Kristen Herde
Interview with Kristen Herde, Head of Employment Engagement and HR Strategy at E.ON UK
 Kristen Herde |
As an HR professional, I believe the ESMT MBA will position me to better partner and influence the business and lead the design of fit for purpose solutions to meet the long-term needs of the business. I will be able to engage in a different type of dialogue with business leaders, ask different types of questions and challenge thinking. I also believe the MBA program will improve my general management capability and business acumen such that I can also assume leadership roles outside of HR.
Why did you choose ESMT?
I am a bit of a start-up and entrepreneurial spirit myself - all of my previous roles have been about creating something from scratch The opportunity to be part of establishing the ESMT as a leading school in Europe really appealed to me. Also every contact I have had with the school and its faculty has been extremely professional. Working for a German company, I was keen to find a program with a European focus and the opportunity to further build my network in this space, and the ESMT was a perfect fit. Also the modular structure of the programme fit very well into my lifestyle.
Considering the first few days in the program, what was your most memorable experience?
It’s a tie between walking over a valley on a tightrope – something I never thought I would do – or the excitement of correctly calculating the NPV and cost of capital in a recent assignment!
Tell us a bit about the teambuilding day.
It was a fantastic way to kick off the program. We really grew together as a group and on a personal level, the day really challenged me to step out of my comfort zone with the support and encouragement of some my fellow Executive MBA colleagues!
How did you feel when you got home after the first module?
Confident about the decision I have made to embark on this journey and excited about working with such a great group of fellow students and faculty over the next 21 months. However it would be remiss of me not to say that one feels initially overwhelmed as the reading and group assignments start pouring in. This will no doubt require a fundamental change in terms of time management and I think it will take some time to find the appropriate rhythm.
How would you describe your classmates after spending a few days together and collaborating in a group assignment?
We established ways of working and quickly learned to draw on each others strengths as a group. There was a feeling of accomplishment to turn in our first group assignment, but the focus quickly shifts to the next few which lie ahead! I think the class was pleased to reconvene after the first module; however, you can sense a bit more tension than in the first module – the fun and games are over and we have a lot of work ahead of us.