
Curious to know how others have experienced working with me?
Read about what clients have said.
I'm delighted to see that Marie-Claire is now leading Shift. Her insights have been invaluable to me as a leader. Marie-Claire is a perceptive and empathetic Coach and I'm confident she will continue to bring huge value, clarity and humor to all that work with her.
Sarah Kuijlaars Chief Financial Officer, De Beers Group
Marie-Claire's passion, coupled with her knowledge of what's required to improve performance at the individual, team and organizational level, was instrumental to the successful development of our staff. She was the driver behind the evaluation of our organizational requirements and staff capabilities and the development of doable staff development plans to meet our needs.
David Douglas Former CFO, Mubadala Petroleum
I had the pleasure working with Marie-Claire as my HR partner during a period of major change. Marie-Claire’s insight into the humans’ psyche and her empathy combined with the ability to provide pragmatic advice, makes her an outstanding coach and mentor. I learnt to appreciate her as a team player and sparring partner during challenging times where, after layoffs, the organisation needed to be re-energised, and a performance culture required to be enabled. Her advice was invaluable and her straight-forward style refreshing.
Matthias Bichsel Non-Exec Director, Voliro Airborne Robotics
Marie Claire is a very valuable resource for coaching and development of leaders at all levels in the organization.
Mundhir al Barwani General Manager, Al Haditha Petroleum Services

Marie-Claire has a rare ability to quickly take the pulse of a business, understand the strategic priorities and then closely collaborate to help build the most effective organization for the challenges ahead. She does so with genuine warmth and interest in the people she meets at all levels, building strong and lasting relationships in the process. Her energy and positivity made our interactions both enjoyable and highly productive. We worked on culture, behavioural styles and engagement, to name a few – all grounded in building an organisation better equipped to meet our business goals. The results have been excellent and sustainable and no doubt we are a better company thanks in no small measure to Marie-Claire’s involvement and guidance.
David Swan Former General Manager, Precision Plastic Products Company
Marie-Claire has been working as an executive coach to me during a period of significant professional and personal change involving moving company, corporate culture and base country in 2H 2022. Alongside extensive family and sporting commitments, she has been an invaluable support and sounding board for a complex sequence of physical and emotional changes where I would otherwise have felt isolated and vulnerable.
Through a well-structured programme of insights, observations and inputs Marie-Claire has helped me define and navigate a pathway through multiple steep learning curves and conflicting priorities so that I was able to move toward a successful and sustainable first 6 months in the new role. She has brought leading practice and thinking into our conversations alongside practical tools and techniques to manage uncertainty, opportunity and risk.
Whilst nurturing and supporting, Marie-Claire is also direct and clear when needed and this accountability for progress and growth is rewarding and enriching as an investment in myself, my family and my overall well-being. Very much looking forward to more in 2023!
Mark Wharton Head of Industrial Assurance, Glencore
Marie-Claire, thank you for our joint exciting journey, full of discovering and looking at myself through other people’s perspective. Thank you for opening my eyes and showing me that I can see the world differently. Thank you for teaching me how to deal with challenges that cross my path, and help me find a balance between myself and the world around me. And finally, thank you for showing me where my strengths lie and how I can best use them as a professional.
Dariusz Dmowski Compensation and Benefits Manager, C&A
In 2003 I joined Shell in the MENA region and one of my first interactions was with Marie-Claire. She was instrumental in supporting me in the onboarding process, learning about the organization and most importantly providing insights to help me navigate, especially as a senior new comer, through a very strong and closely knit upstream culture. On a broader level, in her role as Regional Manager HR, Strategy, Change and OE her in-depth subject matter knowledge, great interpersonal skills and innate ability to read the pulse of the organization have served her well in providing tremendous value in supporting the business in critical areas such as the talent reviews for the executive level, diversity and inclusion, change management, coaching and effective team development. Furthermore, Marie-Claire’s strong contributions stems from taking genuine interest in people and her ability to hold “straight talk” with colleagues at all levels of the organization. On a more personal level she is truly a delight to know and to work with.
Kamal Siada Managing Director/Senior Advisor, Kalina Global Advisory LLC
I had the pleasure of working with Marie-Claire at Mubadala. She is pragmatic, always engaged and truly cares about the learning and development needs of all the staff in the organization - of the CEO, the ExCo and rank and file employees. Marie-Claire and I were staffed on a few corporate-wide projects related to executive coaching / staff development and i witnessed the breadth of her tremendous creativity, passion for the subject matter and deep expertise
Shola Adekeye Energy Executive, Principal Consultant Decarbonization, KBC A Yokogawa Company

As a young leader, who was being groomed for C-level management, I was extremely lucky to get Marie Claire’s help & guidance. Her leadership coaching and suggestions are AMAZING . What I loved the most about her is the time she took to first understand me personally, then she took the effort to understand my team and the dynamics before making any recommendations. That made it very human centered for me. I only wish I had met her earlier in my career. PS : she is also gifted at keeping it light with a great sense of humor.
Sameer Kulkarni Executive Director | Estate and Community Management, AMAALA
I worked with Marie-Claire in the Middle East in 2006/7. She has an uncanny ability to establish an immediate rapport and connect even with virtual strangers in a very positive complimentary way, that people usually simply cannot resist. At the same time, if necessary, she can cut right through nonsense or deflective excuses or behaviours. As a consequence she is very effective in making people conscious of -and reflect on- their own behaviours by “holding up a mirror”. An excellent judge of people and a great coach/talent manager/change agent, to have on one’s side.
Bart van der Steenstraten Former VP Treasury, Shell
Have been working with Marie-Claire, who is now also one of my best friends, for over a decade! Extraordinary person with a great mind and great heart for business and life. Marie-Claire has a style that makes it a pleasure to work with her. She is personable, a great listener, positive, able to focus on what really matters and keen to help clients keep getting better. She is also smart, insightful, able to keep up with any executive who is a subject matter expert. Marie-Claire has a formidable record of getting results, along with impressive international experience with some top-tier global companies. Her work is outstanding, brilliant really! Her engaging demeanor and high level of emotional intelligence make her an inspiring and motivating coach/change agent. Businesses, teams and individuals that have the luck to cooperate with her are simply better people and entities thereafter! Her interventions and smile unlock extraordinary potential of people and teams by building their confidence to explore and experiment.
Panorea Karanikolopoulou Chief People Officer, QUALCO
I worked closely with Marie-Claire for one and a half years at Coca Cola Hellenic. I was holding the position of Country General Manager, managing a three parties JV with a high degree of complexity. Marie-Claire worked with me as an executive coach, supporting me to deal effectively with the complexity I had to face in that role ... she supports leaders and teams in the process of alignment and stretches them to understand, appreciate and maximize the benefit of diversity among team members to deliver excellent business results.
Michael E. Economakis Executive Chairman, Petros Petropoulos SAIC (Plc)
I met Marie-Claire at one of my former employers and we recently worked together on several coaching sessions. My experience with her has been very positive and I can highly recommend her. She has the knowledge, business acumen and capacity to listen and ask the right questions. Her Middle East experience was also very handy as she is very familiar with the business environment in the region and can relate to it.
Alvaro García de Oteyza Delbès Associate Director, Boston Consulting Group
Marie Claire just gets it; corporate dynamics and the balancing act of family life and career. Her authenticity, pragmatism and years of international experience have given me many great insights, inspiration and confidence.
Carline J. HR Professional

Marie-Claire is a highly professional coach. I experienced that first hand during our work together through her work with colleagues including myself. She is passionate about coaching with a caring attitude, and she coaches people at various levels. Besides being skilled, it comes natural to Marie-Claire and I worked long enough with her to see the result of her work on people she coached; in certain cases it was really transformational.
Ahmed Al Shamsi Enterprise Chief Human Capital Officer, Nawah Energy Company
As the Coaching Project Lead at Corporate level in a multicultural environment, Marie-Claire managed to create such a creative atmosphere and safe environment that it enabled us as team members to uncover and build on each of our strengths. It was great to see people flourish under her leadership and contribute at their best to the overall project success. The way she shared feedback was so natural, honest, respectful and effective. It felt like a great developmental discussion rather than just feedback from a peer. After those conversations I always felt inspired and empowered, ready to move forward. She lives the values she preaches: respect for people, honesty, integrity, openness and kindness.
Andrzej Starzynski Business Coach and Mentor, C3 Coaching&Consulting
Marie Claire is an excellent coach, business partner and strategist. She has an incredible ability to connect with any one, Interns to CEOs, and earn their trust. You will always find Marie Claire with a big smile and positive attitude, traits that come in handy when you are supporting an organization through change, mentoring senior leadership or changing organisational culture.
Shiju Koshy Senior Manager HR & HSE, Manufacturing Firm
Marie-Claire is one of the most dedicated professionals I’ve worked with who brings all of the skills and expertise to the team. We’ve partnered on several projects and I attended many coaching classes led by Marie-Claire. It was a pleasure working with such a beautiful person.
Asmahanne Ibrahim Founder and General Manager of Operations, Flomello
I had the privilege of working with Marie Claire during my tenure at Dubai properties. In my early career, she was one of the greatest managers I had, who coached me, helped me grow in my passion areas -talent management and employee engagement. She is an excellent facilitator and coach. I learnt a great deal from her project management skills, big picture thinking, her pleasant persona and the way she connects with anyone she works with. I am elated that she is now launching her own space into coaching, she is a born leader and coaching comes to her naturally. I wish her all the success in her new venture.
Priyanka Bansod Engagement Advisor, Metrolinx

Marie-Claire is your strategic partner as you reach for your next level of success.
She is diligent, insightful, direct and caring. If you want a transition coach that will challenge, motivate, inform and prepare you for the next level of your career, look no further.
I've had the great pleasure of working with Marie-Claire and would recommend her to anyone that is looking for a no-nonsense approach to strategic coaching, while providing a very exciting and uplifting experience.
Stavros Georgakopoulos Global Cyber Security Architect, Carmeuse
Marie Claire is a seasoned executive with a demonstrated career of successful coaching, advice, and counseling. Her background is peppered with the experiences that make her uniquely qualified to step into a nuanced or difficult environment and make it clear and understandable. She and I worked together on the same HR team while at Mubadala based in Abu Dhabi. We shared global responsibilities in our HR functions for the organization. She was instrumental in leading change in the organization on various projects which included assembling a leader guide for global managers with the HR leadership team that was built around the leadership framework and the employee life cycle. She re-sculpted the talent review process which helped accelerate the Emiratization in senior positions. Her leadership in developing the internal HR capability across the business footprint, was most prevalent in terms of talent processes and leadership curriculum design and delivery. She was a key player in leading the HR function on the crisis management team and in particular the HR Response team. She was extremely collaborative across functions which enables a seasoned professional approach to her coaching and advice. She was seen by all of her senior leaders as a vital resource and instrumental to the decision-making process of the organization.
Timothy Armstrong Managing Director, OmniCruit LLC
Marie-Claire is een vakvrouw op het gebied van coaching. Haar aanpak is gestructureerd met een vooropgezet plan waarbij mijn vraagstuk centraal stond. Zij heeft een repertoire aan kennis en methodes die zij specifiek heeft ingezet om mijn doel te bereiken. Haar gedrevenheid werkt aanstekelijk waardoor het een feest was kennis en kunde te oogsten. Zij verleidt je je horizon te verbreden. Kortom het was een inspirerende reis die ik iedereen toewens.
Heidi Scholte Verandermanager | Organisatieadviseur | Interimmanager | Projectmanager, Rijksvastgoedbedrijf
I really enjoyed working with Maire-Claire. She was a great HC business partner on a number of projects, but moreover was an exceptional coach with colleagues at all levels in the organisation. Her open and honest style was highly effective in having those with whom she worked understand how their actions, behaviours or leadership styles impacted others. She helped produce changes that had a noticeable and positive impact on both individuals and the organisation more widely. Never one to sidestep a difficult issue or situation, she is a great resource to have on your team - and great company as well!
Andy Mitchell Senior Communications Advisor and Content Creator

Marie-Claire is an absolute professional with both the experience and the personal touch to create breakthrough opportunities for teams. Expect challenge, emotion, excitement and inspiration.
Barry O'Connell CEO, Dublin Port Company and Chairman, GOAL Global
Marie-Claire and I worked in a leadership team for a new venture that required operating across multiple countries and continents at different stages of the venture. Marie-Claire was the HR leader of the organisation of approximately 180 people that were spread across two very different countries and regulatory regimes and was involved in the recruitment, mobilisation of all the staff and the demobilisation of staff as required plus mobilising different team members to other different countries and continents to manage different aspects of the business. During the two and half years I was involved in the venture she provided a very approachable, supportive and constructive approach to the development, implementation and interpretation of policies and procedures that supported the purpose of the business venture and the ethos of the organisation. This was especially so as the organisation was severely tested by external events (terrorist incidents, travel bans and military activities) during this period that required major reassessments of how the venture activities could be successfully conducted. In this period she worked with diverse and challenging people in the organisation to provide support and helped weld a team that had a united purpose and goal to aid the successful delivery against a variety of challenging targets. Marie-Claire’s ability to understand how different people work enabled her to be trusted by all members of the leadership team and for her to provide pragmatic advice and solutions to the challenges encountered. She coupled this with providing good guidance and support to her staff and in providing great coaching to both them and the leadership team. Marie-Claire was great fun to work with and became a very trusted colleague during and after these times. As a coach her help and advice was invaluable and her straight-forward style refreshing and very much appreciated by all. Above all I appreciated her desire to make the situations work for all concerned, her appreciation of the efforts of others and her abilities to find solutions for seemingly impossible situations and all with a smile.
Simon Bennett Global Front End Development Consultant, Shell
Effective coaching is an art and over the years Marie Claire has mastered that art. I have benefited from it myself, and I have witnessed the impact of her coaching on others. I saw Marie Claire in action during workshops and training sessions with staff from various levels and disciplines. In her own relaxed yet highly motivating communication style, she managed to provide powerful learning moments in a safe space on topics which were relatively new at the time, like diversity and inclusion. I can still recall one of her sessions where she showed us the video” the Peacock in the Land of the Penguins', and facilitated an honest and open discussion around the importance of diversity, accepting, but more so valuing different cultures and perspectives. She passionately talked about the need for companies to attract, develop and retain their diverse workforce with a balanced commitment to all employees. Marie Claire, you personally shaped me for the corporate world. You taught me the foundational skills and business understanding that kick started my career. I hope you will continue to do that for many more people in the years to come.
Sanjeewa Marasinghe Director, Fixelo Consultants (PVT) Ltd
Highly Recommended - An inspirational leader and coach I had the pleasure of working directly with for two fabulous years. Marie-Claire has a wonderfully natural way of engaging professionals at all levels and from incredibly diverse cultures and helping them find their own path of growth, purpose and achievement. Just one of many projects involved Marie-Claire successfully delivering from concept through implementation to operation of a world class online learning platform that was a first for our group. This initiative achieved a significant uplift in employee engagement, individual learning and growth across 3,000+ staff.
Mark Napper Director, NxtGen Sourcing Tech Ltd.
I've worked indirectly three years, and one year as a direct report to Marie-Claire Junge. In the time I've known her, Marie-Claire has consistently been a strong HR leader — capable of taking control and supportive of a mega regional E&P project while executing the HR function to the fullest. As well, she's a pleasure to work with. Marie-Claire is cheerful in the face of daunting deadlines and always available to support the management team and coach and develop staff. Rarely do you come across someone who is talented at both big picture ideas and executing the small details — Marie-Claire is just that person. As an HR leader and regional manager at Shell, she supported a geographically complex and culturally diverse organization , operating in diverse regulatory regimes , and according to Shell’s high standards. In addition to supporting an intense demanding mega E&P project, she managed the people, supported the management team and maintained client relationships all the way from ideation through to execution. Marie-Claire planned, led, directed, developed, and coordinated the regional and local policies according to the Shell global guidelines in UAE, offshore team and Iran offices, while ensuring legal compliance and implementation of the Business Principles, the leadership framework and talent strategy. I found her an outstanding communicator. She has the ability to engage leaders and rank-and-file members of organization, and facilitated exchanges about the challenges and realities of their work and personal lives in intelligent and compelling ways for a diverse population of local, regional and expatriate staff.
Peyman Dayyani CHRO and Executive Board Member, Solico Group


Marie-Claire and I worked together during her time at Al Tayer Group. What stays with me is her passion and warmth and how she treats those she works with as human beings. Every encounter with Marie-Claire is an opportunity for personal growth. Marie-Claire believed in really getting to know those she worked with as a means to unlock the potential for better performance, whether that be her own team or with the businesses she served. Her passion for people and genuinely wanting to impact their lives in a positive way was evident in all her interactions and relationships across a diverse group of people. Marie-Claire is an expert in her field. Those that have an opportunity to spend time with Marie-Claire will be left with a positive experience and will be taken on a journey of self discovery and growth.
Kirsty Koen CHRO, Fine Hygienic Holding
I have had the privilege of knowing Marie-Claire for many years now, from the original opportunity to partner with her as the sponsor for the Coach Training Programme I was involved in delivering with Coca-Cola Hellenic through @Corporate Potential. She was an exemplary leader passionate about all aspects of leadership and especially the power of coaching to transform culture and engagement. As you would expect from a sponsor within an organisation with a 28 country reach, it required exceptional drive, commitment and stakeholder influencing to make the programme a success. What stood out for me was that despite the huge requirements in her role, she always made time to set others up for success, whether her own leadership team, leaders on the programme and us as suppliers. I still have the handwritten card you wrote thanking me for my support and approach to making the first pilot programme in Vienna a success – its this ‘going above and beyond’ that sets Marie-Claire apart from the rest.
Mark Watkins VP Sales & Delivery, Jumpshift Development Ltd.

Marie-Claire has a passion for coaching and doing it well. She demonstrated the ability to effectively coach senior executives and teams, delivering results that led to requests from others for her services. She also works well with much more junior individuals and teams. Marie-Claire has the ability to build good relationships with coachees and is supportive, listening well and respecting differences whilst helping people change. However, her style is not “fluffy” and she can be direct and challenging when required. As a close colleague I saw this not only in her formal coaching but in her interaction with peers and I considered her to be an informal coach to me, which I valued.
Martin Ashdown Former HR Consultant, gammaHRC Ltd.
Ik heb lang gewerkt in HR. De truc is niet zozeer om nieuwe processen uit te vinden; iedereen doet ongeveer hetzelfde. Het gaat er om, om processen daadwerkelijk te implementeren en te verbinden. Elk bedrijf heeft een process om te ranken, elk bedrijf heeft lange termijn beloningen. Elk bedrijf doet aan beoordelingen en elk bedrijf doet aan prestatiebeloning op korte en lange termijn. Elk bedrijf geeft geld uit aan training en kent een talent review. Dus dat is niet wat de top en de bodem van elkaar onderscheidt. Het zit hem in de implementatie, en in hoe het zich verbindt met de werkvloer. Processen hebben geen zin als ze slecht bureaucratie dienen en in het geheim draaien; ze moeten werkelijke tractie hebben en met elkaar verbonden zijn. Dat is waar Marie-Claire haar meerwaarde opbrengt. Ze verbindt de HR processen en ze zorgt er voor dat de werknemers deze processen daadwerkelijk ervaren. Zo ontmoette ze iedereen in onze talent pool, vroeg om hun wensen, hun sterke en zwakke eigenschappen en daden. Dat bracht ze in in onze performance ranking, en daarna in ons talent review. Ze deed aan terugkoppeling van de talent review en zorgde er voor dat dit terugkwam in de training en carrière planning. Zo hadden we een buitengewoon sterk HR systeem en vonden onze medewerkers – van hoog tot laag - zich buitengewoon betrokken en gewaardeerd.
Erik Slotboom Former Vice President HR, Shell
Marie-Claire has opened a vast space for the team to comfortably reflect and act on our beliefs, to state and accept our fears and prejudices, enabling us to become a better, stronger and highly inspired team of leaders. An amazing individual with an enormous strength to change and evolve, based on the challenge involved, bringing and spreading her own unique conquering energy.
Daniela Mihovska Former Group Director Business Systems and Solutions HR/Public Affairs & Communications/Digital Workplace, Coca-Cola Hellenic

Marie Claire has been instrumental in helping me develop my leadership skills and providing me with tailored advice to tackle the challenges I face at work. From the very first session, I knew I was in good hands. She took the time to understand my goals and aspirations, as well as the challenges I was facing as a leader. She provided me with a safe and supportive environment to explore my strengths and weaknesses, and helped me identify areas for improvement. Marie Claire never used a one-size-fits-all approach, but instead worked with me to develop strategies that were uniquely suited to my situation and fitted with the type of leader I aspire to be. She enabled me to try out new approaches, and her recommendations were always spot-on and actionable, so I saw gradual improvements in my performance as a result. Throughout our coaching engagement, Marie Claire has encouraged me to be my best self, challenged me to think outside the box, and held me accountable for my commitments. I have no doubt that the skills and insights I have gained through our work together will continue to serve me well in my professional and personal life. I would recommend Marie Claire to anyone looking to enhance their leadership skills and overcome the challenges they face in their role. Marie Claire‘s expertise, dedication, and personalized approach make her an exceptional Coach.
General Counsel, Nawah
I got to know Marie-Claire when we worked together at Coca Cola Hellenic, as members of the Talent Leadership team. She joined us to help build a Coaching Culture across a 28 countries footprint. She focused on creating more awareness around what Coaching is and how we all can benefit from it, as employees, leaders and as a company. She drove the internal coaching capability building across all levels; ensured that key people processes incorporated our coaching principles and built a pool of internal certified coaches. By the time Marie-Claire left Coca Cola Hellenic to set up her own consultancy business in Cyprus, the “culture shift” had taken place, and the request to continue to invest in coaching was driven by the countries. Marie-Claire is a true catalyst, passionate about developing people and a living example of a leader who brings coaching to life. I remember her as a great team player, a go-to sparring partner, who is very knowledgeable in her field, and readily shares her knowledge and experience for the benefit of the greater good. And inspired by her, I discovered my own passion for coaching.
Piotr Malita Commercial Capability Consultant and Coach, Piotr Malita Consulting
I had the wonderful opportunity of working with Marie Claire during my stint at Dubai Properties. We worked together on strengthening our employee engagement. Through her guidance and support we were able to more than double the employee engagement score for our department. She helped me develop strategies that created positive impact on employee commitment especially during times of change. Marie Claire exudes passion for her work and makes it a point to genuinely impact the individuals she works with. She is an effective coach, focused on helping organizations attain its goals. I wish her all the very best; please keep influencing us with your amazing personality.
Rakesh Choodikottamel Facilities Manager, Arada
It was always a pleasure seeing Marie-Claire coming into the office in the morning with a bright smile, greeting everyone. Marie-Claire always made time for people whilst managing to deliver on tasks & projects too. An expert in Talent Management & a great Coach too, a true professional!
Tracy McGowan Learning Solutions Consultant, TTRO
I was working with Marie-Claire in Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company. Marie-Claire is very open, honest but also direct in her communication. She is always striving to find the best solution in talent management and training and development areas for the stakeholder she is working with. She is very brave and often tries to implement out-of-the-box solutions as well. If I would have to choose one most important skill to emphasize, that would definitely be coaching skills - Marie-Claire is a great coach. It was a pleasure working with Marie-Claire.
Hana Naoulo Bego HR Director, Amplexor Life Sciences
Marie-Claire is a very kind, caring and positive person. She is authentic, extremely passionate and takes genuine interest in developing individuals and teams. She is a wonderful person and coach and would surely recommend her for the vast experience and expertise she brings.
Michelle Rawat Talent and Performance Leader, Rogers Communications
I co-facilitated with Marie-Claire, a consummate professional that is always well-prepared to design and deliver any event.
Paul Lotts Former OE Consultant, Royal Dutch Shell

Marie-Claire is a Coach in every sense of the word. I worked with Marie-Claire for almost 2 years as a member in her Talent Team, while handling the Emiratisation Department as the National Development and Emiratisation Manager. Those two years were enough to shift my management skills to its best, thanks to her support and guidance. She was my leader and coach, who helped me and my team to bond, understand each other better, value our differences, and communicate more freely. The Emiratisation Dept in our organization became a high performing team, achieving great results and meeting all of the required goals and more. One of the reasons for this continued success is Marie-Claire. She guided me to think out-of-the-box and to develop my strategies to deliver results of the best quality.
Latifa AlSuwaidi Head of Talent and Emiratisation, Al Tayer Group
Marie-Claire and I were members of the Global HR leadership team at Mubadala Petroleum. Marie-Claire was the group head of Talent. We successfully collaborated and delivered on multiple projects over several years. In my mind Marie-Claire stands out for her impressive successes in leading the introduction and socialization of the group talent management methodology, and the introduction and adoption of a leadership development framework. Marie-Claire was always able to achieve strong buy-in from the senior leadership team and key influencers across business units by investing time in building the relationship and by inviting collaboration in the design and delivery of her key programs. Marie-Claire was known for her passion in developing people, and her timeless availability to provide hands on coaching at all levels of the business.
Robert McPherson People and OD Advisor, NEXTGEN Group
Marie-Claire is a great leader of people and projects. She engages people into the “Big Picture” coupled with a "Can Do" approach and team synergy. In her role as Vice President Talent, Real Estate & Ventures HR , Marie-Claire managed to achieve a high level of collaboration and cooperation between functional representatives in different BUs, ensuring innovation, leverage of internal expertise and strong business decisions throughout the Organization. I would like to highlight her dedication, her talent to mobilize necessary resources and develop teams’ capabilities, as well as her continued efforts to apply her knowledge and new approaches in practice. And of course, her inspiring, supportive and friendly personality make her a truly exceptional leader. I have learned a great deal from her continuous coaching and professionalism. Marie-Claire is one of the best leaders I have worked with and I’m sure every progressive, intellectual and quality result oriented team will benefit from having her as a member. The year I spent working with Marie-Claire was intense (in terms of initiatives and projects) yet extremely rewarding in all aspects. She successfully led our team through various Talent, L&D, and Reward projects, and drove the implementation of Operational & Systems Frameworks.
Moaz Ibrahim HR Lead, JVs' & Al Tayer Engineering, Al Tayer Group
Marie-Claire and I go back to 2003, when we first worked together to design the onboarding event for the newly established Shell Middle East, Russia and Caspian region. It was a critical step in the change process, where bridges needed to be built and views had to be aligned on the role of the regional office, and the level of decision making at country level as part of the new Business Operating Model. During this process Marie-Claire demonstrated passion, clarity of thinking and a collaborative partnering mindset. Her sense of humour and drive to make things happen contributed to this successful event which helped accelerate the culture change.
Scott Bissessar Founder and CEO, ChangeVU
Marie-Claire is an exceptional Manager and a Leader. During my tenure with her in Al Tayer Group, I had the pleasure of working with her on several projects with tight deadlines, and she led by example. The other characteristic that made her such a great manager was her kindness and ability to empathize. She was patient with me throughout my onboarding, made sure to spend time with me to share her knowledge, and always answered all my queries thoughtfully. This was no mean feat considering pretty much all my probationary period under her was completely online & with hardly any chance to interact in a normal office setup. This was during the onset of the pandemic with little or no clarity on several people topics as we were dealing with issues that had absolutely no precedence. However, she knew well on how to deal with conflicting priorities in a high-pressure situation and ensured never to lose her cool. This is one of the many reasons she has my utmost respect. Marie-Claire surely knows how to bring the best out of each person and is an outstanding coach and mentor. She kept the team motivated and made sure to catch up with each one of us despite her busy schedule. I always appreciated her ability to command a room and get people on board with ideas – even people who were initially on completely different pages. Her people skills are awesome and I’m delighted that I had the chance to learn from Marie-Claire.
Amlan Sengupta Human Resources Business Partner, Al Tayer Group

Ik heb onlangs een coaching traject met Marie-Claire afgerond. Gedurende een periode van drie maanden hadden we de coaching sessies via Zoom. De wekelijkse frequentie zorgde ervoor dat we snel progressie konden maken. Marie-Claire is een goede luisteraar, ik voelde me gehoord. Ze richtte zich op mij, niet op mijn omgeving. Ik leerde mijn eigen denken en doen onder de loep te nemen en te kijken naar wat ik anders zou kunnen doen. Door met elkaar in gesprek te gaan, duidelijkheid te vragen, en te nuanceren, kwamen we doelgericht tot de kern van het vraagstuk. Taal speelt een belangrijke rol in haar aanpak. Ze realiseert zich dat de woordkeus het proces kan stimuleren of juist belemmeren, en handelt hierna.Maar het bleef niet bij het constateren van inzichten. Marie-Claire geeft je concrete hulpmiddelen en opdrachten die je kunt uitproberen. Die practische aanpak spreekt me aan. Marie-Claire heeft duidelijk veel plezier in het coachen. Haar enthousiasme werkt dan ook aanstekelijk. Er was geen plaats voor oordeel. Enkel en alleen een rotsvast vertrouwen dat ik zelf de oplossingen zou vinden.
Annelies Heuzema ZZP’er