Celine Heinrich is the Director, Europe & Middle East at AGCO Corporation in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. She started her HR career in Dubai, before moving to Zürich in 2013. Celine has acted in her career as Regional HR Head, Global HR Business Partner & Director, Total Rewards EME & APA.

How did you plan out your career development path?

Thinking backwards, job opportunities came along to me. Starting my career in Dubai in 2002, it was a very fast-growing market. A lot of multi-national companies had HR opportunities, because they were the first roles to grow the company.

I always work very hard and what has help me in my career development was connecting with people, transmitting a positive attitude and always building a culture of trust. Another aspect was maintaining a professional internal and external network, driving collaboration, learning from my mistakes to get back up again, and follow people who inspire me.

Finally, I believe you create your own opportunities, with great leadership qualities through real-life situations, and it’s also the way you treat others. I always try to know my people, meet them where they are, and be flexible; this creates internal opportunities. And, plan your career ahead!

What would you say is the most rewarding part of your role?

It’s spotting moments that matter for our organization’s employees and managers, interact with people to understand the moments that matter to them, and ensure that we check in over time, to ensure these moments still matter.

It's also going to bed each night, saying that we did the best we could for our business and our employees, and we worked with people we love.

What are your growth plans?

Working as a Global Strategic HR Business Lead, as business becomes increasingly global, companies need to improve their ability to build and manage a global workforce. By 2050, the global population is expected to grow by 50% — primarily driven by India and China.

Looking ahead, the business world is changing, and HR needs to adapt accordingly to contribute to long-term shareholder value. Although efficiency, effectiveness and compliance are still important, continued transformation is on our HR agenda now. HR capabilities do not just support the business strategy, but enable it — making it possible for the business to design and execute strategic moves that capitalize on HR's capabilities.

We must create an operating environment in which global and virtual teams can thrive, including global mobility programs that make it possible to move employees between countries efficiently and easily; standardized and repeatable HR processes and systems for entering new markets.

Being a sparring partner is a pre-requisite for an HR division. What do you feel makes an effective sparring partner?

It’s showing trust, humility and authenticity. To be able to step into people’s shoes, given their business experience and understanding the strategic context. Understanding that leadership visibility and robust communications are key to establishing trust, we need to be looking to strengthen relationships with both internal communications and leadership teams, educating where necessary on the value of trust for business performance. Open communication, walking the talk and transparency should form the basis of our strategy, aiming to bolster employee trust.

Being an effective partner is also to offer cross-cultural knowledge, as multi-national companies compete on a global scale, sparring partners should have a keen sense of cultural awareness in the areas where an organization operates. This includes an understanding of cultural values, local labor laws, local business practices, and to foster collaboration to encourage inclusive and productive work as teams.

What changes have you seen in the employment market in Switzerland over the years? What, in your opinion, have been the drivers for these changes?

The pandemic was among the toughest, slap-in-the-face moments in recent history, to remind us that everything in our lives can change in a moment - not just at the individual level, but at a company and global level.

COVID made working from home possible. For a long time, most Swiss companies were not used to having people working from home. Switzerland accelerated the use of new technologies, such as cloud computing, social media and mobile devices. It’s helped HR to deliver services more efficiently and effectively. Today’s employees expect the ability to access HR systems and services 24/7, from anywhere on the planet.

Companies have redesigned the workplace to support organizational priorities and redefine the purpose of our office space, including more collaboration rooms to ensure the combination between being physically in the office and working from home, to maintain productivity, collaboration, learning and to preserve our corporate culture.

If you could change one thing in your career, what would it be?

Well, I am grateful of my career so far. But if I had to change one thing, it would be not always being able to address the right behaviour of some of senior leader and, ultimately, help our organization for even better results. I believe: “Do what is right, not what is easy!”

What does “leadership” mean to you?

Leadership is about influence, not authority: “A sign of a good leader is not how many followers you have, but how many leaders you create”, a motto from Mahatma Gandhi.

Thank you to Celine for speaking to Keely Straw, Associate Director in our HR recruitment team in Switzerland.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.