President Whirlpool EMEA,
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION
From a «turnaround» to a real «Mission Impossible»
For over 30 years in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, Gilles has driven rapid business growth and transformation in Central European countries as well as with brands like M&M's in Europe. He has also experienced turnarounds following business incidents, such as when he relaunched the subsidiary in Romania or managed numerous global and national crises.
Gilles joined the household appliance industry 4 years ago, with the mission to turn around Whirlpool EMEA. The scale of the challenge is unprecedented for Gilles in terms of industrial and commercial challenges, as well as in terms of aligning and engaging 20,000 employees.
However, the most exciting part of this journey was yet to come when, after the initial turnaround, a true mission impossible presented itself with the ambition «to wow» the lives of employees, consumers, customers, communities, the planet, and investors... all investors.
Gilles will share how he connected his long-established, though recently revisited, sense of purpose as a leader to this mission. He will talk about how he engaged his organisation through the challenges of brutal cost inflation, the war in Ukraine, the fall in consumer confidence and anxiety related to the strategic review of his business.
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