Generation change at Tranzit Group – Pushing the wheelbarrow together

Tranzit Group employs 2,000 people and is the domestic and European duck and goose market leader. The company was founded 30 years ago by Miklós Szabó, whose children Ákos Szabó (CEO) and Dóra Szabó (member of the board of directors) have already taken over the company.

Miklós, you had been the chief engineer of state-owned company before you started your own business, Tranzit-Ker with your brother, István. What inspired you to take this step?

Sz.M.: – We founded Tranzit-Ker in 1990 to learn what we can achieve ourselves. My brother and I started from scratch, with HUF 200,000 capital and five workers. We were breeding geese, ducks and chickens and the company was developing dynamically. In 2010 we bought an abattoir. Currently we have more than 60 farms and almost 2,000 employees.

Szabó Dóra, Szabó Miklós és Szabó Ákos

Ákos, you were ten years old when your father established the company. How do you remember the beginnings?

Sz.Á.: – What I saw was that my dad was working with great enthusiasm and dedication. I can still remember that when I was 14, my father told me: we aren’t only responsible for a company, but also for the people who work there and their families.

 Dóra, how much did you have to grow up together with your father’s company?

Sz.D.: – Neither my brother, nor I were steered towards the company when we were kids. After graduating from the university we started working in other fields. Then five years passed and I also understood: it is much better to work hard for one’s own company. I joined Tranzit-Ker Zrt., where I work in the field of controlling, finance and accounting.

Ákos, has it ever happened that your dad asked you to come and work for Tranzit-Ker?

Sz.Á.: – He never put pressure on us to work for the family business, instead he showed us the beauty and the challenges of this work, and how great the feeling of success is. In the summers I obviously performed certain tasks for Tranzit-Ker. Slowly I learned the trade and finally it was I who asked him to let me join!

The generation change at Tranzit started back in 2010 and Ákos was appointed CEO in 2013. How did this process go?

Sz.M.: – I am lucky, because both of my children like to work. Although I am still active in the company, I don’t take part in operative matters any more. The generation change was successful and our business results prove this.

You have consciously prepared for the generation change then…

Sz.Á.: – Absolutely. Around 2008-2009 we felt that the preparation work must start. Dad gradually gave me more and more tasks and space – he let me make decisions, let me make mistakes and let me make amends too.

Dóra, what are your memories of the generation change?

Sz.D.: – I found myself in the middle of the events, as my brother was already the CEO when I joined. I have been here for six years and I have been given great freedom.

Ákos didn’t become the CEO by simply sitting in his father’s chair…

Sz.Á.: – I started from the bottom: looking after the geese, slaughtering poultry, purchasing animal feed, etc. By doing so I familiarised myself with the different processes and later the workers accepted me as their leader more easily, as we used to push the wheelbarrow together.

Miklós, was it difficult for you to hand over the relay baton?

Sz.M.: – The transition wasn’t traumatic for me, because I knew: my own son will be managing the company and the business stays in the hands of our family.

Dóra, which is the one characteristic of yours that helps you the most in doing your work successfully as a member of the Tranzit-Ker team?

Sz.D.: – My main asset is perseverance, this is what I bring from home too. I never give up, I keep going forward until I can.

What is the key to a successful generation change?

Sz.Á.: – There is no recipe, because every company and every family are different. One thing is for sure, though: the person handing over the control and the one that gets it have the same responsibility. //