I joined Hilti nine years ago in France. My intentions were to climb the career ladder and follow our family plans, and this came true. As international couple – I am from Czech Republic and my husband is French – we always intended combining living and working abroad.
Starting as Finance Business Partner for our sales division Paris/North and Logistics enabled me to quickly understand Hilti’s business model and its drivers, and to work on cross-functional projects related to financial performance improvements. My key achievements were to develop a strategic plan to strongly grow the business in our sales division and to be able to steer the investments and returns together with the sales team.
I quickly became Head of Controlling for the Western Europe region which includes France, Belgium & Luxembourg (BeLux), Spain and Portugal. I was able to set the regional Controlling function, put in place orchestration of performance management and continued to lead the team of Finance Business Partners for our biggest market in France. In the meantime, I also became mother the second time, just two months after my promotion.
A year and a half later, during completion of the Hilti Global Executive Development Program Impact, I was promoted to Finance Business Partner for our BeLux organizations, becoming part of the leadership team and contributing to set and execute our Champion 2020 strategy for the organization, driving results and developing our team members.

After three years in Belgium, Hilti offered me a new step in my career, as Head of Finance for Hilti’s Middle East, Turkey and Africa region based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and it has been a ride since then. Endless diversity, cultural differences, complex macroeconomic environments. It is amazing, both personally and professionally.
When taking up a new opportunity abroad, it’s always very important to ensure that the family feels comfortable and settled in a new environment. At the same time, it’s about getting to performance in a new role: knowing the organization, market, peers, team members, processes and to bring value to the organization fast. 
I am very grateful to Hilti to give me such trust and opportunities and to my family for their support.

I joined Hilti because I was inspired by the culture and warm, open atmosphere I sensed during my interview rounds. I thought I’d stay for three or four years and then move back to my home country or to a different industry or both. Twenty-three years on, I’m still here – and for several good reasons.
 
First and foremost, it’s the Hilti culture and people. The company’s core values are well aligned with my own. Hilti have also given me the opportunity to work in various business areas and to experience different cultures and situations.
 
I’ve now worked in three different regions in three different functions and several different jobs. Even as a brand new person in each role, my team leaders have always trusted me with responsible tasks. This has allowed me to grow my career - and to grow as a person.
 
And here I am today, still learning new things every day, and still working with great people. The only difference now is that I’m giving back more and more – to the less experienced people in my team and to the business as a whole. My journey continues!

Some six years ago, I’ve moved to Switzerland directly after completing my studies in Germany. I’ve spent a year at a big 4 audit firm, before I’ve moved to the construction industry by joining Hilti. Good friends and colleagues had drawn my attention to the unique corporate culture and the outstanding reputation as an innovative and international family business. A perfect match for me! And today it’s me recommending Hilti with proud and in all conscience to others.
 
Colleagues and superiors have placed their trust in me as a person with my capabilities from the first day onwards. With that I’ve been given the opportunity to present in front of our senior-management team including the group CFO after only a couple of months.
 
Five years later – meanwhile working at our German entity – I enjoy looking back at my previous positions and development discussions with superiors. Such dialogues take place regularly within Hilti. The relationship of trust in our culture always allowed me to openly share my ambitions, based on which a development plan was designed jointly, supporting our corporate objectives while providing me a perspective.