Massimo von Wunster
Piergiorgio Giunti
Heineken Italia needs people with initiative and leadership and is
doing everything it can to help its employees develop these qualities.
The Italian operating company underwent profound changes in the
late 1990s as it worked hard to integrate several large acquisitions.
BUILDING LEADERSHIP: A MATTER OF TRUST
The emphasis was on getting things done and
taking decisions, leaving little time to spend
on maximising the individual employee's
career development, says Massimo von Wun
ster, Chief Executive Officer of Heineken
Italia.
From 2000, the focus has switched back to
growth - a challenge for a company which is
already market leader, operating in different
businesses and several market segments
and catering to many different types of
consumer. This challenge demanded invest
ment in its employees in the broadest sense,
fostering a sense of pride in working for
Heineken and further motivating its employ
ees - many of whom are under 30 - by offer
ing them achievable career goals.
'If you want to grow, you need the con
tribution of all the managers in the company,'
says Massimo von Wunster. 'Leadership is
needed.'
In order to develop leadership, Heineken
Italia set up the Pepper Project, which
enables the company to measure the per
formance of each individual employee,
improve assessment procedures and help
define career potential. The system improves
transparency and gives every employee
the chance to grow at the professional level.
'The benefit for our employees is that it
gives them the opportunity to do the right job
and follow the right career path within our
company,' says Piergiorgio Giunti, Human
Resources Manager at Heineken Italia.
Building initiative and leadership means
placing trust in the employees, especially the
younger age groups who are the leaders of
the future. Accordingly, Heineken Italia gives
university graduates the opportunity to learn
specific skills in different parts of the busi
ness, by allowing them to rotate jobs during
their first couple of years working for the
company.
'The idea is to help these people develop
management skills and give them a broad
overview of the company, to groom them as
the leaders of tomorrow,' explains Piergiorgio
Giunti.
Another project to help develop the skills
of young graduates is the mentorship pro
gramme, in which Massimo von Wunster and
his fellow board members act as mentors
to several 25-30-year-olds who have joined
Heineken Italia, raising their confidence in
themselves and in the company.
These initiatives are starting to pay off.
The company prides itself on its young man
agement team, which has an average age
38-42. Massimo von Wunster himself is only
47. Heineken Italia also has 12 managers
working elsewhere in the world, making the
Italian operating company one of the main
contributors to the internationalisation
of the Heineken Group.
'We trust young people to help develop our
company,' affirms Massimo von Wunster.
Performance of Heineken world-wide
Number of Opcos with a formalised training programme 69
Existence of programmes to stimulate employability 55
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