TheEuropean Atlantic University UNEATLANTICO) welcomed Didier Fleury, former CEO of Carrefour and former CEO of Makro, to a conference entitled «How can you work in a multination al?» in the framework of the «What now?» programme , moderated by Francisco Zunzunegui, director of SITE UNEATLANTICO, at the Auditorium on 6 October in collaboration with the Fundación Innovación y Desarrollo(FIDBAN), the Sociedad para el Desarrollo Regional de Cantabria (SODERCAN) and the Centro Empresa Universitario (CEMU), and the CEO-CEPYME Cantabria.
Fleury’s career has led him into a multinational business environment, with positions in well-known companies in different countries of the European sector. Didier worked as director of Carrefour for about 30 years in Italy, Greece and Russia and then as director of the company Makro in Germany, where he worked for another 10 years. He is currently the president of the Cantabria Sustainability Cluster.
The talk started by looking into job interviews within the business world, focusing mainly on what companies are looking for in young graduates and career starters. During the meeting, he stressed that growth in this type of company is usually progressive.
Recommended to value training opportunities, develop and take advantage of complementary skills such as leadership, teamwork, positive attitude, good communication and above all, the initiative to continue creating projects and ideas that feed back. He stressed that you usually start in business or low-responsibility roles, but this will be your first steps to discovering talent, scaling up professionally and allowing others to recognize your potential and support your growth.
During the talk, Didier shared his career path from his first jobs as a section and food manager to managing a centre and finally moving to Spain. Based on his experience, he advised the students to learn through practice, surround themselves with people who contribute both personally and professionally, and maintain serenity in the face of difficulties. He also stressed the importance of choosing jobs whose values are in line with one’s own. At the end, he answered questions from UNEATLANTICO students about industry and developments in different sectors, highlighting the importance of anticipation.
With the «And now what?» talk cycle the European Atlantic University aims to connect students with experiences of different professionals in order to provide them with essential resources that will boost their personal and professional growth along with preparation for future work.