When Anne-Marie Verouden, Sustainability Lead North-West Europe, joined HAVI in 2017, she had a clear career path in mind. However, her managers identified hidden talents that have taken her career in unexpected and exciting directions.
“One of the best things about joining HAVI is the freedom it has given me to take my career in any direction I choose,” says Anne-Marie. “I arrived here with certain expectations, but the business identified skills and strengths I hadn’t thought about but which could be useful to various projects – then allowed me to use those strengths to the fullest.”
At times, she admits, the learning curves have been steep, but the lessons she has learned have been invaluable. For example, she was given responsibility for leading an important study into outsourcing bun production for McDonald’s, one of HAVI’s key customers. She also helped with onboarding a new customer and developed an e-learning platform with modules on food and safety, a project which tapped into her background in nutrition and food technology.
Anne-Marie’s current role involves yet another pivot, and places her at the very heart of efforts to transform the company’s ambitious growth plans into results. “The job covers totally new territory,” she says. “It involves supporting our sales teams by developing a methodology and insights we will use to identify new business opportunities. In other words, we are finding new ways to answer the question: how do we take HAVI to market?”
She continues, “I never expected to work on such a varied mix of projects when I joined HAVI, but I am glad that my managers challenged me to broaden my horizons and take on new responsibilities. I’ve experienced and learned so much throughout this journey. In this business, you definitely get back what you put in.”