Sunday Business Post - Money Plus*Sunday, 22 May 2016Page: 10

Circulation: 34322Area of Clip: 86300mm²Page 1 of 3

Getting ahead My story so far

‘Feedback is invaluable in continuing to learn and grow’ Each week, we profile one of Ireland’s foremost corporate leaders, tracing their career to date and exploring the lessons they have learned along the way. This week, we meet Maeve McCleane of Lidl Ireland

Maeve Mc-Cleane is director of human resources with Lidl in Ireland. The Ger-

man-owned supemarket group employs 4,000 peopfe in 146 stores and three distributim centres in the Irish market. McCleane joined the company in 2005 as a sales op-erations manager and, after a stint working at Lidl’s headquarters in Neckarsulm, Germany, returned to Ireland at the start oftheyearto take up her current role.

Are you where you expected to be in your career? I didn’t have a plan or any great ex-pectations, but I did want a career that would challenge me and allow me to learn and develop. I studied leisure management and business studies at Dublin Institute of Tech-nology and, on graduating, got an internship in the K Club. That led to my first “proper job” in hotel front office, where I got afantastic ground-ing in customer care. I learnt that there is never a problem that can’t be solved Keep smiling, nobody need know there even is aproblem Ithen spent a few years in Berlin working in the hospitality industry and when

I returned home, spotted an ad for a job as a sales operations manager with Lidl. The idea of working for a German company in Ireland really

appealed to me. I’ve worked in retail all my life - my parents had a cor-ner shop in Wexford, where I spent weekends and summers learning “customer is king”. I took over as Lidl’s personnel manager in 2006, with responsibility for payroll and personnel administration.

In 2008, we began to develop a holistic HR function and, five years later, I moved to our internation-al headquarters in Germany, with responsibility for employer brand and, later, engagement. I gained valuable experience working with HR colleagues across 30 countries developing and implementing our global HR strategy, and I returned to Ireland in January to take up the reins as director of human resources.

What was the best career advice you got along the way? Paula Clarke at OMT Global taught me to accept feedback and say thank you. Feedback is invaluable in con-tinuing to learn and grow. Without it, we stand still. At some stage in my 30s, Ileamedtostoptakingfeedback personally, and that was liberating.

Overanalysing and dissecting what others think (or may think) of you, and your work, is not healthy Taking

concrete advice onboard, and doing something positive with it, is. I re-late to Sheryl Sandberg’s view that a career is not necessarily a ladder, rather a “jungle gym”. Careers follow the path of life. There are highs and lows, peaks and troughs. It’s not al¬

ways about progressing up the ladder At times, there may be things in

life that are more important than career - be it family, friends, hob-bies, other interests. There’s a lot of talk about work/life balance, and with good reason. There needs to be a healthy balance for us to be the best that we can be.

“Be gracious with people, be greedy with time. ” This advice came from Tnvisin’s Ionise McNamara There are never enough hours in the day. There’s always something else to be done. Good time management is essential in order to be productive. To be really effective, however, it’s important to make someone else feel that, in that moment, they are what’s important.

Based on your own experience, what are your top career tips? Stay true to your principles - it’s very difficult to convincingly champion something that is not in line with your own values. Don’t just go with the flow Value diversity and learn from everyone you meet every day There are people I work with that are so different to me that I’m in awe of them. The traits they have may not be my natural strengths, but they are the ones I can probably learn most from. It’s very comfortable to surround yourself with like minds, but that really isn’t how to achieve great innovation. Believe in yourself - if you don’t, who will?

How would you define your work

Sunday Business Post - Money Plus*Sunday, 22 May 2016Page: 10

Circulation: 34322Area of Clip: 86300mm²Page 2 of 3

style, and how has this evolved over the years? I am energetic and enthusiastic. I love to motivate and inspire. I can be a bit like a magpie, always looking for the next shiny project. This curiosity is an asset in the ever- changing worlds of HR and retail, but I have to train my-self continuously to concentrate and follow through on what I’m working on at a given moment.

In terms of managing teams and individuals, what are your insights? We are all different and every one of us has a unique and valuable con-tribution to make. It’s important to harness those differences to achieve the best outcome. I can’t expect other people to change to suit my style.

If smore effective forme to change my leadership style to adapt to those I’m working with. Don’t be afraid of difficult conversations. There have been many times when a conver-sation that needs to be had seemed

too daunting, too overwhelming. My experience is that the sooner it’s had, the’sooner a solution can be found, allowing everyone to move on. What about communication and negotiating the typical ups and downs of working life?

It’s probably one of my own greatest challenges, but be patient and listen to the other party. It doesn’t matter how cominced you are by your own argument, there is always another side - another opinion - you might not have considered Taking this on board can lead to more productive conversations, resulting in better understanding, engagement and creativity.

Know your topic - inside out, up-side down and back to front. To be confident and composed, you need to know your stuff You can’t be pre-pared for every question, but you need to be able to draw quickly on your knowledge and think on your feet. Be really clear about what you want to get out of any interaction.

If you need buy-in, sell. Demon-strate the unquestionable benefits of what you’re proposing. Assess your audience and adapt your commu-nication accordingly. Know their language. If they normally talk in facts and figures, make sure your presentation contains exactly that.

If you had to choose another career tomorrow, what would it be and why? I really wouldn’t like to have to choose another career. I love what I do. If I did, I’dlike to remain in retail and try my hand at purchasing. The role of a buyer with a retailer like I id! fascinates me, from sourcing prod-uct suppliers, negotiating prices and quality testing to seeing the product on the shelf.

44 Don’t be afraid to have difficult conversations. The sooner they’re had, the sooner a solution can be found

Sunday Business Post - Money Plus*Sunday, 22 May 2016Page: 10

Circulation: 34322Area of Clip: 86300mm²Page 3 of 3

Maeve McCleane,

director of human

resources. Lidl Ireland

picture: Fergal Phillips