I had a rather different career before Hilti - as a professional basketball player! When my hoop-shooting days were over, I went to university and looked for a job that would suit my competitive nature and love of a challenge. I had a strong feeling that sales would be the right fit, so I did some internet research and applied for a role at Hilti.
 
I joined as an account manager to find myself in a totally new world with an incredibly steep learning curve! Pretty fast, I got addicted to the buzz of successful sales, which I’m happy to say I experienced quite a lot.
 
Eighteen months later, I was promoted to my first leadership position as an area sales manager. Another new world, but at least in a familiar environment. It was a really fun time and I especially enjoyed sharing and celebrating our achievements as a team.
 
Three years after that, I moved into my current role as division manager, which has proved to be yet a different kind of challenge. It’s been interesting to discover a new level of leadership, as I’m now leading leaders who were colleagues before. I’m also doing familiar tasks but on a vastly different scale, like building customer relationships and working towards targets.
 
As for my next step, who knows? What I do know is that, whatever it is, Hilti will take care of me and make sure I’m ready.

I’ve been at Hilti for 12 years, first in customer service and later in sales, where I really found my calling, if you like. I started my sales experience as an account manager and then regional manager, both for the steel construction team.
 
I now lead our national ON!Track team in the UK, which involves supporting and coaching our sales force, while providing analysis and implementation services for our customers. It’s a really exciting role. ON!Track is our latest software offering and is proving extremely interesting to our customers.
 
I spend around half of my time in the field with my team, the other half in our Manchester head office. This makes it a demanding job to juggle, but a thoroughly enjoyable one, not least for its variety.
 
We invest a lot of time and energy in developing our people, and I get a real kick from seeing my team members grow, flourish, better themselves and make long careers for themselves -  whether it’s in marketing, sales or other area of the business.

In 1989 I joined the company at the corporate Headquarter in Schaan, Liechtenstein. Coming directly from the University I started as a Junior Product Manager in our Direct Fastening Business. Working in Product Development whilst not being an engineer by education put me in a very intensive learning cycle right from the start. Many years later I realize that up until today I am still learning something new every day. This is exciting and it never gets boring. Hilti also took me to many places around the globe, be it as a local team member in France, Germany or Switzerland or later in my career as an Executive board member responsible for all the markets.

The opportunity to work in a multicultural and international environment is priceless. It helps you to see the world through different lenses and it develops your ability to adapt immensely. The relationships I have all over the world are a fantastic source of motivation and inspiration. I am very much looking forward to meeting Hilti people again and again. The drive, the commitment and the passion whilst having fun at work is a fantastic mix that makes every day a new experience you would not like to miss.

What also sticks out is the never-ending journey to become better at what we do every day. It pushes us to be leading edge company in many disciplines. We are recognized for that as a Great place to work or as a Top 100 Innovator and many other recognitions for our daily work. Hilti people always find a solution to a problem, they never give up. After so many years one can ask if this can go on eternally. My answer to that is very simple: Hilti has never been as cool as it is right now! 
 

I joined Hilti wanting to work for a global company with a strong brand and drive for innovation. I knew Hilti as a kid. “Give me the Hilti” meant pass me the drill or whatever other tool.
 
But that’s as far as the plan went. Since joining the company, I haven’t especially chosen my career path. It’s happened more naturally, as I’ve looked for areas I want to develop rather than any specific position.
 
In this way, Hilti has always presented me with outstanding opportunities, enabling me to get a full picture of the business and to really contribute to its success. I’ve also been fortunate to experience an abroad assignment, which enriched my (and my family’s) personal horizon and gave me a great professional advantage.
 
Over the years, I’ve got to know many fantastic colleagues and enjoyed the diversity of different cultures. My biggest motivator of all has been the opportunity to develop team members and see them grow into leaders.
 
One of my great challenges to date has been to lead the global energy and industry team through a severe market downturn, setting the foundation for strong future growth. I’m also proud of my work as part of the Champion 2020 strategy team (our global business strategy), which is now coming to life with many tools being launched and creating a buzz among our sales force and customers alike.   
 
After 18 years with the company, there’s still one thing that excites me every day – our great teams around the globe and their passion to give their very best for our customers. Whenever someone joins the team from another company, their feedback is the same: our culture is unique. It’s the biggest asset we have.