Arndt Silvers

Trial period completed successfully

Arndt Silvers (30), Senior Consultant in the Corporate Development department at KG EOS Holding GmbH & Co, tells how he came to EOS and describes the challenges that await EOS and himself in the future.

Every time you start a new job there’s a trial period and, of course, questions like ‘Is this right for me? Am I up to the job?’ But as these things go through your mind, it’s easy to forget that the new employer is being put to the test as well. As my path to EOS was rather unusual, I had the opportunity to subject EOS to a particularly thorough examination. 

In 2005/06 we, a team from the Otto Group’s in-house management consultancy, supported the Otto subsidiary EOS in its ‘Fit For Future’ project. The EOS Group had expanded rapidly over the previous few years. Now the objective was to grow still further, and to do this the right structures had to be put in place. In the course of this project, it became increasingly clear to those responsible that EOS needed its own strategy department, one that concerned itself constantly with the company’s development. 

The Corporate Development department was born. And I had to decide whether I wanted to stay at Otto or switch to EOS. The decision to leave Otto wasn’t easy. But joining EOS was. Then, as now, I revelled in the great dynamism and readiness to change that EOS displayed. That’s important for my work as a corporate developer. I was also persuaded by all the likeable and motivated colleagues, the helpfulness and the healthy scope for personal development at EOS. My decision was also made easier by the fact that I would still be part of the Otto Group. So after an intensive eight-month get-to-know-you period, I could say with a clear conscience: ‘EOS completed the trial period successfully. This is right for me.’ 

I officially started work as a Senior Consultant in May 2006. Since then I have dealt with strategic issues every day and, through the EOS Group’s mergers and acquisitions activities, I coordinate, steer and communicate projects. In performing these tasks I benefit from my two years’ practical experience at Otto, various periods of practical training in the banking and consulting environment, my business administration degree and my previous banking apprenticeship. 

As for the future, first of all I’d like to further my development in my present department. After that, who knows? But given the pace of growth at EOS, some interesting opportunities are bound to come my way. 

Hamburg, August 2007

 

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