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It’s common for people to take on a new job because they say they want a new challenge, but challenges don’t come much bigger than this. Move to a new country on the other side of the world, without knowing how to speak the language, and set up a new department from scratch. Oh and the machinery that this new department is being set up to operate? It arrives in a month.
That was the challenge facing Edimar Filho when he moved to Indonesia from his native Brazil in 2019 to take on the role of Harvesting Mechanisation Manager at APRIL Group. Edimar would work with seven Indonesian colleagues, none of whom had experience in using the machinery that had been ordered for the team.
Our operations in Brazil, Bracell, already had a mechanisation team in place. So although Edimar was hired for a role in Indonesia, he and his team started out with a two-week immersion at Bracell.
“To start with we received those seven team members in Brazil for two weeks experience in Bracell’s harvesting operations,” says Edimar. “It was a huge challenge because I was struggling with my English and I certainly didn’t known any Bahasa Indonesia at that point.
“All we did for those two weeks was work and sleep. At night I would review candidate profiles as we still needed to hire, and would prepare the next day’s training. As soon as the sun was up we would be training our operators in simulators and then in the field.
“It was hard work but it was also a pleasure because those first seven team members were extremely committed to learn, and were excited to be part of this journey to set up our own mechanised harvesting operations in Indonesia.”
The intensive training worked, and four years later that team of seven had grown to over 500 people, providing APRIL with an in-house mechanised harvesting capability that continues to play a key role in the responsible management of its plantations.
That success led to a new challenge for Edimar: prepare a successor to take on his role within six months, then set up another new department from scratch, this time to help ensure a sustainable wood supply to APRIL’s mill.
“It was challenge time again,” says Edimar. “We had to define the scope of this new department, recruit and train fresh graduates with no experience of wood supply, and define our objectives for the next three years.
“In two months we recruited 51 people externally and from within the company, and started training them with the help of some experienced colleagues who joined us. The team was really outstanding, with very high energy, and a willingness to do and learn. I’m very proud of how they performed.”
In 2024 Edimar moved back to Brazil to take up the role of Forestry Head for Bracell in Bahia, where he is responsible for all operations from nurseries through to wood supply to the mill.
“When I look back at my time in Indonesia I’m very proud of the legacy we built there. When I first started recruiting in 2019 some people refused to join us because they didn’t think the project would work.
“Now we’ve built a world-class team that serves as a model to others, and created hundreds of jobs in the process, helping grow the economy and give people new opportunities in life. I think that’s what I’m most proud of. Yes we developed senior leaders, but we also provided good incomes for a lot of lower level operators too.”
Of course moving to another country was not easy, even though it was the opportunity for that international exposure that led Edimar to join RGE in the first place.
“I enjoyed every opportunity to eat their food, speak a little of their language, learn all the diversity of cultures and ethnicities, and how they think and act.
“It expanded my mind-set a lot, and learning those different interpretations has really helped me improve the way I tackle problems too.”
Edimar taking part in RGE’s Executive Leadership Programme at INSEAD.
As well as learning through exposure to other cultures and new projects, Edimar also had the opportunity to take part in formal training as part of his development at RGE. In 2022 he attended our Future Leaders Programme at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and he is currently taking part in our Executive Leadership Programme at INSEAD.
“Those classes have been so useful to me. We work on RGE and external cases, and it’s always a really diverse group with colleagues from all over the world. We learn so much and it’s a great experience, and it lets me expand my network with people from within the company in all parts of the world.”
That commitment to people development is a key part of RGE’s core values, which Edimar says have been instrumental to his success in his time with us so far. “The culture, pragmatism, transparency and meritocracy are very strong and put into practice daily. RGE gave me the opportunity to be myself and trusted me in every little step I took.”
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