After a Master in Work & Organizational Psychology, Anne started as a trainee at McKinsey & Company, then got a first experience as research consultant already combining human and organization. Joining Solvay in their Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, she held various positions in knowledge management, process and organization design before her current business partner role in Human Resources.
Your thoughts on sustainable development:
“Sustainable development is at the heart of my company’s vision. We innovate and foresee the future of our business, taking into account environment, social and community considerations.
I clearly understood through the first week program in Yale the sustainability big picture, and it helped me to prioritize what is important.
It is a lot about culture and awareness, making sure our employees are well skilled to navigate in a world of uncertainty, but mostly embarking them ready to contribute tomorrow to a business that reduces the environmental and social impact, while being more innovative and collaborative.”
What were the reasons for joining the WBCSD Leadership Program?
“I was very glad to be nominated for this 11 month-journey, combining various on-site or remote experiences with the opportunity to meet many experts, academics, NGO representatives, government officials and business leaders. I saw in this program an opportunity to better understand the global challenges and business responsibility in changing the world. It was also great to benefit from a diverse participants coming from multinational companies represented on the six continents.”
Why is this year’s topic, Strategy & Innovation including Social Innovation, important?
“Sustainability is core to my organization and we need the involvement of all to go further: I therefore clearly see the importance of the HR function in this journey. I am convinced that incorporating sustainability into the human resources agenda is clearly a lever to increase employee retention, productivity and engagement. Everything starts from people, culture and mindset. We have already many initiatives and success stories that we could leverage to better educate and commit our employees on sustainability.”
How the Program helped in achieving your objectives?
“I have really been inspired all along the program. I especially appreciated the project work with my teammate on skills for social innovation: how talent is sourced and skills are developed while integrating social impact and driving social innovation. Indeed, after this program, I am sure we will only succeed with our talents, their diversity and their ability to understand sustainability and develop new skills and collaborations to cope with social and environmental challenges in a complex and changing world. After the WBCSD Leadership Program, I have committed to always find a sense of purpose in what I put in place!!”
Your personal comments on the WBCSD Leadership Program:
“It was a very impressive program. Even if challenging, it was fantastic to be for several weeks, out of my regular job, enrolled in this very high quality program. The WBCSD organization team succeeded to inspire me for the future!”
