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Radmila Trifunović, General Manager of Metalac - A leadership position is retained only by continuous learning
Source: eKapija
Saturday, 14.12.2024.
00:45
Saturday, 14.12.2024.
00:45
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Radmila Trifunović assumed the role of General Manager of Metalac in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic (Photo: Marija Piroški)
Regional business leader of Kraljevo for 2022, business leader of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce for 2023 and the silver medal "Takovski ustanak" of the municipality of Gornji Milanovac, are just some of the awards that Radmila Trifunović, General Manager of Metalac, has received during 37 years of her work, four of which as General Manager of Metalac by now. In almost four decades of work, she has consolidated the experiences gained in the fields of export, import, procurement, as CFO, Executive Director of Finance and finally CEO. And she accepted this last role in the most demanding period - during the corona virus pandemic and managed to keep the company financially sound.
About that period, all that preceded, as well as everything that follows at Metalac, the General Manager of this company spoke specially for the eKapija special edition newsletter "Diary of success".
eKapija: As someone who in 37 years in Metalac has had various experiences in various positions all the way to the position of the General Manager, how would you describe the key factors that Metalac, despite its challenges, constantly make more and more successful and regionally recognizable?
- Today's Metalac is not even similar to the one I came to in 1987. In the economic miracle, as they called Gornji Milanovac at the time, Metalac was a company that did not fit into that successful milieu. I was lucky enough that after only two years, the company embarked on a completely different business philosophy. Dragoljub Vukadinović is responsible for that turnaround, the General Manager at that time, and afterwards until today the President of the Company, at the head of which he has been in total for 35 years. How important it is is best confirmed by the fact that Metalac had a trend of growth in unprecedentedly huge challenges such as hyperinflation, sanctions, neighborhood wars, bombing, transition, two serious world financial crises, etc... The ability of Metalac to go through all that and progress at the same time comes precisely from people with a vision, who were ready to face any challenge and seek a solution. The culture built then of seeking opportunities by relying on one's own strength is still existing today.
eKapija: You took on the role of CEO in the middle of the corona virus pandemic. How challenging it was then not only to preserve the financial health of the company but lead to even greater successes?
- I think it was really one of the most difficult periods for everyone, including Metalac. I had no doubt that the focus must be on people's health and the company's financial health. And we managed to do that, and how healthy we got out of it all confirmed the growth in the years that followed. Although we continued to struggle with the unprecedented rise in the prices of raw materials, energy, logistic costs, the consequences of war conflicts in the world, compared to the year before the pandemic, Metalac achieved a 55% increase in consolidated revenue, coming from EUR 94 million to EUR 145 million how much we expect in 2024. At the same time, the expected profit of EUR 7.5 million has grown by 77% compared to 2019. We are particularly proud that, although we operate in an industry with a low profit rate, we invested EUR 23 million in that period, namely in the modernization of equipment and technology, renewable energy sources, digitization and modern process management.
eKapija: How much more challenging was taking on this role for you as a member of the fairer sex who, along with all business obligations and taking care of around 2,000 employees, has his private duties and responsibilities?
- Like many other women in leadership positions, I also face the challenge of balancing career and family life, but with the support of the family and the delegation of key tasks, success on both fronts is possible. The key is to prioritize, be well organized and surround yourself with a team that shares the same values and goals. Of course, such a role requires constant adaptability, flexibility and willingness to sacrifice. At the same time, Metalac as a company particularly supports women in their professional ambitions, which further facilitates my role. In my innermost team, the majority are women, and at the company level, women hold 40% of leadership positions. Finally, it should be remembered that over 55% of the entire Company are women.
eKapija: Considering that you spent more than half of Metalac's history as a part of it, can you compare the state of that industry decades ago to today? When do you think it was the hardest in that area? What were the breakthrough moments?
- In my deepest belief, the key thing is that Metalac started to develop both horizontally and vertically since the nineties, freeing oneself from dependence on one production program and gradually changing the business model. Thanks to one of the most successful privatizations, nearly 25 years ago, in which the largest number of shareholders are precisely from the ranks of employees, as well as the expert team at the head of the Metalac Group, all moves were strategically and visionary driven. Since the beginning of the nineties, Metalac started diversifying its production programs, and somehow in parallel with the development of trade companies to have around 145 retail stores in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia today, of which 100 specialized in the tableware and household products program, and 45 food items. Today, the Metalac trading companies generate 57% of the total revenue and 40% of the profit.
(Photo: Branko Đurović)
eKapija: Modernization of work processes, digitization, automation and new technologies in general should also simplify work processes in companies. Is business modernization as simple as it seems?
- Of course it's not simple. How much we work on it best shows that we had a total of 91 trainings in 2023, by 56 external and 35 internal teachers, and total training for 4,752 participants, which is an average of more than two training sessions for each employee in the Group. And this year, that intensity of education continued in the most diverse fields, from internal process improvements to the use of genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks, brand strategy, BI, ESG, and CBAM reporting,
trainings for personal development of individuals up to talent and performance management. We are simply constantly rethinking our working methods because we can only remain competitive through continuous learning and process improvement and maintain the leading position in the market.
eKapija: In addition to everything else, companies are facing ever-increasing demands for sustainability, green transitions, for which they certainly have higher costs. Your positive influence on society is certainly reflected in awards, such as the "Regional ESG Leader",
but how difficult is it to meet expectations in this segment?
- The "Regional ESG Leader" award is a confirmation of our position that being a leader is first and foremost a responsibility. In doing so, I mean the quality of corporate management, ecology, the attitude towards employees and the local community. For more than 30 years we have had a very steady, strategically defined behavior in each of these segments.
As a truly healthy thinking company, it is natural that we are oriented towards the care of future generations. This implies, first of all, responsible business, from which only a mature approach to everything can emerge what we want to leave to future generations – from clean water and air to clean energy... Metalac currently monitors 70 parameters, 25 of which refer to the reduction of operating costs, 33 to the rational use of resources and improvement of environmental protection, 9 on increasing productivity and 3 on customer satisfaction. I would also like to stress the complete disposal of both hazardous and non-hazardous waste. For almost 20 years, we have had one of the most modern wastewater treatment systems in which we invested 1 million EUR at the time, and up to today about EUR 7 million. Last year we completed the solar power plant project with prosumer status and the reconstruction of the heating system, for which we invested EUR 3.6 million in the last two years alone. And that is only part of the projects in which we have invested a total of EUR 23 million in the past five years.
Environmental care - solar power plant project completed last year (Photo: Metalac)
That process has not been completed. We will continue to focus on these areas with the intention of investing around EUR 4 million every year. It is difficult to predict what will happen in the world in the next five to 10 years, but we estimate that we are going in the right direction strategically, precisely developing in the segments I mentioned, and to which I would just add intensive development of human resources.
eKapija: Conflicts in Ukraine have had an impact on many economies and businesses, to the export of products, the import of raw materials and the like. How much did these developments affect your business?
- Since we have our own companies in Moscow and Kiev, naturally, all the happenings had a significant impact on our business in these markets. Due to war conflicts, we reduced all activities to a sustainable level, with the belief that positions that have been built up over the years should be saved until more peaceful times.
- The turnover of employees and the lack of certain personnel are a reality in Metalac as well. Times have changed, so the behavior models of companies will certainly have to change, at least in what depends on them. But, realistically, a lot depends on the state of society and the ability of the state to recognize the necessity to bring companies like Metalac to a more equal position compared to the privileged position of numerous foreign companies which it is inclined to pay to come to the market at all. At the same time, they seem to overlook how much the community gets from us.
Metalac has more than 2,000 employees, of that more than half in the heavy metal complex. We did not lay off workers in any crisis situation. For 35 years, earnings have not been delayed a single day. Our Foundation financially supports family creation and raising the birth rate. We grant scholarships to the children of our employees, we help in severe cases of illness and treatment, as well as all types of recreational activities. More than 600 of our workers have supplementary pension insurance. Benefited spa treatments and family vacations are available. I could list more, but the point is that sometimes all the benefits fall flat in the face of the fact for a foreign company to appear, well supported by government funds and simply take over a finished worker, or expert, because at the very beginning they have room to offer him higher earnings. At the same time, our profits end up in this country, which we actually additionally support in many ways, and above all through investments in ecology, helping healthcare, education, culture... We have been here for 65 years... We have been, we are and we will remain.
More than 35 years without delay of salary and dismissal of workers in crisis situations (Photo: Marija Piroški)
eKapija: What can we expect from Metalac in the future?
- Two key directions have already crystallized as a prerequisite for survival on the global market. First of all, the green agenda, when it comes to investing in renewable energy sources, as well as when it comes to investing in people and the environment in which we live. Second, artificial intelligence. At the same time, automation and digital transformation will certainly affect the change of certain business profiles and the further reduction of the number of employees. That gives Metalac a chance to continue to be a healthy, modern company, desirable for employees and investors....
U blizini:
Click here to see the entire Special Edition Newsletter
"DIARY OF SUCCESS - People who drive the business world"
read more
Companies:
Metalac a.d. Gornji Milanovac
Privredna komora Srbije
Regionalna privredna komora Kraljevo- RPK Kraljevo
Opština Gornji Milanovac
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Regional Chamber of Commerce Kraljevo
Municipality of Gornji Milanovac
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