As an intern he already started working on strategic projects. Pavel Balada, Senior Integration Manager, would one day like to put the MET flag in his home country.
You started as an intern at MET Holding and now you are Senior Integration Manager. What happened between the two positions?
Indeed, I became an intern in the Swiss headquarters of MET in late 2015. I was lucky to work on some highly strategic projects related to business development and our expansion to new markets. For instance, I was involved in the expansion to the Spanish market in 2016, and then to Italy in 2018. Recently, I have been involved in the opening of the German subsidiary, after we entered the market in 2020. We are now working on turning it into a success story in the upcoming months and years.
In MET so far, every year has felt like three in terms of the number of projects, but mentally it has passed in as quickly as three weeks. I have really enjoyed this ambitious and high growth environment and I’m grateful that I’ve learned a lot during these years.
Have you always received the necessary trust from the senior management despite your age?
When I started as an intern, my age was not an obstacle. It’s always been an important part of MET’s identity to support young talent – in fact we have several younger colleagues in top management positions. In combination with a diversified team of many nationalities, this gives us the edge to move faster in an ever-changing international market. From this perspective, I try to promote MET Group to students and have helped to recruit several CEMS master students by holding skills seminars at the University of St. Gallen and the Bocconi University in Milano.
I have been given many opportunities during my time at MET. For example, three months into my internship, one of the Executive Board members offered me the possibility to work alongside him on a range of business development projects.
You participated in MET Group’s Talent Development Program. How did it help your career?
The biggest benefit I gained from the TDP program was to understand myself better in terms of my strengths and development areas. It showed me the importance of setting up not only career, but also my personal goals for the future. It helped me better guide my focus and to follow a direction in my life that keeps me motivated. A direct impact of the program was that after this one-year platform of seminars, mentoring and coaching sessions, I was promoted to a new position in MET.
What career goals and professional ambitions do you have for the future?
A professional dream of mine is to become a Managing Director in one of MET’s businesses. MET Group currently has subsidiaries in 14 European countries and it would be great to open an office in my home country, the Czech Republic. Further, I would like to focus on green energy products in the future. It is clear that energy markets will transition in the following decade towards renewable energy sources and therefore I hope to focus on this area in the coming years.