Conversation with Hussam Gabrial
Hussam Gabrial, our Business Line Manager for Andustrial Air Dvision, is marking his 10th anniversary with the Atlas Copco New Zealand team this year.
In a recent conversation with him, Hussam graciously shared insights into his extensive experience within Atlas Copco New Zealand. Join us to discover more about the organization, its culture, and the invaluable recommendations he has for young starters!
Q1: Could you please provide a overview about your role at Atlas Copco NZ?
I've been Atlas Copco coming up to 10 years next year in January. I started off as a technical sales engineer for the industrial air division for the territory of Auckland. At the moment, I'm the Business Line Manager for the industrial air division, basically the head of that division. My job really relates to building a team of people high performance and essentially working with the profit or loss of the division and being fully responsible for that from that level. So setting strategies, basically executing those strategies and making sure that they perform well, so that's my day to day in a nutshell.
Q2: What drew you to Atlas Copco NZ originally?
The reason why I came to Atlas Copco was actually a relatively funny one. So I was looking around being a young 22-year-old engineer coming out of University. Eventually it came to a point where I I saw the job for the technical sales engineer role being advertised through the university actually. And one of the things that actually drew me being a young guy was that they offered a company car, and I thought, well okay, let's start with that! Let's actually go in and interview. And I was actually quite keen on a company car being a young guy in an industry that I I don't know much about. Yes I knew a little bit about what a compressor was being a student from mechanical engineering, but it really opened up just that that idea of having a car really opened up a massive window for me to learn a lot meet great people and it actually grow quite a lot as a person.
Q3: How has Atlas Copco NZ changed since joining?
Atlas Copco is a very Dynamic type of company. We're always moving, we're always changing, we're always progressing. So one of the main changes that I've been seeing in my time is we've really shifted towards becoming more of a tech company. We're really looking into energy as a massive part of our business. We're also looking quite a lot into digitalization and connectivity. In my time even though it's a relatively short time, you know relatively speaking, 10 years. We've been able to advance quite a lot in the way we think, the way we sell, the way we approach things to really be pushed towards digitalization and the flow of information essentially. That's been a massive change that I've noticed since I first started up until now.
Q4: How would you describe your team?
Atlas Copco is is built through a team of high performance people. They look at the the performance, they look at growth, they look at those kinds of things. And the team that the people I work with, whether it's the people that report to me or whether the people that I work with or anybody in the organization, you find a heck of a lot of passion in what people do and there's always basically a better way of of doing things.
So I find that the the team really carries a mentality of, what could I do that could improve, even though it was a good outcome, what can we do that could even take it to the next level. That's basically all the people that I meet throughout Atlas Copco.
Q5: How would you describe AC NZ as a work place in terms of culture and opportunities for personal development?
Atlas Copco's got a fantastic culture when it comes to allowing people to visualize where they want to go in their career and even their personal life. It works on a very high trust model which is fantastic for people that want that flexibility, High trust, High accountability.
And that's actually a really nice thing to have. It enables people to actually live like a true human, a family member or a friend when outside of work. But then when they come into work, it's focused on performing. So it's got a really nice balance with that respect that the culture we have. It promotes diversity, it promotes the ability to express how you feel about certain things. There's a lot of different channels that we can do that. So in that respect, it allows you to be a high performing employee, but also recognizes that you're a human. You have those needs as well. So that's what I really like about Atlas Copco's culture.
Q6: Whare are some of your observations regarding our leadership team?
The leadership team is essential to, I guess the the general culture that flows through a company, and that's been something, that's been instilled from day one. So I feel that the leadership team really gives quite a nice balance of accountability and support to every employee whether you're, you know at the highest level or whether you're just starting out. It gives you essentially a really nice playing field within your area of expertise to do what you do, what you do best.
Q7: What is your favourite aspect about Atlas Copco New Zealand?
It's down to the culture, the ability, the flexibility.
For us, for me, hey! I love to be able to spend time with my family sometimes in the morning, so I might start working relatively early and then make a cup of coffee, and then play with my 8-month-old son, you know, and that's really cool to be able to do that! So it's one of those little things where you can actually fit your life around work, and you still get what you need to get done. But at the same time you can you can really give that time to your friends, family, loved ones, you can come home with some cool stories to tell. That's really something that I personally like.
Q8: What would you say to new starters at Atlas Copco?
There is no such thing as a ceiling above your head. Absolutely look at the the opportunities that come your way, take them and grow. That's what I would give to a young starter let's say in the organization.