I never wanted to stay in my comfort zone, I wanted to challenge myself. As an interim manager, every assignment is a completely new scenario. Getting gripp on it, understanding problems and developing solutions that offer added value is what excites me.
I was always in charge of projects at ThyssenKrupp that had this kind of requirement profile. I took care of divestments and acquisitions all over the world. Instead of always doing this for the same company, I offer now my expertise to all companies that need a neutral external challenger to manage a difficult transformation.
Not if you do it right. I’m a businessman by trade and am well versed in topics such as controlling, accounting and financial reporting. But that doesn’t mean that I only focus on the figures. You can’t put a company back on the right track if the employees don’t remain loyal and don’t enjoy their work.
But it’s not impossible. I had my first job of this kind over 20 years ago in Philadelphia. It was about winding up a press plant. Now you would think that the people there were resigned and just doing their last days at work. But that wasn’t the case at all. I treated them with respect and showed them that they could bring “their” work to a dignified end. In the end, they dismantled the last machines themselves at their own request.
Figures, facts and tables are still my bread and butter. And they are also the best way to understand a company. The figures tell me what’s going wrong and how I can fix it. But convincing the wider workforce that I’m on the right track isn’t just about the figures. It also means sitting down in the canteen and building a relationship with the engineers and workers on the production line.
Andreas Zumegen
Management consultancy
Flesche 53c
3920 Zermatt | Switzerland
