We sat down with Carine Werner, Director of People, at Classy Llama to discuss the company, its future plans, and what excites her about the future of the organization.
Describe your career journey and how you landed at your company
I have been working in the People Team for around 20 years, and in the last decade, I have been leading teams and taking on a strategic role, connecting business needs to People Strategy with a focus on culture, people development, career, and leadership teams strengthening.I have worked in various sectors, from consulting to metal-mechanical and textile industries, credit unions, and since 2020 in the technology field, where I found myself in this agile, dynamic, and versatile environment.
What is one of your favorite core values at your company? Can you share an example of how this comes to life?
Classy Llama has eight core values: Genuine Love, Real Relationships, Gritty Follow-Through, Excellence, Integrity, Courageous Leadership, Innovation, Humility.Due to my personal values and partly because of my role in the organization, Real Relationships and Courageous Leadership resonate more strongly in my daily life.Real Relationships emphasize our commitment to engaging in genuine relationships, addressing relational friction and challenges directly to grow trust in our relationships.
For example, The People Team encourages active listening and feedback in an environment that promotes psychological safety. We encourage people to resolve issues directly with the other party involved, maintaining authenticity and openness to other perspectives.Courageous Leadership means we are not afraid to take risks, make bold decisions, and lead our clients into greater value. We are willing to stand up for what we believe in, and we are not afraid to challenge the status quo.
In this spectrum, throughout 2023, we underwent a redesign of the processes in the People Team, introduced new practices, always with the aim of making the team member the protagonist of their career responsible for their OKRs or as an ambassador of the employer brand bringing referrals to the team. This includes how we are becoming a global company, working model between hybrid and remote, requiring new forms of communication, and even team engagement in company events that were previously only in-person.
How is your work affecting the company’s goals/mission?
We prioritize fostering a positive and collaborative work culture while having well-designed, solid processes in place. Our dedication lies in empowering team members, promoting well-being, and cultivating an environment that encourages high performance and growth. We emphasize open communication, support, and development opportunities to enable healthy teams to thrive and reach their full potential, working in collaboration with the leadership team, ensuring that people succeed and contribute to the overall success of the business.
What does your company do? What is its mission?
Classy Llama is a digital consultancy founded in 2007 with the mission to love others through business and a vision to deliver inspiration, insights, and digital transformation services that offer rock-solid solutions to industrial B2B companies in verticals like automotive, manufacturing, parts, materials, and customizable products.What do we do? We improve margins and protect revenue for B2B industrials companies through digital transformation.How do we win? We only succeed when we help our clients succeed. That doesn’t just mean the companies we serve, but the people within those companies. We’re always looking for ways to love everyone we connect with through our business better.
What is different or special about your leadership team?
The leadership team has mutual respect and supports each other. They are very smart, hungry, and humble people, a good mix of strategic thinking, planning, collaboration, and alignment.We value our unique skills as a team and complement each other, forming a high-level leadership team.
What’s next for your team/organization this year, and what excites you?
For 2024 we have as a thematic goal to work on our Digital Transformation repositioning as a company, and what makes me very confident is that we have been successful in planning the 3-year roadmap and dividing it by semesters. We work with consistency, bringing the team together, alternating leadership team meetings between strategic and tactical sessions to track the commitments made, and we communicate them monthly to the team through Town Hall meetings.We have also succeeded in moments like Podcasts, where teams share stories illustrating milestones achieved and learnings; Lunch & Learn sessions to consolidate best practices of implementing processes that impact everyone, and Llama Birthday celebrations to recognize each individual’s contribution to Classy Llama, including voluntary words of blessing from the team.Another point I would highlight is the expansion of the company to work with team members in other countries, increasing the diversification of skills and cultures. Classy Llama’s strong point is its culture, and from an organizational perspective, it is well-structured and organized, offering our clients professionals and services that possess not only technical expertise but also invest in client relationships that make a significant difference.
