Mark Gounder will trade in his CFO title at Hulamin for that of CEO on 1 December, and explains that he is on a mission to deliver value for the company through its people.
Starting 1 December, Mark Gounder will take up the role of CEO at Hulamin, stepping down as the company’s CFO.
“I am excited, humbled and appreciative of the Hulamin board’s confidence in me to build on the strong foundation of our simplification strategy to improve product flow, reduce inventory and move on-time delivery to benchmark,” Mark says about the appointment.
He believes his role as CFO has helped him prepare for this new role. “The CFO role has evolved to not focus only on financial aspects but also play a vital role in connecting the dots in implementing strategy into daily operations,” he explains. “This has allowed me to develop a deep understanding of the business and lead a number of key strategic projects, including successfully implementing an enterprise-wide transformation journey focused on streamlining processes and driving efficiencies across the entire business.”
He adds:
“It is an ideal opportunity for me to continue to deliver value for Hulamin through our people.”
During his time as CFO, Mark realised the importance of employees as a key stakeholder group within the company. He shared this experience with other CFOs during a summit earlier this year.
Read more: CFO Summit hears how finance leaders are keeping their people
“I believe in visible transformation and empowerment, building a culture of accountability and transparency. Maintaining an environment where continuous improvement is our basic way of working is going to be vital to our objective to enhance the value of Hulamin for all stakeholders,” he says.
Mark has been nominated for the 2023 CFO Awards for the work he has done as the company's CFO.
Mark’s first course of action as the company’s CEO will be to interact with its stakeholders, including shareholders, suppliers and customers. “I will also be spending more time in the factory to align myself further with the manufacturing processes and safety requirements, touching base with our valuable employees.”
Pravashni Nirghin has taken up the CFO role in the interim, until a permanent appointment has been made.
Mark’s advice to Pravashni, and his eventual successor, is this:
“Communication with and being in touch with internal and external stakeholders is one of the most important aspects of ensuring value-creation at Hulamin. Focus on your intellectual ability to build on the strong foundation set in order to deliver results through people.”
