Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/65226
Thought Leader Only Change Stays Forever An interview with Clotilde Tesón, HR director of Grupo Codorníu By Ethan Kline Few companies have witnessed more change than Grupo Codorníu. Only 16, to be exact. Founded in 1551, Codorníu began as a family wine producer 50 kilometres outside Barcelona. Today, it is the 17th oldest company in the world and has been owned by the Raventós family for 17 generations. In that time, it has grown from a small family vineyard to global business with operations in eight countries selling 16 different brands of still and sparkling wine in 42 countries across the globe. Clotilde Tesón joined Grupo Codorníu eight years ago as the HR director. Before joining, she was HR director for Pharmacia Spain and with the Volkswagen Group and Zurich Financial Services. She recently shared her experience and vision. —The Editors Why did you join Grupo Codorníu? When I joined Grupo Codorníu, it was a Spanish company with international operations, but the owners wanted to transform it into a truly international business. I had international experience, but I wanted to see change in another light, and joining a family owned group gave me that opportunity. And Grupo Codorníu has always been a pioneering company. It was one of the first to produce Cava [sparkling wine] and had introduced different grape varieties and technologies, so I knew that when they decided to change they would follow through. A company with such a long history is very careful with each effort to change, especially if it means reorienting long established behaviours. How did Grupo Codorníu begin the transformation? Ten years ago the owners commissioned a market analysis focussing on the global changes in the sparkling wine industry. The analysis revealed that there were many new players entering the market. In Spain there had been only a couple of important competitors, but now sparkling wines were being produced around the globe. As a result, the owners decided to increase their investment in the production of still wine. To do so, it required the company to become truly international. I joined the company as HR director but my second title could have been change agent! I began by recruiting a team to focus on the macro change in the organisation. In my experience and the experience of Grupo Codorníu, organisational change was less about systems and processes and more about people. I put together a core team of HR generalists, but we created a companywide team, that we called the ACE Team, "Activación del compromiso con la estrategia," which translates as the "team to activate the commitment to company strategy." It was very diverse in its composition, with people from all different departments and in different positions in the hierarchy. However, WINTER 2012 | www.hroglobal.com [37]