A leadership that values emotions

At Nestlé, you are focusing on a human leadership approach that recognizes and values emotions. How does this approach concretely help prevent burnout and promote psychological wellbeing in the workplace?
About three years ago, Nestlé felt the need to pause and reflect on its leadership model up to that point. On the one hand, there was a clear commitment to continuing to invest in managerial development; on the other, there was a growing awareness that a shift in approach was necessary. For a long time, managers had been expected to behave almost like superheroes—continuously adding skills, responsibilities, and expectations, as if they were never enough. Over time, however, this logic proved counterproductive: piling on demands without strengthening the foundations risked leading to overload or to an uneven form of development. This realization led to a deliberate pause and, first and foremost, to listening. The company engaged a group of managers during the post-pandemic return to normality, asking them how they perceived their role compared to the past. A significant shift emerged: alongside traditional competencies, new elements such as empathy, closeness, proximity, and vulnerability began to surface. At the same time, Nestlé engaged with external perspectives, listening to trainers and experts to better understand broader changes in leadership expectations. From this dual listening exercise, a key insight emerged: before continuing to add competencies, it was necessary to recover a dimension that had long been neglected in corporate environments—the deeply human one. For a long time, leadership models implicitly required people to wear a mask at work, setting aside certain aspects of themselves and hiding fragility and emotions in order to align with a purely performance-driven ideal. The new approach seeks to move beyond this paradigm and instead value the wholeness of the person, including vulnerability and emotional experience. This shift has a direct impact on psychological wellbeing. Reclaiming the human dimension helps reduce the pressure of unrealistic expectations and allows people to be more authentic, lowering stress levels and preventing dysfunctional dynamics that can lead to burnout.

Emotions are often still seen as something that hinders performance. What practices or programmes have you implemented to turn them instead into a resource?
The journey initially focused on managers, with the idea that they would be the first to embody and cascade this cultural shift within their teams. At the same time, the ambition has always been to extend this approach across the entire organization, making it a shared cultural asset through more accessible and widespread initiatives. The programme, called Leading Regeneration, draws on a deeply rooted concept at Nestlé—that of regeneration—here translated into a human and organizational dimension. The journey was structured around two main workshops, developed in collaboration with INSPIRE, a leadership development and consulting firm. The first workshop focused on the individual. Around 450 managers participated voluntarily—with an engagement rate above 90%—in a deep self-reflection experience. The aim was to shift perspective: moving away from a focus on what is missing, the “half-empty glass” that needs to be filled with more skills, and instead recognizing and building on what is already there—the “half-full glass.” Within this perspective, emotions become enabling factors: elements that support motivation, guide decision-making, and foster more authentic relationships with others. The workshops included highly experiential exercises. One of them, inspired by the Pandora’s box metaphor, invited participants to anonymously write down difficult thoughts, unspoken concerns, and uncomfortable emotions. Sharing these reflections created a powerful moment of recognition: people saw themselves in others’ vulnerabilities, realizing how common experiences often remain invisible. The second workshop focused on how to translate these insights into everyday interactions with teams. Managers were supported in reflecting on how to create environments where others can also express themselves, recognize their emotions, and feel legitimized in doing so. Alongside these workshops, a more technical pathway was introduced, led by the company physician, to provide concrete tools for recognizing signs of stress and burnout. The integration of human-centered development and specialist expertise made it possible to adopt a more comprehensive approach.

Building healthy workplaces requires a cultural shift. What is the role of leadership in making this change sustainable over time, and how does it translate into everyday relationships with teams and colleagues?
In this context, leadership plays a central role in making change sustainable over time. Those in managerial positions are expected not only to practice this approach themselves, but also to nurture it through ongoing exchange: peer-to-peer discussions, shared experiences, and spaces for dialogue where people can learn from one another. To support this process, the company has also introduced measurement tools such as the People Management Effect Index, which assesses the quality of people management based on direct bottom-up feedback from employees. The results show significant improvements, with increases ranging from 6% to 10% depending on the area—clear evidence that the seeds planted along this journey have taken root in fertile ground and are beginning to bear fruit.