challenges it presented and to work with the hiring manager, the former CFO. The company was on a growth trajectory at the time and, coming from a huge international company, I saw both a challenge and an opportunity to help drive that growth. I found that interesting then and still do today.

I have also spent time in Panama as a regional CFO with APM Terminals, and that meant jumping in at the deep end. I remember driving to the hotel on arrival, reflecting on the fact that I didn’t know when I’d see home again. In the end, I was away for about a year in both Panama and Virginia and rose through several levels, accelerating both my career progression and personal growth. If you have a chance to do something like that, take it - even though the challenge may seem insurmountable.

Did your wife go with you?

Yes, my wife went with me. To top the story off, three weeks after the move, I was notified that the North and South America regions would merge, and I effectively didn't have a job. Our belongings that we’d shipped hadn’t even arrived at Panama City’s port yet. We discussed our options over the weekend, considering whether to return to Denmark or wait and see what opportunities might arise. We chose to sit tight and wait, which eventually led to my job in Virginia.

In many aspects of life, when you think about it, saying no is the easier option because it excuses you from the effort that comes with successful change. But the moral of the story is that you must take risks if you want to achieve something - and make sure you are aligned with your morals, work ethic and family.

If you could give your younger self some career advice, what would it be?

One thing that has always annoyed me is not finishing my master's degree. When you're young, it's easy to be swayed by others, and that can lead to you taking different roads in life. I would tell my younger self to concentrate on my strengths.

Although I didn't know then what I know now, I believe in being positive and not dwelling on regrets. I believe in the good in people and that I will prevail. Don’t spend too much time looking back. It's ok to reflect on past experiences but use them to move forward rather than regret them.

You witness that the most clearly when you change jobs: You take things with you from the old company to the new. What has also helped me is having great managers for most of my career. I have had poor managers too and, as my career hasn’t been one progressive incline.  I’ve switched between managerial and specialist roles and realised that voicing your opinion is necessary to help your manager get better, otherwise, nothing will change.

What would have been your second career choice and why?

I considered engineering because I enjoy both maths and complex problems. I like the idea of working with big assets and solving technical challenges. Although it sounds unrelated to my current field, I used to work with engineers in a venture company and I found it interesting.

What is the most surprising thing that has happened during your career?

Other than moving to Central America and finding out I didn’t have a job...? Earlier in my career, I was focused on becoming a chartered accountant and it was a blow when that didn't happen. When I began to focus on what I was good at, things improved.

When I moved to The Hague as the Global Head of Finance for APMT, I knew I wanted broader responsibilities but didn't know exactly what that would entail. I have increasingly given up planning my career in great detail and become more opportunistic. That shift from having a set goal to playing it as it comes was surprising in a way and liberating in another.

What are the three challenges ahead for you as a VP of Group Finance?

The three main challenges I face this year include integrating two large company acquisitions, which we tend to do every year, implementing a new ERP system, and managing the complexities of ESG and CSRD compliance.

The ERP system implementation is ongoing and, despite completing the initial scope, the company's growth means we need to continue this work for more than two years. Additionally, we are introducing a new consolidation tool to streamline processes and make life easier for those in group functions and within the subsidiaries.

The ESG and CSRD compliance is challenging due to complexity; last year we had some assistance from an external consulting company. Since then, we have hired a great team of three to address these requirements. That was a super interesting process as I wrote the job specs myself and had the chance to interview people who I never thought I would, such as people with anthropology as part of their education.

How does your company work to retain high-potential employees?

We focus on two main strategies to retain high-potential employees. Firstly, hard work by managers to engage in open conversations with their staff, to understand their dreams and aspirations. I can’t read people’s minds and they can’t read mine, so the more we communicate, the better chance we have of offering the opportunities that align with their goals.

Secondly, we have two major drives: a clear environmental agenda - which motivates young people by showing our commitment to responsibility and problem-solving – and our growth story. DFDS has doubled in size over the last five years and this helps to attract candidates who want to be part of a successful, growing company.

What is your favourite motto or quote and why?

My favourite quote is from Tennyson's Ulysses: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

It resonates with me as I want to improve continuously. If you want someone to stand by an assembly line and grind away, don’t hire me. I like to change and prefer evolution to revolution. However, you do need a stable base while being persistent and adaptable, especially in challenging situations. Over time, I’ve come to realise that I am fairly good at meeting headwinds.

Thank you to Kenneth for speaking to our Michelle Ewing, Client Developement Director at EMEA Recruitment.

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

Margaret Breen is a Swiss-based commercial Supply Chain and Merchandising executive with extensive omnichannel experience. Her international career spans diverse companies including Nike, Danone, Dufry, and Chalhoub Group.

In this intriguing interview, Margaret expressed her excitement for the evolution of the supply chain function, highlighting the role of technology and automation. She also shared her approach to change management and transformation, offering five key insights for leaders to ensure success, and explained why following her curiosity was her best career strategy.

With your impressive career in Supply Chain & Procurement, what keeps you excited about this field, and how do you see it changing in the future?

As a Supply Chain executive, I am excited to experience the journey of adaptation and possibilities in supply chain management. Supply Chain is a dynamic web of processes that offers a mosaic of challenges and opportunities, making it a truly fascinating industry.

I enjoy having the ability to impact the business positively and create tangible results. No two days are the same. The diverse ecosystem of stakeholders, including suppliers, distributors, customers, and internal departments, brings a sense of fulfilment when brought together.

I’m also a curious individual who enjoys problem-solving. Sometimes, it can be challenging, but I tell myself to stick with the problem and follow it upstream until I identify the root cause.

Looking ahead, Supply Chain will evolve as technology takes centre stage, and roles will change. We now have capabilities we once only dreamed of, and the sky’s the limit. The times when a Planner pressed F9 to manually refresh data and went for a coffee whilst waiting for the computer to finish are gone.

In the past, data was important but not crucial. Today clean data points are paramount, causing a shift for many organisations. Carefully piloted and enabled automation will equip teams with tools that transcend routine tasks, creating space for creative problem-solving, strategic planning and micro-managing a new market or product line.

The journey of combining technology, processes, and people promises an exciting chapter for the Supply Chain industry.

You've taken on many challenges in your career. Can you share a few risks you’ve taken that really paid off and helped you reach where you are today?

I've embraced various challenges that have shaped my journey. One significant risk I took, which truly paid off, was hiring for attitude over competencies. While it may not always be the conventional approach, I firmly believe that attitude is far more valuable than skills or industry knowledge. Competencies can be trained, but the right attitude is difficult to cultivate.

Another risk has been focusing on adding value beyond immediate key performance indicators. This means looking at the bigger picture of what moves the business forward and benefits our customers and partners. It’s not always a straightforward path, but staying true to core values and learning from failures and wins alike has helped get us where we are today. Success is rarely an overnight phenomenon or the result of any single decision - it’s the culmination of risks taken outside the comfort zone and a willingness to acknowledge learnings.

For me, the ability to see beyond the day-to-day and nurture the right mindset and values in my team has been crucial. These pillars have guided me over the years.

You've led a lot of change management projects, especially in digital transformation. What do you think are the 3-5 most important factors for making these projects successful?

Firstly, trust is the foundation for gaining people's buy-in and willingness to change. Be transparent, acknowledge difficulties, and follow through on commitments. This is incredibly important if you are new to leading a team.

Secondly, minimise uncertainty. There is no space in people's minds for creative solutions when they feel uncertain over what is to come in their personal future. The team's energy is best spent on the work and not guessing about strategy or plans.

Furthermore, focus on building and defining a shared vision. Having a clear vision for the future gives the team purpose, ensuring they understand the rationale and benefits, which helps motivate them through challenges.

Additionally, be specific in describing key milestones and metrics of success. This helps the team understand priorities, set progress benchmarks, and evaluate outcomes. Plan the work, test, learn, analyse, and adapt as needed.

Finally, communicate frequently. Share progress, wins, and lessons learned and ask for input. Listen and be responsive to feedback. This ongoing communication and engagement build momentum and support for the changes. With the right mindset and approach, executives can motivate teams to achieve transformative results.

Your career has followed a clear and impressive path. How did you plan your development to achieve such leadership roles?

My career path may appear impressive and pre-planned, but in truth, I never set out with a rigid strategy. I followed my curiosity and said yes to new projects and challenges that came my way. This openness led me down unexpected avenues beyond the bounds of Supply Chain, expanding my skills and perspectives.

I spent time learning about marketing, demand creation, financial structures, and category management. While satisfying my inquisitive nature, these experiences fostered an understanding of my colleagues' roles and goals. I gained insight into how all the pieces fit together and how each department contributes to overall success.

More than strategic career planning, it's been my willingness to pick up problems and see them through that opened doors over time. My broadened knowledge across disciplines helped me make connections and ensure my team and I added value to our peers.

In retrospect, following my curiosity was the best career strategy. I let each opportunity guide me to the next, allowing me to develop the diverse expertise and collaborative spirit needed for leadership roles. So I would conclude that my strategy was to follow my curiosity with a red thread of problems resolutions. It’s been an exciting journey of growth through saying yes.

Based on your experience with data-driven decisions in supply chains, where do you think the future of Supply Chain & Procurement is headed, especially with new technologies?

I am most excited about the power of data analytics and predictive insights. Today's technology allows us to accomplish so much more than we could just a few years ago. I remember when running complex calculations would freeze our computers for long periods.

In my past role, we have established an analytics framework with our data science team that provides descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive key performance indicators. For instance, product availability is top of mind for every retailer and brand. We can instantly analyse our 98% availability and quantify 1.2 percentage points due to vendor fill rate issues, 0.7 points due to delivery delays, and 0.1 points due to quality problems. This granular, real-time visibility allows us to prioritize process improvements in a data-driven way (all illustrative).

Even more impactful is using predictive analytics to forecast future availability and identify potential causes of gaps while there's still time to act. This is a true game-changer for supply chain planning and execution.

Technology is the enabler, but human judgment and collaboration are still essential. The supply chain leaders who can best leverage data-driven insights to enable partnerships, transparency, and risk management will be poised for success. Overall, I envision the future of the supply chain as integrated, intelligent, and people-centred.

As a leader, how do you plan for your team’s future to ensure they meet the business needs and industry changes?

I think it all starts with the definition of a leader. My leadership role resembles that of a Sports Coach. As a leader, I plan for my team's future by focusing on alignment, capability, and development.

I like to start by ensuring alignment on mission and vision. The team needs a clear goal to work towards. I promote open communication within the organisation to understand changing business needs and industry trends. This allows us to pivot our strategy while retaining alignment on overarching goals.

I aim to build organisational capability by fostering a mix of skillsets and perspectives. Our team includes long-tenured experts who provide institutional knowledge, innovative thinkers who bring fresh approaches, and emerging leaders who will own new initiatives. This diversity of experience allows us to look at situations and challenges from a different angle without starting at the beginning. This helps build the resilience needed to meet challenges from multiple angles.

Let’s not forget the individuals. I invest in my team's professional development through customized goal-setting and development plans. People grow in different ways, so a tailored approach to coaching is my “go-to” which I promote at all levels of the organisation. Stretch assignments outside of comfort zones drive growth. With the right mindset and support, the team can navigate uncertainty and thrive in times of change.

In summary, through alignment, capability-building, and development, I aim to empower my team to deliver on current needs while continuously improving to meet their future personal career goals. Overall, with the right mindset and the agility to pivot, the team will be able to face the unruly water ahead.

What book or podcast has influenced your leadership the most, and why would you recommend it to others?

I have two recommendations; both are quite dated but still very much relevant. The first would be Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. This fun and clever parable tells the tale of four characters (two mice and two people) and how their approach to change is fundamentally altering their lives. It contains important lessons about change management that I reference frequently as a leader:

1. Expect change - markets, technology, competition - the cheese will move. Be ready for it.
2. Don't waste time wallowing when change happens. Act quickly.
3. Be willing to step outside your comfort zone. Explore new solutions.
4. Enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Have fun with change!

Change is the only constant, and as a leader, I cannot become complacent. I choose to adapt. Embrace the situation and look for the learnings. Who Moved My Cheese? provides simple yet profound guidance for leading people through change.

My second recommendation would be Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. It is a book I read some 25 years ago, and it was a staple for all emerging leaders at Nike. In this moving memoir, Mitch reconnects with his former college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who is dying from ALS. During their weekly Tuesday meetings, Morrie imparts his life lessons and philosophies on living a meaningful life.

Three key lessons have stuck with me since reading that book. First, value the relationship; we are human, and connection is crucial in and outside the office. Secondly, love what you do. I believe that when you choose to take on a role, the best way to go about it is to love. When you are invested in the outcome, it is no longer about hitting a number, it goes beyond that. Lastly, acknowledge your area of control. Focus your energy on what you can influence and keep your eye on the horizon.

I believe there is always a learning in each experience. I have learnt from books, mentors, and team members.

Thank you to Margaret for speaking to our Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment team in Switzerland, led by John Byrne.

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

David Upton is Regional CFO: EMEA, Brazil and Global Export Director of Finance at HOYA Vision Care – a company that’s dedicated to creating impactful change in the global eyecare market. We learnt more about HOYA’s ambitious sustainability targets and focus on innovation, and how David’s diverse career has shaped his goals and leadership style.

Tell us about HOYA’s unique One Vision programme. How do you use it to keep your teams committed to achieving the company’s sustainability targets?

One Vision was set up to help us achieve our ambition to become a more connected, conscious, and impactful organisation. It’s a scheme that unites us – as individuals and teams – to achieve our common goals, to use the insight we have on our communities to support them, to reduce our impact on the environment, and to create a safe and diverse workplace. It enables us to learn from each other, to listen beyond borders, and work together to create a sustainable impact in the long term.

We’ve put three pillars in place to help us structure our approach to this – Community, Environment and Workplace – and this brings great clarity of purpose. Everyone understands how they can make a contribution. While it starts with individual employees, the actual power comes from a team approach across functions and across borders.

We’ve seen some great initiatives recently. For example, to mark their National Environmental Week, our Brazilian team decided to plant 140 trees as part of a reforestation initiative in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Our Indian team also launched a vision screening campaign for commercial vehicle drivers, partnering up with the Indian Optometric Association (IOA) and All India Optical Federation (AIOF) to test the vision of drivers at the Harayana Roadways’ Bus Workshop in Gurugram and supply free spectacles to those who needed them.

We also have a longer-term partnership with an organisation called Orbis, which provides communities across the world with sight-saving interventions and education on eye health care. This collection of projects – big and small – gives us the ongoing momentum and framework we need to support and incorporate the One Vision initiative into our day-to-day goals.  

We’ve got an exciting journey ahead, with a target to reach 100% renewable energy by fiscal 2040, with an interim target of 60% by fiscal 2030. That’s going to require continual dedication and innovation from each and every HOYA team, globally – and initiatives like this are a great way to keep us united and committed.  

If you had to choose just one of your organisation’s key values (Care | Learn | Empower | Adapt | Respect) to sum up your work ethic, which one would you choose and why?

Honestly, I don’t think I could choose just one. I believe it’s the balance and symbiosis of all of them that will enable us to achieve our vision – to innovate for a better tomorrow.

Innovation is core to HOYA – it’s positioned right in the middle of what we’re all about, and every one of our values sits around that. It’s what enables us to share experiences and problems in a joined-up way across the entire organisation, so we can create real, lasting change and impact.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your role at HOYA?

There are two key elements. The first is something I’ve already touched on, which is being part of a truly innovative organisation that makes a difference to people’s lives. That gives me the energy, the excitement, and the enthusiasm to contribute, lead and drive the team as much as I possibly can. I wear spectacles myself, so I’m no stranger to the magic of vision care.

By 2050, it’s estimated that five billion people - or roughly half the global population - could be affected by myopia (short-sightedness or near-sightedness, as it’s more commonly known), so the innovation we’re driving at HOYA is of huge importance. The work we’re doing to help people - children in particular - is the thing that touches me most. It’s why I fell in love with the medical device business.

For example, we launched a highly innovative, multi award-winning lens called MiYOSMART especially for children. It’s clinically proven to slow down the progression of myopia and combat this massive challenge facing the global population, and it’s now been rolled out around the world. I’m a parent of two, who are both slightly myopic, which really brings it home that not only our children benefit, but their families, too.

Another really rewarding part of my role is that I’m privileged to lead a brilliant and culturally diverse team of Finance professionals, at the same time as being part of a wider global team. Part of my role is creating clarity around what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, giving teams the freedom to set their own goals and actions within that wider framework. Seeing people working hard, together, towards that common mission brings me such energy.

You’ve had an exceptionally diverse career, starting out in consulting before moving into hospitality and events, then venture capital, and now the medical equipment manufacturing market. How did you seek out these opportunities as you navigated your career path?

There’s a common theme running through my experience. I started off with a Master of Civil Engineering qualification way back, and landed what I thought would be my dream job of a Coastal Design Engineer.

I was as born on the South Coast of England, so it was something I’d always wanted to do. However, I quickly realised that the rest of the Engineering team were both excellent design engineers and excellent windsurfers – both of which I realised I was not good at!

At the same time, I realised my strengths and interests – building things, creating growth, and making improvements. At that point, I joined Ernst & Young and that gave me the opportunity to learn very quickly about a broad range of businesses across many sectors. I thrived on that variety, because it gave me insight into multiple different companies, while helping me understand what enables growth in them.

After working hard during the audit season in these industries, I jumped at the challenge to get involved in other projects, such as mergers and acquisitions, supporting start-ups or leading IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) – both in London and as part of the global secondment programme in Munich and across mainland Europe.

That growth has been the key element of my career, especially given that the hotel business has such a strong internal expansion plan. Working within Virgin’s core launch team was exciting, too – building something from scratch, creating growth from nothing, essentially.

From there, I found Straumann, a fast-growing Swiss dental implant company, initially in the UK, and then moving onto an international secondment in the Benelux to look after the team there. Now, HOYA allows me to continue that passion I have for blending growth, leadership, and making a difference to people’s lives.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in your career? 

Of course! Hindsight’s a wonderful way to clearly see things that weren’t always clear at the time.

Personally, I love the proverb, “The best time to plant a tree was 50 years ago, the second-best time to plant a tree is today.” So, it’s not about regret, but - if you identify something you could have done differently in the past - make the change now and let the growth begin. I’ve used this proverb many times - it’s so powerful. I love it.

Thinking about the best manager you’ve ever worked for, what was it you liked about their leadership style?

One of the benefits of moving between different roles and companies over the years is that I’ve been fortunate enough to work for – and learn from – many great leaders along the way.  

My most inspirational bosses have always been clear about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to measure it. But, most importantly, they’ve always given the why behind it. And, critically, they’ve encouraged me to get to the solution myself, while offering their support, mentorship, and coaching.

It’s that trust, that individual empowerment, that I always found so motivating, so I’ve tried to replicate that with my team. You’ll have to ask them if I’ve succeeded, but that’s always been the approach I’ve tried to take in my own position as a leader. Seeing my team grow as a result is the best reward.  

Another thing I’ve learned over the years is to recruit only great people – never settle for second best, not only in terms of abilities, but the cultural fit into the company, as well. If you slot the best individuals into a company and team culture, then you set everyone up for success, and can support them to find their own path to achievement and fulfilment.

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

It has to be any sort of positive comments about my team. That’s the best compliment, when someone says, “This person’s done a great job”. It’s not necessarily because of me, but it may be that I’ve influenced or helped bring someone to that point. There’s no better feeling than that.

What’s the last thing that made you smile?

No matter what challenges I’m facing that day, it’s meeting and talking to people, soaking up the team’s energy and the positive environment they create. That’s always guaranteed to make me smile.

Thank you to David for speaking to Director Hannah Mallia in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands.

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

In the summer of 2023, Jurg van Dijk ended his 12-year tenure as Senior Tax Manager at FedEx Express to take on an exciting new role as EMEA Tax Lead for US #1 TV streaming company, Roku. Nearly a year in, we caught up with Jurg to reflect on some of his most memorable career moments and tap into his insights on professional development, leadership and the challenges of retaining talent in a seller’s market.

What excites you about working for Roku?

Roku is a really dynamic and diverse company. It’s not only a streaming platform – it’s TVs, it’s operating systems, it’s soundbars; and perhaps coolest of all, Roku Originals – our original movies and TV series. The company is very focused on growth and development – so although my remit when I joined was to grow the business in the EMEA region, I’m now also busy working on Latin America, India and China. The atmosphere is so friendly and team-focused, too – I felt welcomed, valued and part of something from day one. I’m working with people with different backgrounds from all over the world, too, which I love.

What are the key drivers to success in finance that you watch out for the most?

You need a strong technical background – which might sound a bit boring, but it’s a must. It’s also important that you’re solution-oriented, and able to see not just the answer to a tax problem, but the route to get to it. You need to be careful not to view things with blinders on – keep a broad focus and be mindful of how your decisions impact departments outside of Legal, HR to Marketing and Sales. And you have to be comfortable around change. Change is inevitable, especially in tax law and finance – so if you don’t like change or aren’t prepared to deal with it, you’re in the wrong job!

Finally, prioritisation – I remember learning about the prioritisation matrix years ago in a time-management course and it’s stuck with me ever since. When you’re busy, it’s a really useful tool for identifying what’s urgent, what’s important and what you can delegate or leave for another day.

What have been the biggest learning curves in your career?

I’ve always felt it’s better to have a job that’s constantly changing – because change can be exciting; you’re never bored. Early in my tax career working as a tax consultant, though, I’d prioritise work for the senior partner who shouted at me the loudest… then I’d find myself in trouble with another partner for dropping everything I was doing beforehand! Those years as a tax professional at the Big Four advisory firms taught me a lot – about workload and time management, dealing with stressful situations and having difficult conversations.

Have there been any unexpected lessons you’ve learned in your career so far?

When I was at university, I always thought I was going to go and work for one of ‘the big four’, become a partner and go from there – but after a few years in the role, I realised that a pure tax advisory path wasn’t for me. That’s when I switched to work in industry – for KPN Telecom – working much more “within” the business, dealing with commercial people, legal, HR, etc. That wider scope suited me much more and I’ve never looked back since.

What advice would you give to someone looking to make a similar career move?

Just go for it! Starting in a tax advisory role is always going to pay off in future because it gives you such a good technical grounding. In the Netherlands in particular, the market for tax people is very buoyant – so I’ve known plenty of people who’ve left the big four to go into industry – and plenty who’ve returned after a couple of year because it wasn’t for them. There’s no harm in making a move and turning back – otherwise you’ll never know.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in finance?

Try to see yourself not as “the person who does the taxes” but as a true business partner – someone who works proactively with the company, looking at the wider business goals, and helping to find solutions that meet everyone’s needs – not just those of the finance department.

What’s your secret to building a strong network?

Get yourself out there! Whether it’s an informal chat by the coffee machine or an in-person seminar, it’s vital to keep striking up conversations with new people, sharing experiences and actively listening as well as talking. It’s not just about talking business, either – when you speak about your personal life, too, the other person’s much more likely to open up and relate to you.

What’s a memorable moment from your career – and why?

Early in my career, the first time I worked on a high-pressure M&A deal, unsupervised by the head of tax – because I was thrown in at the deep end and I didn’t drown! There was a lot of pressure on me and my small team. I went into the negotiations, talked to the other party, reviewed all the documents – it was a big win for me, and I’ll never forget the moment the deal was signed.

Talking of being thrown in at the deep end… what advice would you give to someone else in a similar position?

Trust in your experience and your gut feeling, think about what your next steps are – but don’t overthink it. For example, imagine you’re working on an M&A deal, a proposal comes in from the other side and you’ve got just an hour to respond. You can’t panic in a situation like that. You have to stay calm and not allow room for doubt to creep in. You have to keep swimming!

What advice would you give to aspiring leaders?

Don’t micromanage. I don’t like being micromanaged, and I don’t like doing it myself either. Instead, make sure you’ve got the right people in your team – people you trust, with experience, knowledge and a clear understanding of what you expect from them. Make it clear what they can do for themselves and what you as a manager need sight of – so they feel that sense of autonomy while understanding when they need to connect with you. I also believe in leading by example – walk the walk and others will follow in your footsteps.

What’s your favourite quote or motto, and why?

A motto that a trainer says at my kid's rugby club is: “Don’t try to be better than someone else – try to be better than your former self”. It might sound a bit cliché but there’s a lot of truth in it. If you improve by one percent every day, then in a year you’ll be at least twice as good.

What recruitment challenges do you feel tax managers are facing at the moment?

It’s a seller’s market. There are so many opportunities for candidates in tax now, retaining our experienced and motivated staff is the biggest challenge. At Roku, we do that by keeping people as happy as we possibly can. It starts with making sure they’re well paid, of course, but also giving them flexibility and helping them to feel engaged and involved – so they really believe in what the company’s working towards and feel proud of what we do.

What does life look like outside the office?

I like sports – I play hockey, I’m planning my next skiing holiday with family and friends and I love hanging out with my kids. We spend a lot of time at the rugby club – not playing myself, I might add, or I’d probably break every bone in my body! I love going to concerts, too… oh, and I’ve just bought a banjo (since I am a big country music fan). So far I’ve taken it out of the box – I guess the next step is to start practising!

Thank you to Jurg for speaking to Kieran Hayes, Recruitment Consultant in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands.

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

Herman Rolfers has been Director of Global Digital HR Transformation at HEINEKEN for little over seven years. In this fascinating interview, he looks back on a series of unplanned career moves that led him to his current role and discusses some exciting technological initiatives afoot for the globally-renowned beer brand.

Can you tell us about how your career’s developed – and the risks you’ve taken to accelerate your career growth?

That’s an interesting question and I’m probably not going to answer in the way you’d expect, because, in truth, you don’t always need a plan to progress in your career. Opportunities very often emerge for themselves; you just need to be able to see them. You also need to be curious, open to challenges, and willing to step out of the comfort zone. That is when real growth happens. As for the risks – well, they’re relative.

At university I studied Organisational Sociology – a field that pays attention to the internal structure of the organisations such as the managerial hierarchy, as well as to the external structures that connect organisations, such as strategic alliances. I thrived on the conceptual nature of it, learning how things evolve and then seeing the theory put into practice within a company or institution. Despite loving university life, I chose not to pursue an academic career in science and began my career as an HR Manager in aerospace. It was something of a pressure cooker and, in that environment, you need to keep a sharp mind: think on your feet and have a plan to keep up with the competitive dynamics of the industry.

I was involved in some amazing global initiatives while I was there. I remember stepping into the Head of HR’s office and seeing a date on a whiteboard. It was the deadline for transferring a whole section of the business and its people from the Netherlands to the U.S. No mean feat. The company also needed me to help find low-cost engineering facilities to enable portfolio expansion to build a solid foundation to unlock future growth.

It wasn’t your typical HR job; more working out how to get from A to B and fast! It required not just speed, but also agility, and ensuring we had multiple options on the table to navigate any challenges that arose along the way. It was not the first time I realised the importance of rooting my actions in sound strategic thinking and planning, while embracing a flexible, fast-moving mindset to get things done. ‘More than one road leads to Rome’, as they say.

That same mindset was needed when I worked for a global logistics and supply chain company, operated in both freight management and contract logistics. It was a Global HR Operations role, also part of the Mergers & Acquisitions team. During my tenure, our biggest assignment was working on the disentanglement of a global division: not something I signed up for at all. It just ‘happened’ because it was associated with the role that I was hired for.

Again, that taught me critical skills that I was able to take forward into my next role at a global pharmaceutical company, where one of my key objectives was to partner with new colleagues to integrate a global business unit following an acquisition. Further down the line, following yet another acquisition, I had to disentangle what I’d integrated! Again, it was a pressure cooker environment, completely unplanned, but by now I was equipped with the skillset and the mindset to handle it.

My next move was into insurance, pension and asset management – again a completely different industry - and one of my key responsibilities there was technology related. To be clear, I’m not a ‘techie’ – I'm an organisational sociologist – but technology brings huge opportunities to standardise, simplify and codify HR processes, to better support the business and drive a fundamental different employee experience. Again, I found myself in a position where I had to upskill and develop very quickly. That’s what eventually led me to my role here at HEINEKEN, where I was asked to do a similar job – but this time on a bigger global scale and with much greater complexity.

If you’d told me 10-15 years ago that I’d be leading HEINEKEN’s global digital HR transformation, I’d have replied that it was a ridiculous projection! Yet, this is the nature of career progression. I didn’t have a grand plan, but I saw opportunities and went after them, upskilling myself along the way. I’m enjoying it here, big time!

How are you collaborating with others to help HEINEKEN’s HR technology forward – and what’s the end goal?

The context is always key: understanding what you want your organisation to become and the part that technology plays within that. Two of HEINEKEN’s ‘must-win’ battles are to become the best-connected brewer and to unlock the full potential of our people and the organisation. This is where the conversation starts.

At a day-long planning workshop with HEINEKEN’s People leadership team, we put those two strategic goals front and centre and decided that, as a Global People Function, we wanted to become a fully employee-centric organisation and people insights led. This became our North Star: the guiding light to bring everyone in the organisation together, to keep us as leaders speaking the same language and moving the initiative in the right direction. Every organisation needs such a shared and compelling vision – especially when considering what emerging technology can do for your people and the organisation.

The next step is to ask business leaders to define their wish list from technology within the People domain. Of course, in a global organisation this runs the risk of producing an incredibly long list! We framed the question differently using design thinking to engage our key stakeholders and define the ‘personas’ typically found within HEINEKEN. Together we created a set of employee journeys and identified each persona’s expectations, for example on how they are onboarded and progress their careers. At this stage that we brought in the People teams who know their process inside-out and could apply them within the boundaries of the design principles.

Next step: implementation! We knew this was going to be a long and challenging journey, during which we needed to test our capabilities and create proof points for success. We identified six ‘early wins’ and set ourselves the objective of implementing in full, on-time and within budget. After the six early wins, moving on to Asia, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and finally Europe. We were able to expand the scope of our work, adding greater value along the way.  

As useful as platforms like SAP SuccessFactors, Workday or Oracle may be, they don’t provide a silver bullet and there will always to be gaps to fill. To do that, we decided to leverage our position as a global brand and hold a competition called the ‘HEINEKEN Brewhouse’; a cross between Dragon’s Den and a hackathon, open to start-ups, scale-ups, universities and our partners.

Brewhouse’s guiding philosophy is that innovation can come from anywhere and the aim was to create win-wins for both HEINEKEN and participating start-ups. The winners each take part in an innovation sprint, to drill down into how their solution can be used to solve our challenges. It still gives me a rush of adrenalin when I look back on it today, it is so exciting.

HR transformation will never be straightforward and through the HEINEKEN Brewhouse we are able to demonstrate that as a corporate business, we are prepared to fail fast and fail forward through experimentation. We’ve since the inaugural event in Singapore, hosted a second event in Amsterdam and there will be another in California mid-September of this year. We learnt how to better frame our challenges and identify what we need and don’t need, while start-ups or scaling businesses gain valuable experience applying their solutions to large and complex organisations creating a win-win for everyone.

I’m also a big fan of collaborating with other global brands. It’s my dream to bring these brands together one day, facilitate meaningful collaboration, and inspire the industry to dream big. By collectively inviting startups and scale-ups to showcase their innovations, and using ourselves as a testing ground, we can foster a vibrant community of innovators. Whether we’re creating a unique onboarding process—one that’s seamless, fun, engaging, and informative—or any other initiative, collaboration enriches the process and strengthens the culture at the heart of every successful company.

Looking to the future, where do you think HR technology at Heineken will go next?

I believe in business-led IT. Each function should have a technology leader – not necessarily someone who’s ‘techie’ themselves, but who deeply understands that function and can inspire their teams to reach for exciting and pioneering new solutions to achieve common goals. For example, I recently brought some of our partners in to talk about Generative AI. What is it? What can it do for us? Where’s the potential? How can it help to unlock the full potential of our people and the organisation?

We’re interested in how AI can help us to build a stronger, leaner and more agile Global People function – one with increased productivity that creates better outcomes both for our employees and for HEINEKEN as a business. Our business and expectations of employees are changing continuously: “what got us here, won’t get us there”. We need to build on the foundations we’ve laid, making our ways of working more efficient and effective and further improve the employee experience

We are exploring the potential of GenAI alongside our ambition to balance productivity (automation) with better outcomes (augmentation) for our people and the organisation. We’re a growth company and we aspire to unlock the full potential of our people and of the organisation.

Leveraging GenAI in our processes has the potential to enhance efficiency, decision-making, further improve the employee experience and we will start to integrate it with small, targeted use cases. This approach allows us to assess the impact of GenAI on specific areas, minimizing potential risks and providing valuable insights. By gradually expanding our use of GenAI we can unlock its full potential and ensure a seamless integration with our existing practices.

Our exploration around harnessing GenAI will always be anchored in a robust business case and with a profound understanding of the size, focus and cost dynamics of our People Function. We’ll continue to ensure that strategic initiatives are not only technologically sound, but also financially prudent with tangible and measurable outcomes including a positive ROI.

Is HEINEKEN doing anything to reskill employees to get them ready for this new world that AI is likely to create?

No aspect of our journey with technology is ever completed and upskilling is one of these continual upgrades. Managing change effectively is critical in planning any transformation and, of course, one size never fits all.

We need to constantly educate ourselves and our people to be ‘digi-fit’, to cope with the challenges in the automated and augmented world of tomorrow. We segment our audiences to make sure we thoroughly understand them and deploy targeted interventions and messaging at each stage of the change curve.

We’ve learnt a lot about how benefits and difficulties will be perceived across OpCos and geographies. I think we’ll need to take a similar approach when it comes to managing the implications of Gen AI over time. Remember; nothing is every finished, just upgraded.

Thank you to Herman for speaking to Katie Insley, Director in our Human Resources recruitment team in the Netherlands. 

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

Ramón Tolk is the Senior Director of Treasury at Avery Dennison. He has a strong track record of leadership and treasury transformation achievements gained in multiple industries. Ramón began his career at Deloitte where he remained for more than 15 years before transitioning to interim contracting across the Netherlands.

You began your career in a ‘Big Four’ audit firm. How was that and what lessons and experiences from Deloitte do you apply today in corporate treasury?

My career in auditing began while I was completing my Master's and the chartered accountant's qualification simultaneously. I enjoyed combining study with work experience as I was able to put learning into immediate practice, and vice-versa.

As an Auditor, I specialised in housing associations: capital-intensive real estate with a large loan portfolio. It was through frequent discussions on how to manage the financing and the related interest rate risk that my interest in Treasury was sparked.

Soon after I’d graduated as a Chartered Accountant, Deloitte acquired a boutique treasury consulting firm, and I joined their team. Around this time new IFRS accounting standards came into effect for Netherlands-listed corporates, and Sarbanes-Oxley for US-listed ones. Among my treasury consultant colleagues, I was the only one with an audit background so I was well-placed to dive both worlds and became involved in valuations of derivatives and related hedge accounting, as well as setting up and testing internal control frameworks for the Treasury Department.

My experience allows me to collaborate with stakeholders across the company and understand their different perspectives, whether banks, controlling or accounting professionals or legal departments. I've always felt the importance of understanding how certain initiatives on one side may impact the other.

If you structure a specific intercompany financing or cash pool structure, it may work well from a Treasury perspective, but there may be tax consequences that you’ve overlooked. It's important to connect the dots and collaborate within functions.  

What is the most rewarding part of your current role at Avery Dennison, and can you provide a short introduction to the company?

Avery Dennison is a global material science and digital ID solutions company, providing retail branding and information labelling solutions, including pressure-sensitive materials, radio frequency identification, inlays and tags, and a variety of other solutions. We are a US-listed Fortune 500 company with an annual turnover of US$8.4 billion, present in more than 50 countries.

I've been the Senior Director of Treasury for seven years now and the most rewarding part of that journey has been the business transformation within Treasury.

When I joined Avery Dennison, many aspects of Treasury required improvement, including expanding our European cash pool structure to one that includes every country that’s unrestricted by central bank regulations. Other transformative initiatives included optimising bank fees incurred for cash management through the global RFP process.

My team has also centralised our FX processing, expanding from FX trading to a larger group of banks implementing hedging based on Value-at-Risk. With this approach, we select FX hedge portfolios that would achieve maximum risk reduction for a certain cost of hedging (efficient frontier curve). By applying Value-at-Risk, the team can save on the cost of hedging within acceptable risk parameters. Furthermore, we worked on the enhancement of working capital initiatives like receivable financing solutions and amending our Supply Chain finance program to be sustainable and to move the company towards its goals.

We also set up a quantification method for our bank relationships so that we can view the share of wallet and what each bank earns on the overall business we do with them, whether it's bank accounts and cash management, FX, funding and all other activities. This information allows you to better distribute the business among banks, maintaining a positive relationship with each. This is important as it increases their willingness to extend or renew the current commitment.

Before I joined the company, cash was centralised through intercompany loans, resulting in a high intercompany loan balance and that created two major risks. Firstly, many loans were in a currency that wasn’t the functional currency of the lender or the borrower, or both! In those situations there was FX hedging required to manage the currency revaluation, incurring further costs. Secondly, a higher loan balance results in higher interest income and expense, and tax authorities are scrutinising more and more often the interest rate conditions on your intercompany loans. If they challenge the interest rate on a loan - and the loan balance is larger - there is a heightened risk of tax corrections and penalties. To address that, we put in place standardised processes, to reduce the loan balances through periodic dividend distributions.

We also implemented an intercompany loan pricing methodology that is OECD and BEPS compliant. It analyses the transfer pricing element of your intercompany loan pricing and ensures that is at arm's length.

Finally, we implemented a new treasury management system and set frameworks for commodity risk, interest rate risk, and counterparty credit risk management. We’ve also been standardising and sanitising our control framework.

This represented a complete overhaul of our Treasury function, which can only be done with your team’s support. It’s essential to bring your team along on the journey, share and embrace a vision and not be afraid of change. A team should always challenge the status quo by asking what could be improved.

Over the past three years, you've presented frequently at conferences, seminars and universities as a guest lecturer. What's the motivation behind that?

I have 30+ years of experience and have completed many interesting projects, so I have extensive knowledge and stories that I can share with others who may have limited exposure, shedding light on activities across Treasury community for them. Even for a gathering of seasoned treasury professionals, the cutting-edge nature of some projects we’ve completed is interesting for them to hear too, based on the feedback I often receive.

Alternatively, when I provide guest lectures at universities, it's just great fun to do. The students are usually at an early stage of their careers, and I enjoy making them enthusiastic about Treasury by sharing the vast experience I can bring to the table.

For the same reason, we provide internship opportunities within my team, allowing students to gain a half-year’s experience to kick-start their career. That’s also good for us as they provide fresh perspectives and they introduce themes from their very recent education into the company.

Another benefit is that when we have a vacancy within a team, we can hire one of the students who have completed an internship; I think in the last seven years, we have had four interns join the Treasury team permanently. It’s great because you can hire someone at the junior level, filling the gaps from underneath and allowing the rest of the team to make structured career progress and grow into more senior positions.

Of course, we can't offer a permanent position to every intern, but those who haven’t joined us have landed a very good junior position somewhere else.

For many corporations, DE&I is an important topic. Do you consider such policies when creating a team?

Yes, definitely. As a company, we have policies on this topic including our 2030 sustainability goals, which include a target on the ranking on the inclusion index as well as a target for the percentage of management positions held by women.

I strongly believe that diverse teams perform better than non-diverse teams. When I joined the company, I was lucky to inherit a team that was already very diverse by nationality; everyone in the team was born in a different country in Europe or Asia.

Gender-wise diversity was lacking as most of the team was male, but through the natural process of attrition, hiring and placing interns, we were gradually able to create a more positive balance.

First, of course, you must look at the quality of which you hire. But if people have the same qualities, then, you can let diversity be an element in your decision making.  

Here, in the European headquarters of a large multinational corporation in the Netherlands, I think over 50% of the employees are non-Dutch and we have about 40 different nationalities. So, it's important to be mindful of cultural differences; to value and learn from the perspectives that everyone brings into the discussion; I see that daily in my work.

Additionally, as a Dutchman, I know that we can seem very blunt and outspoken in opinions. Sometimes that might be good as you get clarity on what you want, but it's important to realise that sometimes more tactful communication is better. Working in the international environment teaches you these aspects.

When we have an open internship opportunity, over 90% of the applications come from international students who are based in the Netherlands. Surprisingly, Dutch students don't look forward to an internship, or maybe they are just applying for internships with better-known corporates in the Netherlands. Avery Dennison branding doesn’t always feature on our products themselves, so it may be that we’re less of a household name for domestic applicants.

How do you unwind outside of my work?

I mostly spend my free time with my wife and two kids. We enjoy being out in nature and live near the Dutch coast, so we can easily hike to the dunes or go to the beach, which I love.

We enjoy sports and where possible try to combine that with being outside. My daughter began speedskating a few years ago so we often visit the ice-skating rink in Harlem.

During the COVID years, when I brought her to the rink, the staff were asking parents to help train the kids. So, for the last few years, I’ve been a trainer for those who just started learning how to skate. With a few simple exercises, you can see them make their first moves and they progress and improve their technique in a short amount of time, which is amazing to see. That's very rewarding for me and allows me to give something back to the community voluntarily.

During the summertime my daughter inline skates, so I’ve started training kids on the inline skate track too, helping them to progress and have fun. Of course, fun is the most important part, as kids these days are often found sitting on the couch, not playing outside as often as we did as kids a long time ago - at least as I did!

We work closely with an international medical charity, Operation Smile, who provide surgery to children with cleft lip and palate. Their goal is to create new smiles, so what was the last thing that made you smile?

My 13-year-old daughter. She plays the guitar and last week there was an open stage at her school, so everyone in school was invited to perform. She said she wanted to play a song and she was the only first-year student in school that performed. She did very well, and I was very proud of her; it definitely put a smile on my face!

Thank you to Ramón for speaking to Thomas Powell, Recruitment Consultant in our Finance & Accounting recruitment team in the Netherlands. 

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