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?

Each quarter, we ask our HR-specialist network which topics are front-of-mind and will be of value to explore. At present, unsurprisingly, the No.1 topic cited is AI; more specifically how it is likely to impact HR departments and the wider organisations they are part of.

Implementing AI may mean that fewer people will be required to complete the same volume of work, of that organisations need to redesign disrupted roles – a potential positive where the roles created encompass a broader range of tasks, offering more stimulating work and a more compelling employee value proposition. New, highly specialised jobs will emerge, requiring a blend of business and technological acumen. Additionally, performance expectations will increase and organisations that are slow to adopt this approach risk losing out to the competition.

As AI impacts how employees interact with HR teams and the technologies they use, a shift in the structure of HR departments and roles becomes likely.

It is expected that generative AI will improve efficiency in HR and, in turn, employee experience, though in parallel HR teams will need to consider potential pitfalls relating to data accuracy and privacy.

Most businesses we engage with are taking the first tentative steps in leveraging AI at an organisational level and are still looking to understand what impacts will result, for their workforce, their talent strategy and the HR function generally. Whilst there’s no need for alarm, the field is evolving rapidly so it’s worth considering the implications sooner rather than later.

If you’re considering the future skills landscape for your HR team or wider business in response to recent developments in AI, do drop us a line to discuss further: [email protected]

As a recruiter, EMEA Recruitment has always been close to new companies setting up in Switzerland and has enjoyed helping them grow. Mike Baldwin, Associate Director, discusses the market in more detail...

Over the last few years, this market has experienced uncertainty and turbulence, which has led to hesitance in the market, resulting in a slowdown of new companies moving to Switzerland between 2020 and 2022.

However, the winds are changing, and momentum is growing - we are very much experiencing an influx of new international businesses to Switzerland. This has created excellent opportunities for those at all levels, as businesses set up new offices and establish Swiss headquarters.

Most recently, our recruitment teams have successfully sourced top talent for multi-national businesses creating their headquarters in the country.

Some of the benefits of relocating or setting up a business in Switzerland include the political and economic stability, its strategic position at the heart of Europe, and competitive corporate tax rates.

Furthermore, Switzerland offers a skilled workforce, and its educational system is renowned for producing well-trained workers. Current in-demand professionals are those who have local expertise and knowledge, who can build business functions with an international outlook.

However, if you have found it difficult to make the next career step over the last few years, you are not alone, and this is typical in the market we have experienced. Fortunately, we feel that 2024 will be a year of opportunity for finding highly rated accounting jobs, supply chain jobs and finance jobs in Switzerland.

Growing industries we have identified span across fintech, life sciences and biotechnology, AI and machine learning, smart manufacturing, and environmental and sustainability consulting. It's important to note that Switzerland's business landscape can vary by region, with major business hubs in cities like Zurich, Geneva, and Basel.

If you’d like to discuss setting up a new team or finding a new role yourself, please reach out to me and I will be happy to help: [email protected]

As we head into the final quarter of the year, Katie Insley, Associate Director, sheds light on the HR recruitment market and its future...

HR conversations continue to focus on the future of the function, how HR technology will shape this from a service and process perspective, and how artificial intelligence will be further adopted and integrated. 

Advancements in HR technology and AI have the potential to make many of the tasks undertaken by people today redundant but, at the same time, have the potential to create new roles more suited to a data-driven and digital world. 

Over the last quarter, we’ve continued to see an increase in HR jobs around HRIS Optimisation, HR Data Consultancy, People Analytics and Talent Analytics, all which require a technical mindset, a customer focus, and the ability to engage with stakeholders and be a great storyteller.

The continuing evolution of HR technology can however create a level of anxiety in the workforce and businesses need to take action. It is important for organisations to understand how these changes may impact the current workforce and their levels of engagement. Employees may be concerned about the security of their role but, if a company starts to act now, the changes can be seen as an opportunity, as opposed to a concern.

If a business is able to identify how HR technology and AI will change the roles and talent required in their organisation, they will have enough time to understand the skills gaps. They’ll be able to put measures in place to retrain the current workforce, therefore retaining employees, increasing employee loyalty and engagement, creating more effective succession plans, and ensuring the business has the skills needed to be successful in the ever-evolving modern world.

Many of our Executive Interviews explore this topic, as it’s clearly on the minds of HR leaders. It was also a topic of conversation at our recent CHRO dinner. This was such a great opportunity to bring together a group of HR executives to discuss pertinent issues in the HR space, sharing experiences and challenges. If you’re interested in being involved in future HR leadership events, do reach out: [email protected]