Helena Lončar 

With 20 years of experience in the HR industry, Helena Lončar has navigated various roles, ranging from HR generalist to head of learning development. She joined Lindström in 2016 as an HR manager for Southeast Europe before moving to her current global role. 

Helena collaborates with many colleagues across the company, including regional leaders and teams at the head office. “If someone asked me to create my ideal role from scratch, it would probably be very close to what I’m doing now at Lindström. The variety of the role keeps me happy, and I’m grateful that I get to work with many different people on many different topics.” 

Two key pillars: Talent and culture

As her title suggests, Helena Lončar focuses on identifying and developing talent at Lindström. One ongoing project involves the implementation of a learning management system (LMS) to digitise and streamline learning throughout the company.  

Ongoing role-specific programs support new people in the organisation, such as programs tailored to senior leaders, middle managers, finance professionals, and sales teams. Talent and succession planning also ensure the right people are in the right roles. 

At Lindström, people are empowered to take ownership of their development. Annual development discussions provide a platform for employees to share their career plans, allowing leaders to offer tailored support.  

“We aim to let people set their own goals, putting them in control of what matters to them. Of course, these align with our larger company goals, but this freedom drives people to move forward and explore different topics.” 

In talent development, the results aren’t instantaneous. “Change doesn’t happen overnight. We need to trust that we’ll see results on a higher level when things are well-structured and done properly. Good planning and open communication are the keys to success.”  

Culture development is the other pillar of Helena’s role. “Culture is quite intangible — it’s felt and observed through different behaviours. It’s the small things you do on a daily basis, not a huge program that you do once every five years. 

“Our We Care culture is a crucial part of all our initiatives. While it’s very much about the employees, it’s also about the customers. In that sense, We Care is really widespread and functions on many different levels.” 

Empowering people to become the best version of themselves 

To keep a pulse on the company, Helena maintains a wide network and actively listens to employees’ needs. She embraces change and explores new approaches.  

At Lindström, HR is not confined to a bubble but is valued as a strategic business partner. “Business leaders listen to what we have to say, and we’re included. We work closely with people to find out what the business needs are so that we can develop meaningful solutions.” 

Helena’s mission revolves around helping employees recognise their full potential. She finds fulfilment in making a concrete impact  

“My purpose is to help people, so I’m most satisfied when I see people growing, becoming the best they can be, and really shining in their roles — knowing that I played a small part in that journey.” 

Outside Lindström, Helena extends her mentorship to junior HR professionals in her network. Whether in the professional realm or her personal life, she finds joy in witnessing the people she cares about grow and evolve.  

Aligning HR to the company’s evolving needs 

Helena Lončar and her team consider the voice of the employee to be a key success metric, and regularly conduct surveys to gauge employee engagement and wellbeing. In these surveys, employees identify the most meaningful aspects of their work that contribute to their satisfaction and engagement. Then, they rate Lindström as a company based on these factors.  

“We don’t want to tell people what we think is important. Instead, we ask employees what they find meaningful and what areas we should work on. This feedback gives us the information we need to figure out how we can do better.”   

One key focus for HR in the coming year is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). “We’ve been mindful of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but we need to nurture it further and maintain constant mindfulness. We aim to elevate Lindström’s approach to DEI, raising awareness of everything it includes.” 

Another area of emphasis is sustainability. “At Lindström, we focus a lot on sustainability and minimising our carbon footprint. But sustainability is about more than the environment. From a talent and culture perspective, we want to make all our initiatives sustainable in that the results are long-lasting, and we leave a legacy for future generations. That’s the ultimate goal.”