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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What excites you about working for Stäubli?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What do you see as being the future of Finance?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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