Innovation and Learning for Organizational Success

Nicola Parrini, Vice President HR, Essity

Nicola Parrini is a renowned and seasoned leader in the leadership domain with decades of experience in the industry. He navigates through the complexities and dynamics of different industries and fosters a culture of continuous learning. His decades of experience in the industry helped him address the complexities of the market, driving organizational success through strategic leadership and empathetic management. Currently, Parrini serves as Vice President HR at Essity.

Please share with our readers your career journey and current roles and responsibilities.

I currently hold two distinct roles within the company. I serve as the Vice President HR for a global business unit known as Global Branding, Innovation, and Sustainability. So basically, our primary focus revolves around shaping the company's future by delving into areas like the development of new product portfolios, innovations in any form and shape, and brand creations. Essentially, we play a pivotal role in steering the company towards its future endeavors and ensuring that any new initiatives are aligned with the company's long-term business objectives. On the other hand,  I hold the position of Vice President HR for Learning Leadership and Development. My responsibilities encompass overseeing learning initiatives within the leadership domain and facilitating comprehensive learning and development programs throughout the organization. A typical day in my shoes is quite dynamic. It involves designing learning programs that enable our employees to continually upskill or reskill across various subjects and skills. We manage an internal university within my team at the group level, where we take charge of learning technologies, governance, and the overall framework to ensure a robust learning experience for our employees. So we strive to be experts in the learning arena. So talking about developmental tools, we go beyond traditional learning and training and delve into developmental tools like social learning, coaching programs, mentoring initiatives, and assessment tools for psychometric, leadership, and potential evaluations. In addition, we run a dedicated academy for change management, focusing on training individuals to navigate and lead change effectively. The last aspect I deal with revolves around performance management—guiding individuals in setting goals, managing performance, and elevating organizational performance levels. 

What are some of the latest trends you notice in the industry?

Every year brings a new wave of developments in the market, and it's always an interesting challenge to navigate. We are consistently dealing with high uncertainty and complexity. Currently, we are grappling with a market facing higher inflation and challenging business conditions across the board. Striking the right balance becomes a major struggle for our leaders—managing complexity amidst constant tension and polarities. Take, for instance, the current scenario where the cost of producing our products is on the rise. Balancing this with pricing is crucial, as increasing prices might lead consumers to seek alternatives. This is a leadership challenge—a daily mastery of decision-making amid such polarities and complexities. From a business perspective, this trend seems to remain in the market defined by a high level of uncertainty, complexity, polarity, and the need to navigate various dilemmas.

"Progress over perfection is key now. The focus should be on staying close, listening intently, and designing solutions that are not only tailored to current needs but are also easily adjustable and improvable when circumstances demand."

Is there any project initiative you have been part of lately?

We have undertaken various initiatives, and it's all in response to the high complexity and challenging road we have in front of us from a business, market, and consumer perspective. Due to this polarity and complexity, our primary focus is on assisting our managers in navigating and coping with it. We are not just honing in on the rational side, as our leaders are well-versed in handling challenges through experience and training. Instead, our learning and leadership efforts are geared towards tapping into the emotional side, unleashing the power of right-brain leadership. We emphasize the importance of dreaming of the North Star amidst the complexity and setting clear strategic goals. In addition, we also guide them on how to influence across the matrix using emotional intelligence and empathy, crucial in making complex decisions. We have shifted our learning focus in leadership to the inner self. So over the past few years, our learning focused on how to manage external stakeholders, consumers, customers, teams, and organizations. Due to high complexity, we are building program that helps in continuous learning as an individual and finally, we are constructing quite unconventional learning experiences that blend empathy with edge. This involves navigating the delicate balance of seeking hard truths while maintaining care and empathy for people and the organization. It's a unique polarity that we are investing significant energy in within our leadership development. This is an area we are working on. Our approach involves tailoring programs for different target audiences, ensuring a customized experiences.  What we deliver to top management differs from programs designed for other audiences, and we leverage various technologies to enhance these learning experiences.

What is your piece of advice to your fellow HR peers?

I believe the first key principle is maintaining an unwavering closeness to our internal customers. We need to segment our internal audience based on the same principles that marketing uses for external consumers. People within our organization have diverse needs based on their roles. So, it's crucial to stay closely connected, actively listen to their needs, and craft initiatives that are relevant to their current requirements. Over the past few years, there has been a tendency in the church community to develop programs. We need to develop programs that persist as long as the specific needs of our internal stakeholders change. As these needs evolve, our approach should be flexible enough to adapt—changing tools, processes, and support structures accordingly. The focus should be on staying close, listening intently, and designing solutions that are not only tailored to current needs but are also easily adjustable and improvable when circumstances demand.