Fernando Carro: “Incredibly exciting 100 days“
Since July 9, 2015, Fernando Carro de Prada has been CEO of Arvato and a member of the Bertelsmann Executive Board. While the position is new for the 51-year-old Spaniard, he is by no means a newcomer to Bertelsmann. Quite the opposite: In his Bertelsmann career of over 20 years, the industrial engineer, avid soccer fan, and father of three has already held many management positions, at home and abroad. In addition to his management experience, he also brings international know-how and a lot of Bertelsmann experience to the Arvato management team. In an interview with the employee magazine INSIDE Carro talks about the first 100 days in his new job:
“The first 100 days have been incredibly exciting. I’m always happy to be with my coworkers in person – worldwide. Arvato is a huge company, with 70,000 employees. I’d like to hear the unfiltered truth from them about what they think and do, but also what drives them and what issues affect them. So, my first weeks have also been tremendously engaging. I’ve already visited sites in Germany, Great Britain, France and Spain. Poland, Ireland, the U.S., and China are on my schedule in the next few weeks. Every time I visit a business unit, I take a very close look at five key elements there: the strategy, the business figures, the organization and management, the customers and then investments and innovations.”
When it comes to priorities the Arvato boss states five points: “I have three work priorities for the coming months: First, I will support the three strong Solution Groups of Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management and Financial Solutions and their respective heads, in putting their growth strategy or, where necessary, their transformation into action. Second, we will define appropriate strategies for the IT, Digital Marketing and Print solution groups. A third package consists of integrating Arvato administrative units into the main Corporate Center departments, strengthening the links between Gütersloh and Arvato businesses around the world and creating more growth in our growth regions. Beyond that, I will be on the road a lot in the weeks ahead to get to know as much about the Arvato world and to enter into dialogue with as many employees as possible. In a nutshell: I want to encourage, support and motivate businesses and employees at Arvato.”
Fernando Carro presents his view on Arvato’s role at Bertelsmann: “Arvato is to become one of Bertelsmann’s growth drivers again, and remains a central element in the Group’s strategy and its further implementation. There are two clear goals: medium-term EBITDA of € 500 million and long-term profitable growth. By achieving these goals together, we will contribute to building a new Bertelsmann that is more international, more digital and faster growing.”
He was welcomed with open arms and has a clear vision of the company’s future: “In my view, Arvato needs to become more dynamic, more profitable and more international. We are often regarded as conservative, even though that is not the case in most departments. I want people to perceive Arvato as modern, open and innovative. That goes for digitization as well – some of our businesses have long been completely digital; others are still in the midst of the transformation.”
For years Fernando Carro has been in Gütersloh on a regular basis – next year his family will join him here in Gütersloh. Being an enthusiastic football fan he hesitates to swap his season ticket for FC Barcelona for a Gütersloh one: “I’ve been asked quite a few times whether I’d be willing to give someone my season ticket for FC Barcelona. But I’m not going to do so. No way. Not as long as I can still fly to Barcelona on the weekend now and then. Not as long as the best football in the world is played there!”
