My name is Nicola, Italian graduated in October 2023 in Accounting, financial management and control at Bocconi University in Milan. In the same month I have joined the GETP program by ABB. I have recently concluded a few days ago my third and last rotation of the program in the ELSP factory Bulgaria. I am currently onboarding for my final position as Financial Analyst within the controlling team in Marine&Ports Division, based in Genova (Italy). Truly enthusiastic and full of energies of this new beginning as well as grateful for the opportunities and international exposure the program gave me in the past 2 years.
Why were you interested in joining ABBs Global Early Talent Program?
Finishing the university and thus be in the position of entering the professional work phase of your life is a challenge. Working in a big organization and an international environment was already kind of clear in my mind. However, I didn’t really know how to bridge the gap between university and the corporate world and thus what I would have been good at and I wanted to explore more in depth my potentialities to understand really where I see myself in the future. I was kind of afraid of getting stuck in doing something without having tried and experienced a wider range of possibilities. ABB and its GETP program was the opportunity I was looking for and a perfect match for my needs and my aspirations. The highly innovative and international and inclusive culture of ABB made it an obvious choice for me.
“ABB and its GETP program was the opportunity I was looking for and a perfect match for my needs and my aspirations.”
Our values are the cornerstone of our culture. They shape everything we do, guide our behavior and interactions with our colleagues, customers, partners and society as a whole, and help us realize our purpose. By living our four ABB values, we lead by example in how we do business and behave.
What keeps you motivated at work? Can you share some experiences from your time at ABB so far?
Working at ABB as a GETP to me means being in a corporate environment where I feel involved from day 1, I can propose ideas and express opinions freely and I’m heard. I feel like I’m trusted and I can grow and make an impact. Young age and little working experience is not a matter when you proactively give your best in contributing to the success of the company. It’s the perfect space where to make mistakes, learn, try new things and work everyday to become a better person.
By working as a financial and in close contact with project and business controller I have strengthened my capabilities of performing financial analysis, starting with exporting the necessary data from the data source SAP and working with them on excel by using formulas and pivot tables to organize and summarize them, allowing me to identify key trends and insights. Additionally, I leveraged Power BI to gain deeper insights into project margin variations throughout the project lifecycle. By connecting to various data sources and creating interactive dashboards, I could visualize margin trends and compare planned vs. actual performance. Mastered the main tools used for reporting and accounting.
Together with the above-mentioned technical capabilities I will for sure consider communications and interpersonal skills, which are crucial in a company with these dimension. My extrovert attitude of course helped me, but in a professional environment this is something that need to be trained on the field and the exposure this program gives you really challenges you to be the best version of yourself when interacting with others. You really need to be an open box and get as much as you can from everything and everyone. I always strive to communicate clearly and empathetically, ensuring that I understand others' viewpoints and that my own ideas are conveyed effectively. This has helped me build strong relationships with colleagues, fostering collaboration and interaction across different departments and levels of seniority.
How has ABB supported your development—and how would you like to grow next?
The aim of the program itself goes beyond providing us with technical/practical skills to be able to perform the wide range of finance related processes ranging from reporting, cost controlling etc. Of course learning how to work with several tools and systems is a crucial part as well as learning about how to meet tasks with high standard, but there is much more than that.
The rotations themselves help you to see different things in different countries and this is quite self explanatory, business wise this gives you a great understanding, it is as if you build brick by brick your knowledge about the company overall, the difference between businesses, the main processes and challenges…. I’d like to point the fact that In a parallel way we are provided with leadership courses and involved in group meetings and seminars as well as other learning activities that help us to know more about our personal strengths, intercultural awareness, crisis management. All these activities help us to see things from a wider perspective and to think in a more strategic having in mind ABB as a whole rather than the single activity in the single division we are working in.
My next step of growth is getting expertise in controlling in a local division and thus ownership of some tasks and processes. Moreover, my role will have a regional exposure, which will allow me to have additional exposure on change management and process improvement from a wider strategical point of view.
What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about ABB?
What surprised me the most is the dynamism of ABB and the job. Decision making is something tangible every day, new challenges and opportunities arise constantly, continuous improvement is needed to perform activities better. ABB is a company that evolves continuously and does not rely on established mechanisms and processes. This encourages you and motivates you to always strive for the best without settling on the same repetitive activities
During my experience as a global trainee at ABB I feel encouraged to express my point of view and ideas, to proactively ask questions and propose new approaches. There is no hierarchical thinking, collaboration is valued by everyone at all levels, we are all team players, independently on our experience and background, this helps to always give my best in fostering a productive and enjoyable working environment.
If you could describe ABB in one word (or sentence), what would it be?
Innovation
The innovative approach and constant look towards the future the company has in its businesses its reflected in the same way in the efforts the company puts in bringing fresh ideas, process improvements and most importantly let new employees develop the hard and soft skills needed to ensure a bright future for the company.
