Changes for a strong future
Changes for a strong future
NAME
David M. Neumann
COMPANY
Neumann Gruppe GmbH
POSITION/ DEPARTMENT
Group CEO
DATE OF BIRTH
11 August
DATE OF FIRST DAY AT NKG
June 1992, Rothfos Corporation, NY
WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT WORKING AT NKG?
I love our product, Coffee – it should be spelled with a capital C at all times. At NKG, I love the constant challenge of trying to live up to the responsibility that comes with my name on the door. I enjoy that often, I can help find creative solutions and do my best to form the future for the Group.
Aligning our strategic approach, organizational structure and cultural transformation
“To grow in agility, speed and create better efficiencies, to grow in business and control costs, to create operative discipline and enhance operative excellence, we need to change the way we lead, from where we lead and how many people do so. In this, we need to be clear, transparent and strict with ourselves.”
David M. Neumann, Group CEO, Neumann Gruppe
Setting the
foundation
These necessary developments lead to evolving professional requirements and job descriptions for many of us. This includes NG and its management, both for guiding NG as well as NKG. In many discussions with colleagues all over the world, it became clear that for today, the current setup with almost all major decisions being taken by a large group of people in Hamburg lacks agility and speed and is not the best way forward. To create agility, be quicker when needed, we need to dare to delegate, trust and empower; we must make decisions in a more simple and lean structure and closer to where our business takes place. The upcoming developments in management in Hamburg as well as in the regions of the world are part of our answer, they are the beginning of a cultural shift, they are a process that will take time, not a project with a due date. They have no other reason than for us to become more agile and efficient and support the companies of NKG – operational excellence.
What does this mean practically? There are a number of important steps that are going to happen in the near future. It has been decided to decisively move ahead with a determined effort to decentralize and regionalize NKG. And we will streamline and challenge leadership and other areas here in Hamburg.
Firstly, there will be important changes in the Board of Management. At the time of writing, it consists of four Directors (Geschäftsführer) plus four members of a Board (Geschäftsleitung), a total of 8 persons. While everyone’s contribution is important and the work is a lot, we have realized that this structure is not really conducive to us being agile, to having short and effective paths and to allow and encourage the input of the Heads of the departments and all colleagues.
Thus, and in a number of steps beginning as of now and into February next year, the figure of NGGL as the large Board of Management consisting of Directors and Managers will cease to exist. Ralf Lotze, Philippe Cañadas and Michael Bode will become Directors in their specialist areas and responsibilities, some of which have been newly and more clearly distributed.
In great mutual trust and understanding, Jörn Severloh and I have jointly decided that he will leave the BoD and the company at the end of the year. Maren Uzarek will join the Board as GF/ Director and Group Chief People Officer (CPO) from January 1, 2025. As a result, her area of responsibility will grow considerably – this is reflected in her title as CPO. Towards the end of January, Ruben Scholz will take up his new important role in the Asia-Pacific region, more on that further down.
As of February, NGGF, the new Board of Directors, will then consist of: Maren Uzarek as Group CPO, Justin Schulze-Smidt as Group CFO and myself as Group CEO.
Beginning with these changes, we enter into a process and development of evolution. In streamlining the management team in Hamburg and – step by step – giving the three global regions more and more weight and independence by positioning ourselves regionally, we enable quicker and better decision making, shorter reaction times and less red tape. We are going to where our business is.
Second and as of 2025, we will set up and operate three NKG Regional Offices led by three Regional CEOs – Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe & Africa. Two Regional CEOs will be operating out of Singapore and New York/New Jersey, the third region will be led by a small team at NG Hamburg headed by myself. All will be located within existing premises in the three cities.
By the end of January, Ruben Scholz will leave the Board of Directors in Hamburg and take up his new duties as Regional CEO APAC; as soon as possible, he will relocate to Singapore. Around the same time, Nicolas Rueda Latiff, currently very innovative and successful as CEO of our companies in North America, will take over the role of Regional CEO Americas and will be responsible for all NKG companies on the American continent with exception of the farms in Mexico and Brazil.
While the core of our governance continues to be in the BoD (Geschätsführung) of Neumann Gruppe as the topmost decision-making instance in NKG, its work will be substantially enhanced by being joined by the Regional CEOs in the new NKG Executive Board. It will meet twice a month as of February. We will discuss and deliberate all topics defined by the participants, strategic and practical, business and other. Here, the Regional CEOs will have their forum to which they bring their significant coffee and business acumen and are an active part of all discussions and deliberations, enabling and supporting the BoD’s decisions.
Over time, the setup will lead to less bottlenecks and more, easier and better-quality dialogue on operative issues, business planning and strategic development as well as regional integration and interaction where it makes sense for the companies and the overall business. Reporting will be largely transferred to the Regional CEO and team for the companies. As governance is transferred from NG and Hamburg to the regions, we will all need patience and plenty of goodwill for the processes.
Of course, there will continue to be central departments and services, and they will be in touch directly with the regional companies, including issuing instructions and offering their services – in coordination with the Regional CEO and the NKG Executive Board.
These changes do not only include structure, functions and processes, but mainly people and culture at NKG. A basic change is the mind shift with regard to the question: who is a coffee person?
“We love Coffee” has to be inclusive, not exclusive. A “coffee person” at NG or NKG is anyone working to develop and drive forward our operations, regardless of their areas of expertise. This includes leadership, common sense, and sensitivity on multiple levels. Outstanding general management doesn’t necessarily require in-depth coffee knowledge, which of course is nice to have and can be acquired over time. Furthermore, we are developing a mission statement, which is taking time due to intense discussions. This is positive, as it ensures the statement will be carried out with conviction by all NG leaders, not just a few. Our goal is to create a more inclusive and forward-thinking coffee company.
The importance of a shift in how we define coffee people and perceive our colleagues in general is to be found in the future role of Maren Uzarek as new CPO in the Board of Directors. While Human Resources (HR) is the function in a company that is responsible for managing all aspects related to employees, the term HR itself emphasizes the management and utilization of employees as a resource to achieve the organization’s goals. The term People is about a holistic approach that sees the employee not only in relation to their responsibilities in the company, but also includes, among other things, company culture, communication and leadership. By calling it People, we are putting all of you, our employees, in the center. This is about focusing more on the personality, talents and potential of each individual. We want to develop, support and inspire you with the work done by the newly called People department. It is about creating connections, fostering a culture of trust and appreciation, and ensuring that every one of you has the opportunity to reach your full potential – which in turn will allow NKG to do the same.
What we are doing here is complex but worthwhile and – over time – without alternative. It is nothing more and nothing less than setting up and safeguarding NKG for the coming decades. The basis for this is without doubt our past success, our market leadership, our excellent name, our commitment to coffee and (as NG) to NKG and our unconditional will to continue to be the world market leader in coffee and a solid partner and employer in 10- and 20-years’ time.
“You can be 100 % sure that I feel a total responsibility and commitment towards NKG, our business, our possibilities and limits in a rapidly changing world – beyond coffee and our growing number of colleagues worldwide. We will come out of this even stronger and better.”
David M. Neumann, Group CEO, Neumann Gruppe
We all live in a digital world. From buying clothes online, to checking in real time which street the delivery person is on, to paying for services with ours phones while knowing the exact balance of our accounts, we have become accustomed to interacting in a digital world. It helps us get the things we want faster and obtain important information easily.
For the past two years, Regional Responsible Business Program Manager Melyne has been on an – for her – unexpected journey in the coffee world. “Although I was open to the agriculture sector, I never imagined working in coffee until I joined NKG,” she says. Her passion for coffee started during the interview process, sparked by an introduction to various grades of green coffee.
Joanne’s coffee journey began as a Barista in London: “Searching for a decent cup of coffee” when she first moved to London was the catalyst that led her into the industry. For the past decade, Joanne has been an integral part of Nordic Approach.
