Adecco WFS- Week One Recap - CEO for One Month Switzerland

It feels like just yesterday that I had my first day, and the first week of this experience has already come to an end. Before I recap my week I would like to thank Marcel Keller, the Adecco WFS Leadership Team, and all members that I was able to interact with over the past week. 

I would also like to thank Florian Rück, Peter Blersch, and Denis Machuel. I was lucky to be able to interact with you throughout the week and gain insights from a regional level and from a global viewpoint. 

Over the first week, I have been able to join in on many meetings with various stakeholders in the business. I was lucky to take part in a Review of Adecco WFS Switzerland where we looked at the performance of the business in the different geographic regions of Switzerland, the different focuses within WFS, and our future outlook. I was able to visit a branch and speak with our team about their daily interaction with candidates and clients, what works well for them, and what we can do to work even better. I was fortunate to meet some of our clients and see how we develop our partnerships so that these continue to remain fruitful for all parties. 

Through all of these meetings, I tried to understand what the best way is to approach the meetings. What should my main focus be when having these interactions? Denis Machuel shared the power of listening. You learn a lot more when listening rather than talking.  Identify through having a truly open ear, what people say and what they mean. By doing so you are able to ensure initiatives are put in place that have an impact and can be implemented to hopefully eradicate these pain points. 

During a client preparation workshop, I was able to see the importance of Strategy - Structure, and Culture - these moving parts need to work together to achieve our common goal. Through the workshop, I saw that it was crucial to navigate team dynamics with the goal of productivity. Challenging where needed, and allowing for discourse and exchange - through the openness to new perspectives, you might collectively come up with a solution that works for all. 

Whatever the situation may be there are four aspects that should be considered:

• Initial position

• Goal 

• Measures to take or taken 

• Control (check and adapt) 

Find the root of the issue, define your goal, find ways to get there or acknowledge what has already been done, control in the sense that you follow up, check what you have done, and adapt if needed. 

A positively surprising takeaway from the first week is - Hospitality. 

As a hospitality student, there have been multiple days during the first week that have shown me the crucial impact of service and a people-first approach. Building and maintaining your business relationships in line with your business values is key. 

I was able to engage with clients in various ways this week but the overall goal was always to develop a better understanding of how we can improve our offering to our clients, candidates, colleagues, and partners. Where do we have pain points in their interactions with us and what can we do to change these into moments of opportunity that leave a positive impact, fostering our working relationship.

Throughout the first week, I was proud to pull on my knowledge and resources as a hospitality student from IHTTI School of Hotel Management Swiss Hotel Management School as part of Swiss Education Group implementing these in a corporate function and fostering, at the heart of it all, a service attitude.

Happy People, Happy Figures, Happy Atmosphere = Success

I am certain I still have a lot more to learn and hopefully share with you...