When something is close to your heart, it shows in your voice—and for Anne-Sofie Zaks, VP Group HR at SKF Group, the transformation of HR into a function that enables people to grow and thrive is more than a role—it's a purpose.

“I’m a people person through and through,” she begins. “I’ve been with SKF for 24 years, all in the people function. Most of my time has been in HR, and three years ago, I also took on communication. That transition was a proud moment for me—it was a stretch, but also an opportunity to bring both areas closer in service of a common goal.”

Zaks has worked across manufacturing, sales, R&D, and business turnarounds in international roles, and brings a deep, 360-degree understanding of the company. Her entry into group management four years ago marked the beginning of what she calls the “people transformation”—an ambitious shift toward aligning HR practices with business needs, decentralising services, and building a strong foundation for employee experience.

“When I stepped into this role, I could see the need to modernise our processes,” she says. “Instead of annual, control-based systems, we needed to build more business-connected, empowering ways of working. I wanted to create a culture where people can grow and thrive.”

This vision led to a major HR transformation that included redesigning processes, accelerating digitalisation, and shifting HR business partner work to shared services. As part of this shift, Zaks made a symbolic yet impactful move—renaming the function from “Human Resources” to “People Experience.”

“Managing resources felt outdated to me,” she explains. “Just like we think about customer experience, I wanted us to think about employee experience. That required a mindset shift.”

One of the most defining projects under her leadership was SKF’s purpose-driven transformation—a nine-month journey that engaged over 10,000 employees globally. The initiative helped redefine company values and brought to light the emotional connection employees had with the organisation.

“We saw that our people wanted meaning,” she says. “And when you bring communication and people experience under one roof, you can build something powerful. We combined internal insights from the purpose journey with a brand perception study across 4,000 customers to shape our brand strategy—and make it more emotional, more human.”

Taking on communication: A personal learning curve

When asked about the transition from HR to managing communication, Zaks is candid about the challenges.

“HR was my comfort zone. Communication was not,” she admits. “So, I set out to learn. I led the function myself at first, brought in global alignment, and built a strong professional team. Today, I’ve stepped back a bit so the experts can lead. But my initial focus was listening, learning, and lifting the function’s strategic visibility.”

Despite differences in content, she finds that managing both functions shares similarities.

“Both require a deep understanding of business strategy, strong teams, global-local networks, and a clear roadmap. While the content differs—communication overlaps with sales and marketing—the leadership principles are much the same.”

Embedding leadership philosophy in a technical organisation

SKF is a deeply technical company, and embedding a strong, consistent leadership philosophy has required sustained effort across layers.

“You can’t drive this top-down only,” she emphasises. “Our purpose and values are central, but regions must have the freedom to implement and adapt. We also measure leadership KPIs, offer training at all levels, and encourage best practice sharing.”

Her team’s work extends all the way to shop floors, reinforcing that good leadership is for everyone, not just executives.

“It’s never done,” she reflects. “You realise as you go where the gaps are. It’s about staying agile, listening, and continuously improving.”

Zaks is quick to acknowledge that the transformation she led is not hers alone. “It’s the people who make the difference.”

“This journey was powered by more than 10,000 colleagues. I’m proud of what we’ve built, but I’m even prouder of how we built it—together.”

As she concludes, one truth stands out: great organisations don’t just invest in their strategies—they invest in their people.