Ready, steady, go!

My journey in Hilti started in November 2016 in Prague, when I joined the Czech Hilti team as Account manager for Steel & Metal customers in Prague and Central Bohemia. Having recently finished my studies in Management and Law, I felt ready to run out of the lecture halls, get in a red car and go selling tools on a construction site… Except, well, not really.

In every job, there are so many things you need to learn in the beginning – from the company culture to internal business processes. From understanding the business model and the way the company makes money to getting to know the team. Moreover, if you are in sales, you have to know the relevant portfolio of products and services, pick up sales skills, understand your sales region etc. Managing this all in the beginning can be very demanding. Good news is that Hilti knows that and strongly supports you on the way.

Throughout your assignments, you undergo a series of trainings aimed at different skills – an extensive multi-week hands-on product training, a sales skill training, training on company culture or training on Hilti corporate strategy to name a few. These trainings are complemented with hands-on experience exchange with your experienced colleagues who are there for you. It is the team spirit and collaboration that make the company truly special for me. With this great support of the whole team I finally felt confident that I can cope with the challenges waiting ahead – and, indeed, I did!

My sales year was great – I had a chance to challenge myself every day. I had a chance to visit small workshops and jobsites as well as CEO offices and most prominent high-rises in the country. Every day in the field is unique, every day you learn something new, every day counts.

ON!Track!

My first non-sales rotation was a local operational project in marketing. In this project, I was tasked with development of marketing materials and strategy for one of our core service solutions – Hilti ON!Track. This was a great opportunity as I was able to apply knowledge and experience gained in the field recently and make an impact even in a short period of time.

Outperformer Summit 1

A Week in our Global HQ in Schaan – great way to get to know fellow trainees and learn more about both Hilti and ourselves in the beautiful Alpine setting. During the week we had a chance to build a car, have lunch with the CEO and get to talk to many top managers at Hilti, and, most importantly start many new friendships. A lot of things to achieve in one week, right?

From Russia with Love

My regional project took place in our regional headquarters in Moscow, Russia. My task there was to develop a concept for an internal project in between HR and Digital unit. This rotation gave me a lot – I had a chance to get to know and work with great people across the organisation (thanks for your help and support!), I took part in the regional Outperformer Assessment Centre and talked to the participants, I was cooperating closely with senior regional leadership team, I got to see the company through the prism of Russian market, and I was exposed to the challenges and opportunities of living in a never-sleeping megapolis with immense cultural heritage. It was a unique chance to realize that each market Hilti operates in is different, and there are many factors besides market size, culture, economic and political situation that influence the whole picture. Thank you, Moscow, for having me!

The importance of giving back

The CSR project in Bosnia is one of the most famed parts of the program. But what to expect? Would I actually enjoy my time in rural Bosnia and feel that I have contributed to the community, or not? Would this be a meaningfully spent week or would I miss my laptop and office setting? What impact can I really make in one week? These and many other questions were looming in my head before coming to Bosnia…

During the week, we were working in teams of about 7 people under the supervision of very skilled local workers and we managed to build a small wooden house for a young family – basically from scratch! The work was exhausting and the hours were long. There was a language barrier working against us, yet the local workers were extremely patient. The weather was sometimes capricious with quick changes from intense sunshine to heavy rain… But none of that mattered – throughout the week we had an opportunity to spend time with the family who would later live in the house – seeing their hope, their gratitude, their elation – that was the best reward I could imagine.

I would never have expected that one week can really change the way you look at the world around you. But it did. This week was the most amazing, exciting, rewarding, emotionally charged, exhausting yet reinvigorating week in my life. It showed me the value of diversity both in teams and in society – that everyone can contribute and together we can create something big. It proved that even if I cannot change the whole world, I can still help bring hope and change into people’s lives. It helped me realize how lucky and privileged I am, and it showed me the importance giving back and sharing have in a community. Thank you, Bosnia, for teaching us so much!

Quality time

My final Outperformer project is in Quality department of one of our core business areas, where I work in a cross-functional team reporting directly to the Head of Quality. With no prior experience in quality management, this is a good opportunity to broaden my horizons and see Hilti from yet another perspective – this time from the global HQ point of view. I have only been in the HQ for couple of weeks now, but so far I have been truly amazed by the great atmosphere here, by how many young people there are around the HQ and, of course, by the picturesque setting in the Alpine Rhine Valley and all the opportunities it offers.

IMD Learning journey

One of the key components of the Outperformer program is a Leadership development program with IMD – a world-class business school in Lausanne, Switzerland. The program itself is a combination of lectures, virtual teamwork, individual assignments and mentoring sessions, and is topped with a week-long on-site experience in Lausanne.

During eight months, we have gone through modules on Finance, Strategy and Digital disruption. For me, the biggest benefit of the on-site was that the professors helped me understand the connections between the topics by relating to real-life business examples. Furthermore, the whole Outperformer class had a chance to discuss the topics together with the faculty in both formal and informal setting, as well as learn by doing by applying our learnings in practice during simulations and case-work. Most importantly, we had a lot of fun together and got to know ourselves and each other even more.
I am happy to say that the IMD week was one of the highlights of the Outperformer program for me and that we have made many great memories together that we will never forget!