FINAT’s Paris launch of club for future managers

Fifty years after its formation in Paris, FINAT, the self-adhesive trade association, returns to that city next month to launch a new organization to provide for the managers of the future.

FINAT’s Young Managers’ Club intends to provide a ‘fast track’ to the future for today’s junior managers who will be taking over the leadership of their companies as their careers progress.

The need for the Young Managers’ Club stems partly from the shape of the self-adhesive industry, with many small-to-medium label printers having been created by founders who are now nearing retirement age and who need to ensure a succession of leadership for the future. Too often these firms do not have the facilities within their organizations to provide outside experience for their younger managers and one of the club’s functions will be to widen appreciation of what is being done across the industry.

President of FINAT, Jan Frederik Vink, said: ‘The Young Managers Club should provide a platform for first generation founders as well as second or third generation owners or managers from the label industry below the age of 40 to meet, exchange experiences, initiate common projects, study tours and exchange programs and to identify best practices in areas like succession, leadership, intercultural management, lean management, innovation etc.

‘Industry research indicates that over the next 5-10 years, 25 percent of small and medium sized enterprises in the developed economies will be handed over to the next generation of owners and/or managers.’

A bonus will be giving the club’s members the interest and opportunity to become the FINAT leaders of tomorrow.

The launch of the club will take place during FINAT’s ‘Rendezvous with the Future’ Golden Jubilee Congress, being held in Paris between June 18 and 20 to mark its formation there in 1958.