© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Former Red Bull Chief Operating Officer Jayne Poole has recently joined Mercedes in an advisory role. Toto Wolff says “having her eyes is a very, very strong edge to the organisation”.
Back in March it was reported that Mercedes has signed former Red Bull HR director and COO Jayne Poole, to act as the team’s new special advisor.
Team boss Toto Wolff says it’s important for teams to sometimes have somebody from the outside evaluate its processes.
“Now and then, if an organisation becomes mature and follows its processes and strategies, and it’s successful, you need to get an outside perspective, and you need to shake it up,” the Austrian told Autosport.
“You don’t want to reinvent it, but you want to consider whether yesterday’s assumptions are still competitive enough going forward.
“And therefore, having somebody come in with fresh eyes, looking at it in a very neutral way, is beneficial.
“So, from time to time, even in a successful organisation, you need to parachute good external people in, because they help you to do the next step.”
Toto then said Poole is now a very important factor in Mercedes’ organizational structure.
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“Jayne is a person that I admired over the last 10 years, that I got to know 10 years ago, and I always had a very respectful relationship with.
“She worked for the competitor, but you can respect people working for a competitor and acknowledge their performance.
“Her role at Red Bull was, in my opinion, a very large part of the success of the team over the last years.
“That relationship came to an end, like many relationships come to a natural end. I wanted to hire Jayne for a long time, but it was just never an option. And then it became now.
“She’s a great addition. She has a lot of know-how, she’s a great psychologist, she has seen another organisation, she knows everybody pretty much, and she has created forensic profiles of all of the good people in Formula 1.
“Having her eyes is a very, very strong edge to the organisation,” Wolff concluded.
