10 January 2022
1M1E – January 2022: Lucia Tournier – Chief Financial Officer
Management Control graduate Lucia Tournier has worked in a range of businesses across a variety of fields over the course of 20 years. One year ago, she began her adventure with Crusta C working in her favourite field: the agri-food industry!
How would you describe your typical working day?
Varied…intense…too short…did I mention varied? We’re a large SME and this is a fast-paced world, meaning that every day brings with it a new challenge!
What projects are you currently working on?
The development and migration of our ERP and the implementation of management control strategies. They’re both fascinating topics! At the same time, I spend a lot of time on issues relating to digital transformation, much of which focuses on digitization and going paperless.
In a few words, describe your role to us.
Measurement – Analysis – Management support
- Measuring our performance with the help of KPIs and dashboards.
- Analyzing the results to ensure we are on target to hit our goals – and to enable us to plan ahead.
- Supporting senior management and operational teams as they manage their specific business activities, with the help of decision-making tools.
What are the key challenges or goals you have at work?
The need to take a transversal approach and create synergies in various fields, not to mention successfully handling several major projects simultaneously whilst keeping delivery lead-times down to a reasonable level.
If you could choose anyone at all to be your mentor, who would it be? Why would you choose them?
Indra Nooyi – the first woman to head up a major multinational (PepsiCo). She made brave decisions, which were sometimes criticized, but she always took responsibility for those decisions. She has had an incredible career which you can’t help but admire. She was credited with setting the US multinational back on the right track without neglecting her other role – as mother to her children. She is seen as one of the most powerful women in the world and is a strong advocate for equality of opportunity in the workplace.
What do you like best about your work?
I love the discussions I can have with other team members about a range of topics and projects. Getting around a table, talking about a project and turning that project into a concrete reality is really exciting – I find working together like this very enriching.
Which professional achievement are you most proud of?
After 20 years’ experience, I still absolutely love my job, which I think is a pretty good result! I’ve been lucky to have always had the opportunity to work in interesting businesses whose values and corporate visions I shared and with Crusta C it’s been no different. Doing what you enjoy in a working environment you like is already a great professional achievement, wouldn’t you say?
What advice would you give to new team members?
Have an enquiring mind. This will lead you to interest yourself in the business’ history and in the people who continue to play a part in writing the story of the business, day-by-day. Connections and relationships are created until you yourself become a part of that story.
Finally, we come to January’s question: it’s winter and we want to warm ourselves up a bit – which hot prawn-based recipe would you recommend?
A prawn curry dish, of course! It’s a dish from la Réunion which will warm body and mind alike! Serve hot with white rice. 😉
We’d like to thank Lucia Tournier for agreeing to take part in our January interview!
If you would like to join our team, feel free to check out our vacancies. If you’d like to send in a speculative application, just click here.