“I don’t believe in writing everything behind closed doors and then simply pushing it out.”
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When people are empowered to make an impact, that's when the magic happens.
Stratégie · Personnes · 18 min de lecture
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” For Lien Meuleman, Barco’s new Chief Human Resources Officer, this is more than a catchy phrase. It’s a guiding principle: no strategy without a strong culture, no success without people. After several years in global HR roles at Barco, the leadership team asked Lien to step up as CHRO – a deliberate decision to choose someone deeply connected to both people and the business. Together with the HR team, she is now shaping a clear roadmap to truly put people first.
Three pillars, one vision
Barco’s HR roadmap for the next two to three years rests on three pillars: culture, diverse talent and continuous learning. Here’s how Lien looks at each of them.
“Culture isn’t written on the walls. It’s lived in the choices we make when no one is watching.”
Lien: “Culture is the foundation of our company. It defines how we collaborate and deliver results. At Barco, culture is a priority and a choice. A company’s culture is ultimately defined by the worst behavior it tolerates.
We have three strong cultural values: ‘Customer Orientation’, ‘Impactful Innovation’ and ‘Winning Collaboration’. All three matter equally, and act as a guide how we behave day to day.
But what does being customer-focused actually mean? Which behaviors reflect winning collaboration? To bring our culture to life, we aim to translate our core values into tangible, everyday routines. For example, don't give critical feedback via email, call instead. Those routines become habits, and that’s where true culture takes root.”
How are we doing it?
Lien: “I don't believe in writing everything behind closed doors and then simply pushing it out. To shape our culture and behavior, we go into dialogue with our colleagues and capture the perspectives of teams across the company..
We've been organizing Culture Cafés with colleagues from different sites, teams and backgrounds. We ask them how they see our culture and which behaviors they link to it. That bottom-up input is crucial. Yet we're also capturing top-down input through workshops with the CLT and our executive teams. We'll then anchor the findings in a clear charter with tangible examples for each cultural value."
“Talent is everywhere, but sometimes people lack opportunity or a voice.”
Lien: “As a tech company, skilled and talented people are essential for our future. Yet it’s sometimes challenging to find the specific skills we need to deliver our strategy. At the same time, when I look around at Barco sites across the world, I see incredible potential that we’re not fully tapping into. Talent exists throughout our sites and teams, but it isn’t always visible. Many gifted individuals remain unheard. Not because they lack ability, but because they lack opportunity or a voice. Our challenge is to create environments where potential can be seen, heard, and empowered.
And of course, in a global company like Barco, diversity is key. Different backgrounds, young talent, gender balance: more diverse teams ensure different ideas and fresh perspectives, which drives innovation.”
Lien: “We’re working on a more structured approach to identifying skills and talent. By rethinking our talent processes and raising awareness among our people managers, we aim to broaden the pool, make potential more visible and actively build more diverse pipelines.”
“If we keep learning, we keep innovating.”
Lien: “For a tech company like Barco, innovation is non-negotiable. But innovation doesn't come from a slogan. It comes from people who keep learning, experimenting and stay curious. That's why I see continuous learning as critical to Barco's growth."
Lien: “Together with the business, we’re mapping the skills we need to achieve our goals and we’ll drive learning and development around that. If our people grow, our company will follow. So, we foster this growth mindset, which is essential for our future, through various learning initiatives: from internal mentoring programs and lunch and learn sessions led by experts to events with external speakers or formal training opportunities outside Barco. By focusing on diverse learning methods we’re sure to accommodate different learning styles across our workforce. For example, we combine online self-paced learning platforms like LinkedIn Learning and O’Reilly with classroom trainings and guided workshops.”
Three enablers to make it happen
Alongside these pillars, Lien sees three key enablers that will make the roadmap real: communications and engagement, professional journeys and new leadership skills.
Enabler 01
“Every conversation is a bridge.”
Lien: “When we communicate with openness and empathy, we don’t just share information. We move closer to our people and strengthen the culture that defines us. We want to reinforce the connections with the Barco people in every country and in every role. So instead of simply communicating decisions, we have to make them visible, listen, talk to the people and show up where the work happens.
My colleagues in HR and Internal Communications are sharing success stories more actively, engaging with people directly, and investing in low-threshold communications. This is clearly strengthening connection and engagement. In our latest engagement survey in Q3 2025, the overall employee engagement score rose to 76%, up 3% from 2024. We will continue to build on this and further engage our teams worldwide in the coming years.”
The overall employee engagement score rose by 3% in 2025. I’m happy to see how our efforts to strengthen connection and engagement are already paying off.
Enabler 02
“Everyone should be able to shape their own professional journey.”
Lien: “We want employees to take active control over their own professional journey. I use the word ‘journey’ deliberately, because I don’t want to talk about careers in the traditional ladder sense. Growth isn’t just about moving up, it’s also about taking zigzagging career steps to learn and broaden your expertise.
To help people see their options more clearly, we’ve completely reviewed the job framework at Barco. In the past, we had more than 2,000 roles, which was far too complex. We’ve now refined that to 190 roles. For each one, we’ve written a job description and we’re defining the skills that matter. By digitalizing these professional journeys, everyone will be able to see which experiences, skills and learning steps can help them move in the direction they choose. Let me stress again that at Barco, the technical or expertise track is just as valuable as the managerial path.”
We’re talking about professional journeys, not careers. Horizontal growth, deepening your expertise, is just as valuable as stepping into leadership.
Enabler 03
“Today’s leaders are coaches who inspire and co-create.”
Lien: “The world around us is changing fast: socially, politically, technologically and geopolitically. Our people need leaders who can guide them through that constant change, with clarity and empathy. They need leaders who provide vision and direction.
That requires a new type of leadership: change leaders who are self-aware, who know what they're struggling with themselves, and who can inspire and give purpose to their teams. Especially for a reference player in tech like Barco, people want to understand the why behind their work. It’s our leaders’ job to make that visible – and our job in HR is to help leadership evolve accordingly.”
Our plan is well connected to the business strategy. HR is an enabling function, but mainly, we're here to empower the teams: support their growth, remove barriers, and create space for them to thrive.
About Lien Meuleman
With a background in psychology, Lien has built her entire career around people and HR. She spent years at Coca-Cola in a wide range of HR roles across different locations, followed by a period at Becton Dickinson where she was responsible for the Benelux HR strategy and deployment. Looking to create more direct impact in a global headquarter, she joined Barco as Global HR Business Partner for several business units, later leading the Global Center of Expertise for Talent.
In 2025, Lien was appointed CHRO – a clear decision by Barco’s management to choose “someone close to the people, who understands the business units and the company’s energy.”
A lot of colleagues walk into my office without hesitation and feel comfortable to speak openly and authentically. That low threshold is exactly what we need.
