Finance at Hilti, what is it like as a graduate?

Three years ago, I started my journey with Hilti. A big surprise for many of my friends whom I studied with. Two years before that I had left the Netherlands to study CEMS and International Business at the SSE in Stockholm and USYD in Sydney. The expectation was that I would go into consulting or FMCG, not work for a company in the Construction industry. Why did I choose to join Hilti? What kind of projects can you do as part of the Outperformer Program within the Finance? And what are the next steps after the program?

Hilti CEO Christoph Loos (in the middle) and Michael Marschall (Leadership Talent Development) surrounded by the 2016 Class of Outperformers after the Q&A during our first Outperformer Summit held at the Headquarters in Schaan, Liechtenstein.

 Why I joined the Hilti Outperformer Program

Before learning about the Outperformer Program, I did not really know Hilti. Yes, they were a Corporate Partner of my studies, but it was not a brand that I knew. I did not have a passion for the construction industry and I have two left hands, yet I joined Hilti. For me, there were three main reasons to choose Hilti.

1)    Program structure and personal development

My ambition was to join a graduate program that allowed me to learn the maximum possible within its duration. This I found in Hilti's Global Management Development Program called the Outperformer Program, read the overview of the curriculum here. In my opinion, the set-up was very well thought out. The combination of sales experience (essential in a company that differentiates through its direct sales model) and making an impact in three projects (in my case Finance, Marketing and Finance Digital Strategy) across different locations was for me a solid start of my career. I was keen to continue learning, so doing an Executive Education program at IMD Business School in Lausanne (Switzerland) was something that attracted me as well. Having gone through this made more of an impact than I imagined, as you can apply the lessons directly to your job. Lastly, being part of the group of Global Trainees felt like extending student life a bit and the idea of going through the same experience with these peers proved to be fun and helpful.

2)    Innovation capabilities and customer perception

Being interested in innovation, I had the ambition to work for a company that has innovation at the core of the business. You must know that the construction industry is very traditional. The adoption of technology is usually slow, and changes in working processes do not happen overnight. Productivity in the industry has not increased for a few decades. Hilti is trying to change this. During my job search, I kept on hearing how Hilti is leading the industry with innovations and I thought, wow that must be interesting to work for! You can feel this innovation culture within the company every day because the company is investing a high percentage of sales in innovation on an annual basis and it has a big focus on entrepreneurship, as it stimulates its employees to take initiative and drive new things.

3)    Caring culture and social impact

I wanted to work for a company that cares about its people and that has a social impact. I have experienced this when interviewing and working in different countries, making it very easy to settle in and feel at home. Truly unique and perhaps one of the most impactful experiences of the program was the time we spent with the Hilti Foundation in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Hilti Foundation runs and supports several projects across the world, and as Global Trainees we got the opportunity to contribute to one of them. During this trip, we learned about the tragedy that happened in Srebrenica and had the chance to put our hands to work and make a difference for families in need. With our group of Global Trainees, we built three houses for these families. Working alongside the family and hearing their stories was touching and increased motivation to finish their house. The handover of the keys was followed by emotional speeches, hugs and many “thank yous”. I am incredibly proud of the teamwork, and it was a rewarding experience to see what difference it can bring to people’s lives.

My group of trainees and the construction workers who helped us to build this house in 4 days. This couple, who were sharing their small home with their children and grandchildren, finally was able to get their own place again.

My projects in Finance

At the time when I was part of the Outperformer Program, the Finance track did not exist yet. However, as the second year is tailored to the Global Trainee's functional interests and development needs, I did two projects in Finance.

1)    Finance Transformation in Hilti Netherlands

My first project of the Outperformer Program was an assignment for the Finance Business Partner (this is what we call our CFOs) in Hilti Netherlands. The organization had been growing rapidly over the years and the procurement process did not mature with it. The task at hand was to improve efficiency; both in workload for our colleagues as well as costs by reducing the number of suppliers and improve the agreements. I reviewed our procurement process, optimized it and trained our colleagues on how to use the new set-up. This all with the ambition to make the process easier for the colleagues who purchase from external suppliers, reduce our total number of suppliers and ultimately reduce costs. My main learnings were on how to analyze the status quo, collaboration with the regional and global headquarters on know-how exchange, and how to do the change management in the market organization.

 2)    Finance Digital Strategy in Hilti Singapore

For my international assignment, I was part of a global project on Digitalization, for which I relocated to our Singapore office. I wanted to work on a strategic topic and was thrilled to be part of this project as it sounded relevant (Digital is hot!) and challenging. The main question we tried to solve was "how can we as a Finance organization use digital initiatives to increase the customer experience?". Our team was composed of Finance Business Partners from Europe and Asia as well as colleagues from the Headquarter Finance department. In the beginning, it sounded quite overwhelming, working with a group consisting of colleagues in leadership roles. Right from the start, I realized it was not: I quickly became a full member of the team and could contribute from day one with my sales experience. We made a deep-dive into the customer journey and identified pain points, matched these with technological trends and experimented with agile work methodologies to develop prototypes quickly. I was responsible for a pilot of mobile payment options in China, which was both challenging from a cultural and content aspect. I learned how to overcome these cultural differences, time zone challenges and how to navigate through complex process changes. We concluded the project by presenting our strategy and way forward to the Global Finance Leadership Team, which consists of the top 25 Finance leaders within Hilti globally. You can imagine how happy we were when we got the green light to roll out the proposal across the whole Hilti organization.

During a project, there are often many ways in which you can contribute. Here, I am running a workshop with our Finance team in Singapore for which we have implemented a Lean practice called Shop Floor meeting to improve communication within the team and focus on the right topics.

 Career development at Hilti

Hilti's ambition with the Outperformer Program is to develop Global Trainees to become global leaders. Upon completion of the program, HR supports to find a role that fits these career ambitions. Together you look at where you see yourself in 5-10 years, what skills you need to develop and what fits your interest. Hilti supports you to gain experience in different areas of expertise if that is something that you want. There are multiple paths that you can take in your career to develop and this does not necessarily need to be in one vertical.

An example: being in Finance does not mean every role is in Finance. There are senior Finance leaders that have worked in sales or are moving into General Manager positions. On the other hand, if you want to become a specialist, you can specialize in the field of Finance. Eventually, what counts is the development, experiences, and interest. In my case, I chose to go into a Product Manager role at the Headquarters after the Outperformer Program but there is a possibility of going into Finance as a next step.

 In sum, being part of the Outperformer program enabled me to experience different departments, projects, and market organizations within the Hilti Group. On top of that, it gave me a strong network of peers and senior leaders as well as rapid development. After that, the possibilities are endless, and it is up to the individual to craft your own direction. Although my peers did not understand my decision at first, I could have never imagined becoming passionate about tools for the construction industry. But most importantly, I have learned a lot and developed, both professionally and personally.

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