Essenta Insights

During mental health awareness week, I had the great pleasure to sit down with Adam Carey, the Founder of CorPerformance and Chief Health Officer of Ineos, to discuss the importance of well-being, my own journey with mental health, and how we at Essenta are helping both ourselves and our clients to better understand the impact of leading with compassion and the importance of treating people with respect. In the discussion we cover a wide range of preventative and responsive approaches to ensure good mental health which recognises the role of body-up alongside more traditional 'mind-down' approaches I am particularly proud of what we have created at Essenta and success for us is approaching everything we do with dedication, focus, accountability, humility, and joy – constantly striving to go the extra mile to enhance people's lives.  In an industry that can suffer from its people being commoditised within cultures governed by fear, I was determined to lead a business that affords psychological safety to all its people and that actively encourages and supports balance.  Every day I feel lucky to be part of Essenta and every day I am grateful that together we have created an environment of authenticity and empathy in which we can share vulnerability. Essenta is the most diverse business I have worked in, and it is my priority as a leader to ensure that we provide an environment that promotes inclusivity and enables all to find purpose and meaning in their work.

Join us today by listening to our latest podcast led by Chika Okeke, our Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In this episode, Chika speaks with Aston Martin's DE&I lead Laura Ayoade about the interconnectedness of DE&I and mental well-being; a topic that's often overlooked within the broader DE&I conversation. Chika and Laura discuss trauma within the DE&I subject matter, emotional tax, and how to support employees in an authentic way whilst engaging in storytelling activities which are so common within DE&I. The episode is rounded up by Laura sharing some top tips on how organisations can support well-being through DE&I.  About LauraIn 2021, Laura joined the well-known luxury British automotive brand Aston Martin as their first equity, diversity, and inclusion lead.  With International experience and a global lens, Laura has worked in the Diversity and Inclusion arena for the past three years professionally, with a decade-long academic background in racial justice-related topics. She has consulted some of the UK's largest organisations, helping them to embed best practices and thought leadership in diversity and inclusion.  Enjoy the episode! About our Essenta BOLD Podcast.BOLD stands for the ‘Brilliance of Leading with Difference”. Through this podcast, we explore the most pressing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) opportunities, and take a fresh look at how to maximize DE&I with a more progressive approach.  Through sharing lived experiences, delving into research and best practice, and revealing practical tips, our guests will inspire you to unlock the power of diverse teams. We believe everyone has a role to play in an organisation's DE&I narrative. Our BOLD podcast is for executives who understand the importance of culture, fostering inclusion, and creating belonging at work. If you are inspired by anything you hear, please contact our Head of DE&I for further information. 

Join us today by listening to our latest podcast led by Chika Okeke, our Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In this episode, Chika touches on the complexity of DE&I by looking at the different subject matters that feed into it, as well as providing four practical steps organisations need to take to ensure they are setting themselves up for success: leadership buy-in, focusing on systems, knowing the reason why, and the importance of keeping it local even when you are a global organisation. Reflecting on the year 2022, Chika incorporates some of her own experiences, whilst touching on insights she's learned from others along the way.  Enjoy the episode!

Join us today by listening to our latest podcast led by Chika Okeke, our Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In this episode, Chika touches on the complexity of DE&I by looking at the different subject matters that feed into it, as well as providing four practical steps organisations need to take to ensure they are setting themselves up for success: leadership buy-in, focusing on systems, knowing the reason why, and the importance of keeping it local even when you are a global organisation. Reflecting on the year 2022, Chika incorporates some of her own experiences, whilst touching on insights she's learned from others along the way.  Enjoy the episode!

Join us today by listening to our latest podcast featuring Jatin Patel, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at England Rugby. Jatin is an inclusion, diversity, social equality, and advocacy professional, with over 12 years' experience working across both the private and charity sectors.  In his current role at England Rugby, he focuses on driving the diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy across four strategic pillars: Game play, fans/followers/partners, employee and board, and game leadership. Prior to joining England Rugby, Jatin worked for the international law firm DLA Piper, and KPMG UK, developing specific expertise in social and racial equality, communication campaigns and public & organisational policy. In this episode, Jatin explores some of the D&I challenges within sport, with a central focus on social mobility throughout the entire career cycle from entry level to executive leadership.  Enjoy this insightful episode!

Join us today to listen to our podcast featuring inspiring female business leaders and their reflections on what it takes to be the next generation female leader. This podcast features key soundbites from our Women's History Month Event held on 24th March 2022. We were joined by 6 inspirational female business leaders who drew upon both their personal and professional experiences to articulate what they believe some of the opportunities are for female leaders today, and of the future. In this episode you will hear key soundbites from:Keri-Lynne Shaw – Chief People Officer, The Shade StoreAnnette Bergknut– Chief Human Resources Officer, DiverseyKaren Bird – Chief Operating Officer, McColl'sCélia Pronto – Managing Director, Love Home SwapBehnaz Ghahramani – Chief Executive Officer, Brother VelliesStephanie Davis Michelman – Board Advisor at Trinity Health and former Vice President, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics The panellists reflect on the opportunities for women leaders post covid, unlocking new career opportunities for working mothers, and the importance of being your true authentic self at work. Enjoy this insightful episode!

Join us today to listen to Ezim E-Agwuegbo, an experienced talent management professional who has worked for leading organisations such as ITV, Cision, and LinkedIn.   Ezim reflects on her personal career highlights having worked in both diverse and non-diverse teams, and shares her thoughts on how diverse talent acquisition teams spearhead innovative approaches to finding talent and delivering on wider DE&I objectives. We will hear Ezims perspectives on how to build diverse teams: starting with the talent acquisition team itself.    Enjoy this insightful episode! 

Join us today to listen to Erwan Rambourg for his insightful session on the future of luxury brands and how they have an opportunity to build trust by moving from Product to Purpose.Erwan is a Managing Director and Global Head of Consumer & Retail equity research, based in New York. He is frequently quoted and is a successful author as well. Recently he published Future Luxe, What's Ahead for the Business of Luxury? Today he will share his thoughts on how luxury brands can take ESG actions to create trusted brands of the future.He explores how to move from reputational risk to reputational reward and encourages to move ESG from a hinderance to becoming a proper asset and addresses the importance of talent in this transformation as well. Enjoy this insightful episode!

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is both a moral and business imperative for organisations that don't want to be left behind.To experience the power of diverse teams we must build them, and if we are struggling to build them, we have to first look inwardly at what the challenges are.Join us today to listen to Chika Okeke, Essenta's Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as she shares her insights and recommendations to break the link between diversity and quality.Culture, equitable recruitment processes, how to attract talent from underrepresented groups, leadership accountability, and the importance of taking a more proactive, rather than re-active approach to talent acquisition needs by building a talent pipeline of diverse talent will all be discussed.Once we take a good look internally, we may find we not only challenge our own unconscious biases but become agents of change in re-writing the narrative for others. Enjoy this insightful episode!

Join us today to listen to this insightful episode by Alex and Nelson from The Chemistry Group, a talent strategy and insights consultancy. Essenta has co-developed a highly innovative tool to measure cognitive diversity with The Chemistry Group that we have recently launched. Our aim is to achieve an optimal balance of cognitive diversity for our clients bearing in mind the organisational context, existing levels of cognitive diversity amongst the senior leadership team, as well as the prospective candidate cognitive diversity profile and how this relates to the existing team.  We will understand more about the methodology underpinning this innovative proposition including the key drivers for measuring cognitive diversity. Why is it important to create cognitive diverse leadership teams? How can organisations look at the diversity agenda with a fresh perspective leveraging data? How does cognitive diversity address problem solving skills and diversity of knowledge for an organisation?Our proposition will address this highly coveted and complex topic where a 360 view will be key to decide which talent to hire and how to set the right people strategy.For more information please contact us on info@thechemistrygroup.com or info@essentapartners.comTune in and enjoy!Intro to The Chemistry GroupThe Chemistry Group is a fast-growing talent strategy and insights consultancy, founded on the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to be brilliant at work. The Chemistry Group is made up of an energetic team of Business Psychologists, Statisticians, Consultants and Technologists who work with ambitious leaders to create measurable business value by realising the full potential of their people. Alex Othen-AllenAlex is a Senior Consultant at the Chemistry Group with a background in talent strategy and organisational change. Alex has partnered with complex, global organisations such as JP Morgan, Roche and Co-Op to help them answer the critical questions regarding their talent through data analytics, technology and behavioural science.Nelson FurtadoNelson is a Senior Business Psychologist at The Chemistry Group, specialising in advanced people-analytics and the development and deployment of psychometric assessments used in employee selection and development for clients such as Bain, Barclays, Experian, and PMI. Before joining Chemistry, Nelson previously spent several years working in the area of higher education policy and administration, specialising in issues such as global talent mobility and university performance management and evaluation.

Join us today to listen to Chika Okeke, Essenta's Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Chika has spent the last 12+ years working with organisations to hire, retain and develop top talent and she has a track record of helping clients to design, and implement global corporate strategies on improving their racial diversity. She will speak about the importance of becoming an anti-racist organisation. What we can learn from the recent events at Euro 2021 provides us with an opportunity to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion and to put an end to discrimination and work towards getting things right. At Essenta we believe we have a role to play to assist clients in creating more diverse leadership teams, both demographic and cognitive diverse as we believe this is a way to create equality and much better organisations, both culturally as well as financially. This moving episode will share three tips to become an anti-racist organisation and covers organisational values, systems, talent and the importance of leading from the top. Tune in and join the effort to become anti-racist organisation.

Join us today to listen to Alessandro Vergano, Founder and CEO of Kampos, a highly innovative and incredibly inspiring sustainable business with a strong purpose. After a corporate career, Alessandro decided to launch his visionary business with the purpose to reduce plastic and fishnet waste in the ocean. We will hear his views on Luxury Fashion and sustainability specifically. Can this industry be truly sustainable? His episode touches on the importance of purpose, people, cognitive diversity, technology, agility and listening to consumer feedback and insights. As he rightly states – companies need to really take the sustainability revolution seriously and they have to shift mindsets in order to become the best company for  the world. Tune in and enjoy!

Leading Innovation with Jeroen van Weesep, VP Innovation Operations at LEGO.One of the most impacted disciplines over the past 12 months has been the supply chain function where the need for innovation is more prominent than ever - from sustainability transformation to eCommerce last mile challenges, forecasting inconsistencies and supply chain disruptions;  it has perhaps never been more important to embrace an agile and fail fast culture. But how does a large organisation go about transformation and leading innovation? Join us today to listen to Jeroen van Weesep, VP Innovation in Operations at LEGO where he has successfully led multiple innovation projects. He has over 20 years of experience at both manufacturing and more commercial supply chain positions at Unilever, Philips and LEGO.He will share his thoughts on leading innovation, the challenges and the role of purpose.The role of clear direction and purpose, creating a learning culture and managing expectations will all be discussed in this reflective and insightful session.Tune in and enjoy!

Few companies have succeeded in transforming their business model to a highly sustainable one, where caring for people and planet are at the core of the company’s’ purpose. Sustainability is a complex and ever-changing topic, hence companies need to constantly evolve and lift the bar.The pandemic has accelerated the sustainability trend and companies ought to truly embrace their responsibility to save the planet. This affects a business 360 and while no transformation is easy, it is the right thing to do to ensure future business revenues, innovation and winning the war on talent.In this episode, Pia Heidenmark Cook will share her reflections and key learnings regarding sustainability transformations based on her 20+ year career. She is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Ingka, the largest IKEA retail franchise with operations in 30 countries and a €40bn  turnover.Taking an outside-in approach to stay ahead of the changing customer, legislative and scientific demands as well as ensuring partnerships with competitors to come together to solve problems, are some of her key learnings. Sustainability is not a side activity and needs to be integrated into strategic documents, business planning and financial processes. Join us today and enjoy Pia’s reflections on the topic based on her impressive career.  

Welcome to our second series of Essenta Insights. This season will be focused on Purpose.Purpose, a concept hard to ignore in 2021, both on a personal and corporate level. It touches many topics including Sustainability, D&I, Branding, Wellbeing and Mental Health strategies.Series two will address business-critical issues, provide food for thought, offer new perspectives and share inspiring stories, all under the theme of Purpose. Tune in, enjoy and feel free to share your feedback with us. Essenta Insights is brought to you by Essenta Partners Executive Search.Episode 1 – Wellbeing 2.0Happier people are physically and mentally more resilient; leading to less sick leave, burn-outs and higher rates of staff retention. Companies are increasingly conscious of the fact that employee happiness is linked to motivation, creativity, innovation and overall productivity affecting the bottom line. In the current uncertain times it is helpful to re-frame the future as one full of possibility. The smartest companies will seize the chance to show prospective employees that they understand that their success depends on how effectively they can look after the happiness of their staff which in turn will enhance talent acquisition and retention rates.In this episode, Polly Collingridge from Your Employee Wellbeing will share food for thought regarding the importance of wellbeing at work and the paradigm shift caused by the pandemic.What were the kind of typical employee wellbeing offerings until now? How multi-faced is wellbeing and why do companies thrive when they design a comprehensive wellbeing strategy? What is the future of wellbeing and what does wellbeing 2.0 look like?Join us today and enjoy this insightful and forward looking episode by Polly Collingridge!

As we are approaching the end of the year we have just released our final episode by Roger Philby from The Chemistry Group. If you haven’t listened to it yet, we highly encourage you to do so as it is an exceptional piece and true food for thought. And so, after 21 episodes we are wrapping up this first Essenta Insights series and to conclude Jo and Nanda are sharing their reflections in a short Q&A.Thank you for joining us during these past months and we hope you have enjoyed the diverse topics covered by exceptional collaborators. We look forward to welcoming you back in 2021.

Talent has been a key theme throughout this pandemic as the uncertain world is reshaping talent requirements rapidly. As we have identified before, it is in an organisation’s interest to enhance cognitive diversity. This means we are after a different type of profile which leads to the natural question of how do we select and assess the right talent?Join us today for an inspiring episode by one of our affiliate partners at Essenta – Roger Philby, CEO at The Chemistry Group.Chemistry uses a combination of science, data and human insight to build a picture of the intrinsic traits or behaviours an organisation needs to drive high performing leadership within a company’s unique organisational context.If education and experience are not the predictors for success, what predicts job performance? How can organisations achieve their commercial objectives by accessing external and internal talent that is currently invisible to them?Chemistry’s progressive methodology will enhance companies to understand what great looks like for their organisation in order to identify positive cognitive diversity and to move from talent scarcity to talent abundance. Tune in and enjoy!

The fashion industry has been on the forefront of the impact of the pandemic and several of the trends we have spoken about during the past weeks, in particular sustainability.Hence, this week we will deep dive into this specific industry and linking the previously discussed sustainability transformation to fashion.Listen to Corinna Fischer, a senior executive within the product development and production space with over 20+ years of corporate experience at companies such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, LVMH and Prada.She will share her thoughts and subject matter expertise on the transformation in fashion to become a more purposeful and sustainable industry. In particular she will share three tactical and practical steps for companies and consumers to navigate through together.Tune in and enjoy!

As discussed last week, flex working is one of the accelerated trends due to the pandemic. How to prepare organisations for The Future of Work?The real value of time, the importance of quality spaces, the existence of different careers, the changing needs of people and the cruciality of a results oriented culture are all aspects top talent are looking for. What does agile working really mean and how does it affect employees overall health? What if we think of careers in a circular way as opposed to linear way?How can employers benefit from offering better time and space concepts to their employees and what can organisations do to embark on this flexible working journey?Join us to listen to Chiara Bisconti, previous HR Executive at Nestle and Deputy City Council of Milan – she will share her progressive views in this episode as she will give her personal reflections regarding the flexible time & space movement which is one of the most discussed topics at the moment globally.Tune in and enjoy!

As we have been discussing over the past weeks, organisations have a strong responsibility in terms of the future of our planet and in creating meaningful & sustainable brands. This is underlined by current global trends which shape consumers behaviours and expectations regarding these topics. They drive consumers to want to purchase authentic, purposeful, brands and select these companies as their employer of choice. This week we are discussing five global trends, that are impacting business strategies post-Covid. What are these global trends and what can companies do to prepare themselves? What are the implications from a business perspective and what opportunities do they offer? Join us to listen to Geetu Verma, EVP at Unilever who also led a Covid-19 task force over the past months. She will share five trends that impact most organisations, ranging from food waste trends to preventive wellness and e-everything. The winning organisations will take a solution-oriented approach and hence we trust these insights are of value and inspiration. Tune in and enjoy!

This week we are zooming into the subject of sustainability and more importantly, relating this to business transformations; as this is one of the most discussed accelerated Covid’ trends.Whether digital or sustainability trends drive change in external circumstances, why is it so hard for many companies to transform? What are the common denominators that prevent companies from leading from the front when it comes to the sustainability movement? And what can we learn from the digital revolution that can impact our sustainability efforts?Food for thought shared by Julien Devaureix which hopefully inspires companies to act now when it comes to implementing transformative strategies regarding the sustainability agenda.There is no time to wait, organisations have a responsibility to lead the way when it comes to saving the planet – not just because it is the right thing to do, but because consumers and ultimately talent expect this from companies in 2020 as we’ve addressed in previous episodes. They need to have a purpose, a voice and an authentic stance when it comes to climate change, social justice, waste management and pollution to name but a few.Julien is a thought leader in sustainability and has a track record of successful digital transformations globally. He worked at Chanel, Burberry, Publicis and most recently at LVMH under Ian Rogers to transform the customer experience.We hope you enjoy this session and we look forward to your feedback.

This week we continue the subject of purpose – at Virgin, Richard Branson’s founding philosophy has always been ‘Happy people make happy customers, who make happy shareholders’.Being purpose led is fast becoming a strategic imperative rather than a choice. People and consumers expect businesses to lead the way in creating a more social conscious environment, one that aims to create a more sustainable world.Based on this we have invited Lisa Thomas, former CMO at Virgin Group, as Virgin Group is a global pioneer in purpose and Lisa was working directly in Richard Branson’s senior leadership team. In this episode, she will share how they think about purpose at Virgin, what it means to them, why it is important, as well as some tips around what it is and importantly what it is not. Lisa also discusses some learnings from their experience of developing and embedding their purpose across the Virgin Group. What does it mean for leadership requirements? How to engage your people and how to ultimately let purpose become a North Star across the business to impact innovation and strategic decisions. We hope you enjoy this session and we look forward to your feedback.Please do rate, review and subscribe and email any questions to podcast@essentaparnters.com

Empathy, agility, and humility are all soft skills that have been highlighted several times over the past weeks across multiple of our podcast episodes. A question often asked by our clients is ‘Where can we find this type of talent?’It is the right time to think about the talent readiness to face and embrace this unpredictable storm. Restructuring alone might not be the answer with the new reality, as companies ought to consider how mentally agile, diverse and ready their organisations and leadership teams are for the unknown future. Hence today we have chosen to deep dive into the correlation between emerging market leadership skills and post-covid leadership requirements as there is argument to say there are many synergies to explore. Why could emerging markets offer us an interesting talent pool? What are some of the skillsets we are referring to? How can companies take a progressive approach to ensure they can increase their cognitive diversity levels by looking at emerging market talent and subsequently reduce blind spots?Today’s guest speaker is William Lumentut, a seasoned emerging market leader who was born in Indonesia and has lived in Asia, Africa and Europe. William has more than 20 years of commercial and leadership experience across different industries including working experience at P&G, Danone and Novartis.

The desire to evolve culturally to a more empathic working environment has been accelerated by Covid-19 – we see leaders themselves feeling very differently about the world and thus realising the importance of empathy in order to continue to engage talent. How are my people doing and how do we know how my people are doing are frequently asked questions. Humanising leadership and humanising organisations is something we hear all around and a hugely positive trend towards a more compassionate and purposeful work environment. Hence we have invited CHX Performance this week as our guest speakers. They are experts in the biology of business - their science-led programmes, supported by hard data, are about people, their biology, feelings and behaviour because better mental health and sustainable, high performance are all determined as much by how people feel as how they think.Why are empathy and emotion so critical in every day leadership? Today’s episode covers emotional authenticity in leadership.Getting to the root cause of how your people feel and how you help your people to feel good are current topics for many organisations as they understand how employees feel impacts performance, engagement levels, innovation and ultimately bottom line results. Tune in and enjoy and please rate, review and subscribe.

This week we are inviting Eric Liedtke, previous executive board member and Chief Marketing Officer at adidas. He is a progressive sustainability advocate who has taken on the fight against plastic waste full time after a hugely successful career at adidas. A former competitive swimmer, and Oceans Advocate, Eric initiated a partnership with Parley for the Oceans in 2014, driving the ambitious goal of eliminating virgin polyester from adidas products by 2024. Eric encourages companies to look at purpose as something that contributes to more than just the needs of the shareholders but to serve the people behind it i.e. employees and consumers. Making a difference is what ensures engaged employees as well as winning the hearts of consumers and driving consumer loyalty. Brands in today’s world, need to take a stance on what they stand for in terms of social justice, gender justice, economic justice, health justice, climate justice, etc. as the private sector ought to lead the way when it comes to sustainability and changing the world.What does it mean to be a purposeful brand? Eric will share his views about brand purpose and how critical it is, addressing purpose and the role of purpose in the current work place touching on culture and leadership skills. Additionally, he will share his success story of what adidas achieved in terms of the fight against plastic and how one shoe turned into a billion+ business. We hope you enjoy this session and please rate, review and subscribe.

This week we are inviting Zoe Zou, previous US Head of Tmall World. She is a progressive global citizen with 15+ years of working experience at L’Oréal as well as Alibaba. She has worked at both tech first and traditional companies, coupled with being a Chinese senior executive means that she brings a great, well rounded perspective to the table. Zoe will share her views on how to take the best of both worlds and what we can learn from tech first and traditional companies. The episode is an interesting analysis touching on corporate culture, customer strategy, organisational design as well as project management and employee well-being. Zoe will share some observations and thoughts on what she believes are some of the best qualities from these two seemingly very different worlds. As Zoe is a native Chinese executive and well experienced converting China to the West, we’ve asked her to integrate some of her cultural observations as well as tangible Alibaba examples.We hope you enjoy this session and please rate, review and subscribe. If you have any questions for us, please email podcast@essentapartners.com

Continuing in the digital space, today we are listening to Eric Johnson, a senior executive with 20+ years experience leading digital and technology teams in solving problems and bringing value to many of the world’s largest and most innovative retail brands such as Nike, Adidas and VF Corp.The accelerated shift to online consumption is undoubtedly one of the most discussed consequences of Covid-19. So what does this mean for retail? Is retail dead and will we see more and more retailers and brands going bankrupt? No, not if they dare to innovate, to re-invent themselves and put the customer at the heart of their strategies. Disruption leads to new business models and opportunities. Eric will discuss his views regarding the post-Covid retail world and more specifically, he will talk about what it takes to compete in the current state of business and how to serve an ever-evolving, more demanding customer. He will touch digital acceleration, omni-channel capabilities, the need for agility, talent and perhaps most importantly, the emphasis on leveraging data and technology to create the right experience for customers. We hope you enjoy this session and we look forward to receiving your feedback at podcast@essentapartners.com. Please also rate and review below.

In this episode we have invited Christoph Homann, Corporate Vice President, Digital at McDonald's. He leads the global technology product team responsible for driving digital innovation and transformation. Previously, he has worked for Ticketmaster’s international re-sale marketplace business and eBay Europe.Last week we covered how to create a Fail Fast culture, which is often prevalent in pure play businesses and/or tech start-ups. Paco’s interesting episode covered the creation of the right culture in order to compete with innovative, tech driven organisations. Yet besides the culture, there is obviously the actual digital transformation that needs to take place within the organisation. Specifically to adhere to the accelerated shift in online consumption and consumer behaviour and digital expectations due to the pandemic.Hence, we continue in the digital space this week covering this additional buzz word – 'digital transformation'. We know a cliché yet one that we hope to offer a fresh perspective on!Why do digital transformations fail and more importantly, how do you turn them into a success? Christoph shares four causes of failure as well as his insights with regards to how to define a successful path forward.We trust his bite size, five super rules to make sure a digital transformation becomes a success are of value and could inspire your organisation to ensure it is not just another buzz word! We hope you enjoy this session and we look forward to receiving your feedback at podcast@essentapartners.com

This episode we have invited Paco Soler, Head of Corporate Partnerships at ISDI, the business school leading the transformation of businesses and people to the digital era. He is an expert in helping leaders transform themselves and create an environment where change is possible. Ross’ episode last week explained the importance of creating a highly adaptable environment as well as embracing adaptability as a leader and how to get there. This week we continue to draw experience from the ever-evolving and changing landscape where companies and individuals need to respond quickly without knowing what the right answer is. This constantly changing, uncertain, environment urges companies to be able to respond quickly without having all the answers and/ or predictions. This has created the need for a new approach, one that moves away from a ‘Perfectionist’ approach to a more fluid, ‘Fail Fast’ one. Additionally, this Fail Fast culture has been recognised as some of the key success factors of world leading, highly innovative companies such as Google, Facebook, Spotify and Alibaba. What is a Fail Fast culture and how to create one successfully? How to move a traditional business to a more fluid one where agility is at the core and what are the underlying human factors coming into play? How does this affect Talent and the soft skills and capabilities we are after? Paco will share his valuable insights and we trust that his clear views will be of help in creating a Fail Fast awareness, both on a personal as well as organisational level. We hope you enjoy this session and look forward to your feedback. Please rate, review and subscribe and email any questions to podcast@essentapartners.com

In the previous episodes, we have heard insights around diversity and inclusion. In this episode we dive into how, we as people and organisations, adapt to the changing environment around us. Change has increased in speed over the past year, driven by technology, globalisation and innovation. In 2020, we have experienced a new type of change that has challenged us to adapt. So in this episode, we have invited Ross Thornley, CEO & Co-founder of AQai. He is a serial entrepreneur and having built a branding agency, he now champions the future of work and the UN’s sustainable development goals. Listen to Ross share his research and insights into human adaptability, which is maybe the new super power we all look for. He will explain a new model for measuring, what he defines, as AQ. A highly relevant topic as we as people, teams and organisations experience a changing business as well as personal environment. Ross will reflect on questions such as how we as individuals adapt and how varied our adaptability is. How can organisations bring their workforce on the change journey? Why is it difficult to adapt to new circumstances? What can organisations do to help their employees on this journey? Please rate, review and subscribe and if you have any feedback please email us at podcast@essentapartners.com.Books recommended in this episode:Personality Isn't Permanent by Benjamin HardyUnlearn by Barry O’ReillyThe short film Ross mentions can be found on YouTube: https://youtu.be/K_Mku_lciF0

This episode we have travelled across the ocean again to virtually invite Lucy Sorrentini as our guest speaker, Founder and CEO of Impact consulting, a minority and woman owned professional services firm focused on talent and organisational development, D&I consulting, leadership development and executive coaching. After two episodes about Diversity we will move on to the powerful connector of Diversity – Inclusion. After all, you can have a hugely diverse senior management team yet if the Culture is one that is not inclusive than we are missing out on the created potential. Lucy will share her insights on the ‘secret sauce’ to increase inclusion within and across organisations globally. Specifically trust as the key enabler of inclusion. Trust is the conduit through which new ideas, innovation and inclusion will travel. So being on the right side of trust is a must have. It continues to be a key enabler of successful relationships and strategies. What does Trust specifically mean, where and how does it show up in our personal and professional relationships? Additionally, how can organisations improve overall trust levels to enhance levels of inclusion? Lucy will share her valuable recommendations and we hope you enjoy this session. If you have any feedback or questions, please contact podcast@essentapartners.com

This episode we continue to stay close to home in terms of subject matter expert as Johanna Kriisa is today’s guest speaker discussing "Why Diversity Works & How To Make It Happen" covering seven fundamental measures to improve gender diversity levels. Based on Johanna’s strategic consulting experience she will zoom in on gender diversity specifically and she will share some interesting insights in terms of the why but also the how to increase gender diversity levels. She presents seven fundamental measures that have been proven successful in organisations across industries and markets in order to increase diversity in organisations. We hope you enjoy this forward looking session and feel free to share your feedback with us at podcast@essentapartners.comPlease rate, review and subscribe so you don't miss the next episode.

This episode we have stayed close to home in terms of subject matter expert as Nanda Veldink is today’s guest speaker.She will share her insights on future talent strategies, Talent 2.0, to provide food for thought when forming leadership teams to drive an organisation forward. What is the secret to unlocking innovation and drive bottom line results? How can cognitive diversity enhance innovation and prevent blind spots in senior management teams? How does culture and inclusion play a pivotal role in creating the platform for success? How can we benefit from the true talent review that Covid-19 has offered organisations? We hope you enjoy this forward looking session and feel free to share your feedback with us at podcast@essentapartners.com

In this episode we have the pleasure of inviting not one but two guest speakers in an engaging dialogue regarding how the uncertainty of the pandemic has impacted leadership behaviour.Jenn and Karen are the founders of KickStart your Edge, a disruptive leadership & coaching consultancy, where they help executive leadership teams build play to win cultures especially in uncertain situations. Many of our clients have commented Covid-19 has offered a True Talent Review and Jenn and Karen share more insights in terms of default leadership reactions one can find amongst senior leadership teams. What is your default reaction when uncertainty feels huge and how to prepare your organisation for the uncertain future? How do you proactively prepare your organisation for uncertainty and ensure high levels of engagement from your employees? We hope you enjoy this insightful session and feel free to share your feedback with us at podcast@essentapartners.com About Kick Start Your Edge:Jenn Barley and Karen Sullivan are co-founders of KickStart Your Edge, a revolutionary, straight forward, disruptive organisation focused on building Play To Win Cultures for bold distinctive brands, such as Coty, Philosophy, The University of Texas- Austin, BMW, Facebook, and more. KickStart Your Edge uses an innovative, sustainable framework, focusing on three key Play to Win Strategies:· Developing a Play to Win Internal Coaching Culture · Creating Play to Win Brand Relevance Turnaround· Producing Play to Win LeadershipWith Jenn’s background in Silicon Valley and Karen’s background of 25 years in law enforcement and retiring as a Chief of Police in Monmouth County, NJ, KickStart Your Edge brings a ‘we don’t even have a B game’ approach to all their engagements.Visit their websiteIf you have any feedback, questions or would like to feature in future episodes, please email podcast@essentapartners.com

Today we are joined by a transformative HR professional, Keri-Lynne Shaw, Chief People Officer at Global Brands Group. She will share a great success story of how Global Brands Group has transformed to a more agile organisation, embracing latest technologies in order to include employee feedback in future business strategies, enhancing engagement levels as well as innovation. About Keri-Lynne Shaw:Keri-Lynne is a seasoned executive with 20 years of automotive experience, much of it in the sales arena and has translated this expertise to the People arena. First at BMW, followed by Coty and now at Global Brands Group where she is supporting the global transformation. Visit her LinkedIn:If you have any feedback, questions or would like to feature in future episodes, please email podcast@essentapartners.com

Over the past months, many companies have applauded agile transformations and initiatives due to Covid-19. They have led to greater efficiencies, more creativity and innovation. The question of how to remain agile and not go back to a more bureaucratic culture is one that many of our clients are contemplating. In our second episode of Essenta Insights, Gillian Fox, CEO of OptimalPeople, will share her insights and advice.About Gillian Fox:Gillian has nearly 25 years' experience in senior global HR and talent roles. Her career has spanned many different sectors, and she has worked with companies such as Allen & Overy, RBS, Friends Life Plc, Reckitt Benckiser and latterly Euromoney PLC, where she was Group HR Director. She is now CEO of her own company, Optimal People, focusing on business transformation and talent development.Visit her LinkedInIf you have any feedback, questions or would like to feature in future episodes, please email podcast@essentapartners.com

In this first episode, Imogen Joss will share her views on the importance of strategy in post Covid world based on her experiences working directly with CEOs and executive teams throughout the pandemic. About Imogen Joss:Imogen took up a portfolio Non-Exec career fin 2016 and currently works with quoted businesses and professional services firms. People, growth and transformation are her key areas of input and she chairs Remuneration Committees for most of her Boards - aiming to encourage purpose, action and delivery.Visit her LinkedInIf you have any feedback, questions or would like to feature in future episodes, please email podcast@essentapartners.com

In this episode, Nanda Veldink and Johanna Kriisa share more about about why and how this podcast came together. About Nanda:Nanda has worked in the international consumer market for 10+ years. A Dutch national, she has lived and worked in eight countries and has an innate global view on executive talent and a successful track record of sourcing across borders. She has a strong focus on Marketing, Digital, General Management, Supply Chain and Transformation assignments and is passionate about working in partnership with her MNC and PE portfolio clients to deliver great cultural alignment and leadership outcomes. Outside work, Nanda loves to explore new countries, cultures and cuisines and enjoys yoga, meditation and reading.LinkedInContact: nveldink@essentapartners.com About Johanna:Johanna is founder of the strategy consultancy Kriisa&Co. She has worked with companies like JLR, McLaren, Morris Commercial and several start-ups. Throughout her 16-year career, Johanna has focused on business strategy, innovation and change management. In parallel, she has co-founded a new exciting transportation tech start-up. Previously, Johanna was Head of Strategy at Rolls-Royce Motorcars. Before, she held management positions within sales, marketing and finance at BMW Group in Munich, the US and Sweden. Johanna was also a member of the board for Swedish business women in UK. Outside work she is an avid runner (New York Marathon in 2019) and relaxes with yoga. LinkedInContact: johanna@kriisa.co If you have any feedback, questions or would like to feature in future episodes, please email podcast@essentapartners.com