EMEA Recruitment Podcast #128 - The Need to Disrupt Yourself – Tal Volok

In this episode of the EMEA Recruitment podcast, we were pleased to speak to Tal Volok, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Evalueserve in Switzerland.  "The things that you did really well that made you a great Financial Analyst are not going to make you a great manager." Tal explains to Paul Toms how he's taken many positives from the COVID-19 pandemic – one being his role with Evalueserve. When the world went into lockdown in 2020, Tal was working for SITA, an IT provider for the air transport industry, and had never worked a day from home in his career. Although he enjoyed spending more time with his children, the business was in crisis mode, so Tal found himself working at all hours. Evalueserve, on the other hand, is headquartered in Switzerland, but runs as a virtual company; it's something Tal couldn't imagine before COVID.  A lesson that Tal has learned in the last few years is to take time to think, which he believes can add a lot of value and bring new thoughts to the company. He has also made time for networking through EMEA Recruitment's events.  Despite spending the longest time he's ever had in one role at SITA, Tal came to a point where he needed new challenges. His foundations in General Electric's rotational programme have forced him to always "disrupt" himself. Tal feels that growth comes from uncomfortable situations, especially as you move to more senior roles.  Tal's attitude towards stepping out of your comfort zone came from his mentors, who helped him learn how to energise himself and move onto the next challenge. He takes the same approach to business; a company cannot go on for 20 years using the same model if it wants to progress.  We explore how business intelligence (BI) and data is affecting the Finance function. Although Tal believes that people still need to make their own decisions, he does see the benefit of "failing fast" and moving on from a bad idea more quickly.  We also find out Tal's key advice for hiring the right personality and skillset into your team – he has a useful exercise for anyone looking to build a strong team.  Finally, Tal reveals his plans for the next five years (at least) of his career.   If you're looking for a particular part of the episode, use the timestamps below: 01:26: Taking the positives from the pandemic04:42: Opening up to new opportunities06:02: Spending more time with his kids06:36: Prioritising thinking time09:31: The last thing that made Tal smile11:46: Starting a new position during COVID19:56: Where Tal's growth attitude comes from24:17: Tal's education at GE27:49: The impact of BI & Data on Finance33:02: The lesson Tal learned when hiring people38:54: Tal's greatest mentors42:16: The next 5 years of Tal's career45:09: How to reach Tal If you'd like to connect with Tal, you can find him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tvolok/   We support Operation Smile through the EMEA Recruitment podcast, by raising vital funds and awareness. If you're interested in ways you can help, you can find out more through our website: https://www.emearecruitment.com/operation-smile   The EMEA Recruitment podcast is hosted by Paul Toms, our Founder, and Rose Jinks, our Senior Marketing Executive. Find out about our unique approach to recruitment, including Finance & Accountancy roles, on our website: https://www.emearecruitment.com/ We also post regular updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emea-recruitment-limited/ Or you can connect with Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paultoms/ And follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/paul_toms   If there are any topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes of the podcast, please get in touch with Rose: [email protected]    #emearecruitment #emearecruitmentpodcast #talvolok #paultoms #operationsmile #finance  

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