It's just a few days away: this year’s Judo World Championships will start in Budapest on June 13 – a top-class sporting competition that will be followed with great interest at Swiss-based MET Group.
The European energy company has been an official partner of the International Judo Federation (IJF) and the IJF World Judo Tour for more than two years now. As part of the agreement, MET supports the IJF particularly with talent development and youth development – areas which are of central importance to the integrated energy company, since its own growth history over the past 18 years was based on finding the right talents and continuing to grow together on international scale.
As an example, MET Group Chairman and CEO Benjamin Lakatos recently gave a guest lecture at the elite Swiss university in St. Gallen, after which students had the opportunity to talk to him and a team of MET colleagues about career opportunities and talent development at the Baar-headquartered company.
Today, MET Group is present in 17 countries through subsidiaries, 32 national gas markets, and 44 international trading hubs. The company's 1,100+ employees represent close to 60 nationalities. MET puts emphasis on attracting high potential individuals to join its business endeavour. Besides, the energy company takes care of its own internal talents as well and runs a Talent Development Programme.
How do MET and the IJF fit together when it goes beyond the topic of talent management? “As an energy company, MET Group is empowering the judo community,” says Vlad Marinescu, Director General of the IJF. Talking about the partnership between MET and IJF, he reveals how judo’s values are present both in business and everyday life.
“Judo is the only martial art where you learn how to fall and stand back up to fight stronger. This is a fundamental lesson for all of us. Whether we fall in business or in relationships, we must know how to rise again,” Vlad argues.
Respect is another crucial value in judo. “This is very well exemplified in the first thing and the last thing that your competitors do, which is bowing at each other. They bow to thank each other for the opportunity to grow and develop, regardless of who won that specific contest,” the Director General says.
As Vlad Marinescu affirms, it all goes down to values and principles. “At IJF, we know that MET does not only support talent development but also aims to do everything in a respectful manner, where all parties involved in the partnership are happy with the deal that has been concluded.”
With all this in mind, MET Group wishes all participants in the Judo World Championships every success – and would be particularly pleased to see Swiss sportsman Nils Stump win a medal.
