Handelsblatt CFO-Kongress: Melanie Kreis (Deutsche Post DHL Group)

Yes, on the one hand we must continue to keep an eye on the classic topics. The rest of the organization relies on that. But we clearly have to face future topics like digital transformation, and that is a big balancing act for us as a finance organization. But I believe that will also bring exciting new topics in our direction.

Yes, digital transformation is a major topic for us as a company. If you look at our business, we face challenges when you think about the decline in mail volumes. Substitution affects us negatively. At the same time, we are big beneficiaries when you think about the e-commerce boom and parcel growth. So it is a very fundamental topic for us as a company, and we see it as a great opportunity. When I think about the finance area, we also have great opportunities here to make our processes simpler, more efficient, more user-friendly, to make decisions faster and better. But we must take our colleagues along on this transformation journey.

Yes, I must first say that we as a finance area have already gone through various transformation processes in the past. If you look at how accounting processes are done today, it is fundamentally different from 20 years ago. We have standardized, system-supported processes that are mostly done in shared service centers in other countries. Completely different from what was the case 20 years ago. So this is not the first transformation process we will go through. I think what I clearly see as a vision is that even more repetitive, low-value-adding activities will be taken over by machines, so that our colleagues will have more time to conduct value-adding analyses. And I believe that to use this correctly, it will be important for us as a finance area to get even closer to the business and use our freed-up time to drive business success.

Things become simpler, faster, more efficient, and we have more time to deal with the really important topics. Quite simply.

We clearly still need many of the old good activities. We call that in modern terms 'value financial expert'. Our colleagues in other areas rely on us to keep the house in order, to know how accounting standards work, to be safe on the tax side, and so on. So we still need these traditional skills. But we clearly need to build more knowledge in the area of new technologies, we need to become more tech-savvy, and I believe we need to become much more cross-functional team players within the finance team itself and also with other parts of the organization.

Yes, I believe the biggest transformation trends we just talked about: the topic of digital transformation. That is the biggest trend for us as a company. There are naturally also related business trends like e-commerce growth, which we naturally have to deal with on the finance side. But I believe that what is generally called digital transformation is the big mega transformation trend that we have to face.

I think what I have seen in recent years, and there are good reasons for it, is that regulation has increased in many areas, be it in compliance, when you think about the General Data Protection Regulation and such things. And I think it is important that such complex topics are regulated. But it is also very important for us as a company that we think pragmatically about how that can be implemented in everyday reality. So we need to find a good balance between necessary regulation on important relevant topics and implementing it in a way that is pragmatically manageable.

Well, I find this rather a great opportunity for myself to hear from colleagues what topics they are currently dealing with. And one thing – we have various target groups – one thing I find very exciting is that no matter which industry you look at, whether it is a large or a small company, there are incredibly many topics that occupy all of us. And that is why such forums for exchange, where you can talk with colleagues from other areas as well, are extremely helpful for me.