Nadine Wyncoll
People Director
Co-op
Nadine Wyncoll has been in Human Resources roles for 25 years, having had the opportunity to work in a number of consumer facing businesses with different ownership models, corporate and franchised in retail, supply chain. Her career has given her the opportunity to live and work across the UK and across several international markets.
Nadine is currently People Director of The Co-operative Group, working as part of the People Leadership team developing and driving the delivery of a progressive people plan that enables the 'Co-op difference' across its many Co-op businesses (Retail, Franchise, Wholesale, Nisa, Logistics & Supply Chain, Funeral care, Legal and Insurance). She is focused on enabling the business strategic intent and ensuring a great colleague value proposition to the 55,000 colleagues wherever they work across the group.
For the past two years, she has had the Non-Executive Director role for The People Experience Hub, a flexible employee feedback platform that provides analytics and insight to support companies gain a deeper understanding of what matters to their own colleagues on key aspects of engagement and well-being.
Learn more about the UK & Ireland CHRO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
Prior to my current role as People Director of The Co-operative Group, I worked for HelloFresh as Senior People Director, leading the team through a period of organisational and cultural change as the business continues to scale up and mature its proposition in the UK and leverage its skill and scale across the Group of 17 international markets.
I was the People Director at Domino's Pizza Group for 5 years, partnering the Executive team through a period of significant growth and cultural change. Here, I led the formulation of the people strategy for the UK, Ireland and some of the international markets in Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Iceland. They are a FTSE listed business with a 1,300 store footprint run under a Franchise and Corporate store model, with 5,500 group (Office & Supply Chain, Corporate Stores) and 38,000 franchise store colleagues.
My earlier career included DixonsCarphone at the time when the two businesses Dixons and Carphone Warehouse merged. Prior to this, I had a 17-year career at Tesco working in all disciplines of HR in the stores, supply chain and central function. It was a rewarding period having the opportunity to work with such a diverse group of colleagues across the UK and in the international markets as HR Director for Tesco Czech Republic.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Authenticity is key. Be yourself, connect with others, and listen deeply to what they say. Consistency is critical to stay tuned to what matters to each person you get to collaborate with both inside and outside your business. Utilise this diversity of thought to maintain a balanced perspective and aid you to create a sharp vision and strategy that delivers long-term value.
With disruption being a key theme of recent years, where do you see the CHRO role going in the next 1-2 years?
Disruption is a constant. Be prepared and accept that early on as it makes things easier to repeatedly cut through the treacle and hold a voice at the table.
The CHRO role is now richer than ever, with a need to influence colleagues' safety and create more inclusive environments to build greater connection and belonging. The workplace is changing rapidly, the competition for talent continues but becomes more complex with a multi-generational workforce expecting different things from your employer value proposition so an expectation for greater personalisation of the colleague experience. Digitisation and the need for simplification are key to businesses pivoting so CHRO's need to understand the impact on the workforce.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out as a CHRO?
Have the mindset of a business leader with the strength of voice on the people agenda.
Listen, be curious, make sure you understand what matters and balance this with an external lens. Think about you, too, build a trusted network and find a trusted adviser so you have people who you can rely on for guidance and share experiences together to challenge your perspective.
Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.
I have had a travel bug from an early age which has never been tamed!
I've visited most continents, or if I haven't, I've dreamt of going there.
My case is always packed.
What is the value of joining an Evanta community?
The Evanta Community is a fantastic way to build your professional network with other HR leaders. It is an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences of emerging trends, new market thinking and hearing how colleagues are tackling challenges in other organisations and industries. It’s an invaluable investment of your time to learn and share with others.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
by CHROs, for CHROs
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