We’re AB InBev, brewer of some of the world’s best beers, like Stella Artois, Corona and our American brand Budweiser. Read on to find out about Kat’s success story.
Interviews
Could you please introduce yourself? How did your career
progress at AB InBev?
My name is Kat Vickery, I am the Digital Employee Experience
(DEX) Lead for Europe. I have been with AB InBev for 5 years, starting in
the UK in 2016 as the Solutions Manager responsible for the IT in the UK. I
then asked for a role to lead a team and to experience life in another country,
which is when I got this fantastic opportunity to lead the DEX team of 30
people in the Prague Digital Hub.
What is your secret for successful leadership?
I believe strongly in the ability of the team we have built.
By putting the right people in the right roles, I am confident to give my team
the freedom to deliver, whilst providing a supportive environment in which they
feel safe to fail.
How do you cope with challenges in your department?
We openly discuss challenges as a team, share insights and
experiences, and agree on an approach. And while results are important, people
should always come first - there is nothing more important to me than my team’s
physical and mental wellbeing.
Our dream for 2022 is focused on providing an outstanding
digital employee experience, with world-class, seamless and accessible IT
support for all employees – no matter their function or location. However, our
team is more than that! We're also working on exciting projects such as
Self-healing IT, driven through automation; shift left and self-service; and
more bespoke projects for our business and employee experience.
Talking about the skill set of our talents, our team is
working on a range of expertise:
- IT Service Desk - providing end-user support across 9
countries in 5 languages
- IT Service Management – delivering and improving services in
line with ITIL processes e.g. Incident, Service Request, Problem and Knowledge
- User Experience – focused on improving the overall digital
employee experience
- Analytics – drive decision making to improve end-user
satisfaction
- Automation - Reduce manual interactions for incidents and
service requests
- Agile Methodology - Allow rapid onboarding of new and
changed IT services to the Service Desk
- Centre of Excellence - Development capability of Global COE
for services, e.g. ServiceNow
How do you balance your personal and work life?
I always try to not take my work home with me and I have set
time limits for when my meetings will start and end in the day. Taking time to
refresh and re-energise makes me a stronger leader, and also encourages my team
to do the same.
I am also very open with my team about when I need to take a
break for personal issues – the past few years has taken a toll on all of us
mentally, and whilst work has been an outlet, it can also overtake. By being
transparent with my teams about when the balance is tipping for me, it makes
them feel secure to do the same. However, I have found in my 5 years at AB
InBev, that many of my colleagues have gone on to be my best friends outside of
work, and I often enjoy winding down with them over a beer or two.
What advice will you give to our future leaders?
Go where the women are….
I have worked in IT for 12 years, and it is traditionally a male-dominated area. I have always paid attention to where I have seen strong female leaders, and aim to join the teams they are in. This is because it normally means that they are in a hierarchy where women are respected and listened to. And my advice for future male leaders – be a true ally bringing women into your circle of trust. Women alone cannot drive the change we need in the workplace – we often need male allies to be the voice which speaks first, so that we can then be listened to.