A HAPPIER YOU IS BREWING - DIVE INTO INSPIRING CAREER STORIES
Meet Marija Zovko, the HR Director in Croatia: “I had no time for doubts as I had to run crisis management from day one”
Right when COVID-19 hit Europe, Carlsberg Croatia had just appointed a new HR Director. We’re keen to share Marija Zovko’s story with you regarding how to change career path and how the Croatian market was led through the crisis during the first month in her new role.
Why and how did you change career path from Legal to HR-director?
When I started in Carlsberg in 2008, I was the only internal Legal Manager in Croatia and I therefore had to build the local legal function from scratch. During this period my manager encouraged me to participate in many leadership trainings, which ended up being a huge interest of mine. My manager recognized my passion for internal trainings and trusted me to run the internal trainings going forward, even the trainings that weren’t strictly connected to legal topics. This was where my journey towards HR began. The HR Director at that point thought I could be her successor, so she put her time, energy and passion into my development plan, and took every opportunity she had to coach, guide and train me. When she took on a new opportunity in Carlsberg, Italy, I then became her successor and today I’m very thrilled to be a HR Director for Carlsberg Croatia. It was only possible for me to make this shift from legal to HR due to my great managers and former HR Director, who truly showed great leadership skills and enabled and empowered me to grow in the direction of my interests and passion.
You were appointed into your role right when COVID-19 hit. How did you manage your new role and how did you lead the Croatian market through the first hit of COVID?
My first day as HR Director was working from home. When you start a job, you always question your functional competencies, but here I had no time for doubts as I had to run crisis management from day one. During the start of the COVID crisis, I received great support from my team, colleagues from other markets who always checked in on me and was very impressed by all the plug and play materials that our Carlsberg HR community has to offer. I felt that I had a safety net around me, which is why I started with focusing on our priority – to make our employees feel safe during uncertain times. We took on initiatives to help and guide people with internal news about health (physical and mental) evaluated are we addressing right topics through pulse survey and implementing survey feedback in practice, encouraged cross functional cooperation. We passed through the largest crisis that we have had, with zero people infected and zero people being sick. Our communication from the top about health and safety, helped our employees feel safe during the crisis and redirected their energy towards helping one another. We really believe that all that helped our employees to show how agile and focused we are as a business. This was visible in our reaction on the market on both, what and how we as a company restored our business.
Are there any positive learnings from COVID-19, that you can use in your role going forward?
Due to COVID-19 we collaborated in new ways e.g. the sales department went to help the production department. We weren’t just working across functions - we were working as one big team. We were also supporting our community by our locally produced hand sanitizer. We changed our Somersby cider into hand sanitizer and donated it to the city and those who needed it the most. It’s very well recognized by our community and showed our social responsibility in action. It makes me incredibly proud to be part of a company who not only cares for their own employees but also cares for the communities that it’s a part of. Going forward we will continue to take part in our local community and maintain the frequent communication between our Managing Director and employees, while continuing to have more focus on mental health by sharing thoughts and best practices with one another.
MARIJA ZOVKO
Meet Marija Zovko, the HR Director in Croatia: “I had no time for doubts as I had to run crisis management from day one”
Right when COVID-19 hit Europe, Carlsberg Croatia had just appointed a new HR Director. We’re keen to share Marija Zovko’s story with you regarding how to change career path and how the Croatian market was led through the crisis during the first month in her new role.
Why and how did you change career path from Legal to HR-director?
When I started in Carlsberg in 2008, I was the only internal Legal Manager in Croatia and I therefore had to build the local legal function from scratch. During this period my manager encouraged me to participate in many leadership trainings, which ended up being a huge interest of mine. My manager recognized my passion for internal trainings and trusted me to run the internal trainings going forward, even the trainings that weren’t strictly connected to legal topics. This was where my journey towards HR began. The HR Director at that point thought I could be her successor, so she put her time, energy and passion into my development plan, and took every opportunity she had to coach, guide and train me. When she took on a new opportunity in Carlsberg, Italy, I then became her successor and today I’m very thrilled to be a HR Director for Carlsberg Croatia. It was only possible for me to make this shift from legal to HR due to my great managers and former HR Director, who truly showed great leadership skills and enabled and empowered me to grow in the direction of my interests and passion.
You were appointed into your role right when COVID-19 hit. How did you manage your new role and how did you lead the Croatian market through the first hit of COVID?
My first day as HR Director was working from home. When you start a job, you always question your functional competencies, but here I had no time for doubts as I had to run crisis management from day one. During the start of the COVID crisis, I received great support from my team, colleagues from other markets who always checked in on me and was very impressed by all the plug and play materials that our Carlsberg HR community has to offer. I felt that I had a safety net around me, which is why I started with focusing on our priority – to make our employees feel safe during uncertain times. We took on initiatives to help and guide people with internal news about health (physical and mental) evaluated are we addressing right topics through pulse survey and implementing survey feedback in practice, encouraged cross functional cooperation. We passed through the largest crisis that we have had, with zero people infected and zero people being sick. Our communication from the top about health and safety, helped our employees feel safe during the crisis and redirected their energy towards helping one another. We really believe that all that helped our employees to show how agile and focused we are as a business. This was visible in our reaction on the market on both, what and how we as a company restored our business.
Are there any positive learnings from COVID-19, that you can use in your role going forward?
Due to COVID-19 we collaborated in new ways e.g. the sales department went to help the production department. We weren’t just working across functions - we were working as one big team. We were also supporting our community by our locally produced hand sanitizer. We changed our Somersby cider into hand sanitizer and donated it to the city and those who needed it the most. It’s very well recognized by our community and showed our social responsibility in action. It makes me incredibly proud to be part of a company who not only cares for their own employees but also cares for the communities that it’s a part of. Going forward we will continue to take part in our local community and maintain the frequent communication between our Managing Director and employees, while continuing to have more focus on mental health by sharing thoughts and best practices with one another.