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.