As the Human Resources Director for HEINEKEN Switzerland, Christoph Hajjar knows a thing or two about cultivating success and high-performing teams – as well as the food and beverage industry. He shares his four ingredients for the perfect leadership cocktail.

“If my leadership style were a cocktail, I would call it the Intention Sour.”

What ingredients go into the perfect leadership cocktail? Christoph explains: “The key ingredients would be: a shot of vision for setting up clear intentions, a splash of empathy to understand and support each other, a little dash of resilience for navigating challenges, and a twist of creativity for fostering innovation.”

“It helps having worked for seven years as a barkeeper!” Christoph tells Keely Straw, the Manager of our HR recruitment division in Switzerland.

Christoph has utilized his vision of developing a diverse team to improve the impact of HR in the business. “By creating an inclusive environment where different perspectives and views are valued and encouraged to be brought forward, team members are motivated to share individual ideas and experiences,” he says.

By working in different countries, Christoph has enhanced his empathy with colleagues. He found the move from Switzerland to Austria an unexpected challenge, learning to adapt his communication style in order to build relationships.

It was a lesson that also built his resilience: “Some dear colleagues took me aside and provided honest feedback, such as, ‘You may be used to that, but please consider that the clocks tick a bit differently here.’ They also gave me advice on cues and the natural rhythm of a conversation when you want to get to a decision.”

Finally, how does Christoph challenge his creativity to drive innovation? His team is currently striking the balance between a data-led approach and maintaining the human touch in HR.

“You can’t have one without the other. You need to have that personal touch, as well as the right dataset, including the knowledge of where to get the data and which pieces to pick out to support an informed decision-making process,” he believes.

In his full interview with Keely, Christoph dives into the role of data and artificial intelligence in HR as a decision-making tool: https://www.emearecruitment.com/executive-interviews/christoph-hajjar-human-resources-director-at-heineken-switzerland/255

Do you agree with Christoph’s ingredients for the perfect leadership cocktail?