Roberta Guinzoni has 15 years of international leadership and HR experience across different industries for both listed and PE-owned investment funds. Originally from Italy, she has built her life living abroad and holding key HR roles for global companies such as Walgreens Boots Alliance, Pandora, and Flying Tiger Copenhagen. In these roles, she had the opportunity to create cross-border organisational cultures, create and influence talent and development teams and consistently work with change management.
Prior to joining Nordic Interim, Roberta was Chief of HR at GANNI, where she led the HR/People agenda to support the fashion brand’s global expansion and transformation. She is an ambassador for diversity, equality & inclusion and has previously worked with B Corps organisations. She now brings this expertise to her role as a partner at Nordic Interim, and we are very happy to welcome Roberta to the Danish office.
How has your career development progressed over the years?
“My career development has been marked by an early start with various job opportunities that allowed me to explore my interests and find my way. I’ve always found it important to try out new things and learn from them; I for example worked in my early days, in PR & event management, tourism and hospitality as well as education, while I was studying. At the same time, I enjoyed living in different cities and countries to learn about new cultures and different lifestyles. I kicked off my career path in HR by working in Italy many years ago for a training and development service provider, which helped me realize that unleashing human potential was the right way for me at that point. Since that time, I’ve built and expanded my career around talent and organizational development, working for global companies such as Walgreens Boots Alliance and Pandora.
Covering different leadership roles, I had the opportunity to manage Exec. development projects and assessment centres in collaboration with top Business Schools, drive performance management and employees’ engagement and shape organisational cultures & values. I subsequently joined variety store retailer Flying Tiger Copenhagen as the HR Director, working internationally as a strategic business partner, consolidating and re-organizing markets, building teams across countries and driving change management. All these experiences combined brought me in 2021 to the fashion brand GANNI as the Chief HR Officer to drive global expansion and transformation. As I’m looking back, all those roles and responsibilities gave me invaluable learnings and shaped my toolbox that now I’m ready to put at the service of our clients out there and of course Nordic Interim and Valtus Group.”
What inspired you to take the step and become a partner at Nordic Interim?
“Several factors inspired me to take this step, however, the main reason was actually my background in international HR management: as a former HR Director, I was involved in many transformation projects and worked with, and hired, Executive Interim Managers myself, so I’m well aware of the value they bring to an organisation in a time of challenge. I can say that I have a good understanding of the headaches that Executives and HR teams are experiencing while trying to solve problems, and I hope to be a concrete help and support to the organisation, offering strong business understanding with concrete solutions. In addition to that, I believe Interim Management holds significant potential as a career choice for professionals and a go-to solution for companies whose needs are constantly changing and evolving. Finally, I’ve known Nordic Interim for a while now and I’ve always been impressed by the speed and accuracy of execution, that’s a good employer branding attribute!”
What aspects have driven you to pursue your career goals?
“When I think about my career goals and choices, I go back to my personal values; they help me make decisions and guide me over time both in my personal and professional life. People and inclusivity are core values for me, that’s why I live an international lifestyle where I love to connect with people across countries and cultures and build meaningful relationships. Additionally, I am motivated by the adventure and the desire to embrace new challenges; I’m a lifelong learner and I’m always open to new possibilities to improve myself, and expand my toolbox and my comfort zone. Reflecting upon my journey, I see a pattern, from my first jobs up to where I am today, my values are the dots that link it all together.”
Who are you outside of work and what do you take with you from Italy?
“I tend to work a lot, and I genuinely love it, work is a significant part of who I am. Outside of work, I spend a lot of time outdoors and love hiking and skiing. Denmark is a pretty flat country, and I travel as much as possible to practice those activities, travelling is my favourite hobby. As I said before, I love learning new things, and this also goes with foreign languages, which is one of the reasons why I have lived in many different places.
From my Italian background, I bring a strong work resilience and a good sense of humour. I love a good laugh and being surrounded by highly energetic people, also at work. And of course – food! I’m not the best cook, but I love enjoying a good meal with friends and family.”
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