As the Vice President of Human Resources Middle East and Africa at Hilton, she’s driving the company's award-winning people and culture strategy, overseeing close to 30,000 team members across 120 regional hotels. Meet Marie-Louise Ek, a dynamic leader with an impressive track record of over 23 years. With her groundbreaking initiatives at Sandvik and influential leadership roles at APM Terminals, Bridgestone, Coty, and PepsiCo, she has successfully driven team building, fostered positive employee experiences, and led massive organisational transformations. More than a VP, she's a certified executive coach and a passionate advocate for agility, technology, and well-being. In this episode, Marie-Louise shares Hilton's employee wellness initiatives, talent attraction strategies, employee engagement tips, and ways to navigate workplace challenges. Marie-Louise doesn’t gatekeep her secrets, so tune-in, grab your notepad and get the inside scoop on creating a thriving workplace culture. Discussion points:  3:34 Why Marie-Louise chose to study Human Resources 4:25 How HR has evolved over the years 6:20 The employee wellness evolution 7:50 The key aspects of wellness that Hilton focuses on 12:21 Measures Hilton has adopted for their employees’ wellness 17:11 Educating employees on preventing health challenges 20:13 How SMEs can have more engaged employees 26:36 Marie-Louise’s views on working from home and flexible work 30:55 Differences in medical insurance in the corporate world 33:47 Investing time in mentoring employees 36:06 Secrets for attracting the right talent 43:46 How wellness is perceived in the West 47:22 4 things employers need for employee well-being 48:28 Tips by Marie-Louise to deal with an emotionally charged situation 50:50 How AI is making a difference in HR Show Sponsors: Megavrse: Dive into immersive environments in the Metaverse that redefine the future of retail, art, and work https://www.megavrse.xyz/#/ Socials: Spencer Lodge https://www.instagram.com/spencer.lodge/?hl=en https://www.tiktok.com/@spencer.lodge https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerlodge/ https://www.youtube.com/c/SpencerLodgeTV https://www.facebook.com/spencerlodgeofficial/  Marie-Louise Ek https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-louise-ek-9949253/