We were honoured to welcome Alan Panter, the Regional CFO of Fossil Group, Inc., onto the EMEA Recruitment podcast.

“Productivity and end goal comes from bringing the best out of the teams of people.”

In this episode, Alan speaks to Paul Toms about the transformation of Fossil and the preconditioning it endured before the pandemic arrived. He explains that, with the change-oriented culture of the organization and resilience of the people behind it, Fossil was able to make the most of the opportunity to further transform the business, both as an organization and its outcomes during this period.

As Regional CFO of the company, Alan finds his role to be a very pleasurable experience, due to the organizational culture. His leadership style promotes collaboration - something he experienced during his coaching at Price Waterhouse - and giving employees the power to make their own decisions.

“The biggest achievement for me was getting hearts and minds going in the right direction – fundamentally, what a transformation is all about”.

During the episode, we discovered the approach Alan uses during the recruitment process, striving to understand how that person thinks, where they draw their knowledge and how this person would represent the brand. This was more challenging due to COVID-19. However, Alan explains the process was the same - it was the execution that was different.

We later delved into how Alan started his financial career and the commitment he gives to his extra-curricular activities, such as snowboarding.

Alternatively, mentioned in previous episodes is the impact business intelligence and data has on organizations. Alan accepts this is more challenging to tackle for mid-sized organizations like Fossil, admitting that there are areas where integrating data across eCommerce platforms isn’t linear.

Paul finishes the episode by asking Alan what’s next on his bucket list.

You can listen to the full episode below or use your preferred podcast app: 

The episode is also available on YouTube:

You can also access the episode at: https://emearecruitment.libsyn.com/emea-recruitment-podcast-136-fundamentals-of-transformation-alan-panter

If you’re looking for a particular part of the episode, use the timestamps below:

01:00: Where is Alan in the world?
01:48: The last thing that made Alan smile
03:19: Taking positives from the COVID-19 pandemic
05:20: Completing a transformation during the pandemic
08:14: The key for working well under pressure
12:00: Alan’s extra-curricular activities
14:35: The passion for Finance
17:27: What does it feel like to be the Regional CFO of Fossil?
20:09: How Alan has recruited great people over the years
25:50: How COVID affected recruitment
28:35: Where Alan’s management style comes from  
32:50: How Alan structures his day
36:24: How BI & data will impact Finance
40:40: Will BI & data change the way we evaluate people?
44:31: What’s next on Alan’s bucket list
47:40: How to reach out to Alan

If you wish to connect with Alan on LinkedIn, he is always happy to share the knowledge he has with his network and tries his best to respond where he reasonably can.

EMEA Recruitment is a proud supporter of international medical charity Operation Smile, which provides life-changing surgery to children born with cleft lip and palate. To find out more about their incredible work, please visit our website: Operation smile

This episode is hosted by Paul Toms, our Founder, and Rose Jinks, Senior Marketing Executive.

Our full range of professional services recruitment can be found on our website: https://www.emearecruitment.com/

You can also follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emea-recruitment-limited/

To connect with Paul, visit his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paultoms/

Or you can keep up to date with him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/paul_toms

If you have any feedback on the EMEA Recruitment podcast, please contact Rose: [email protected]