Scaling a business quickly exposes organizational weaknesses faster than anything else. When growth accelerates, teams either adapt or retreat into their comfort zones. Virginie Costa has spent three decades watching this dynamic unfold, including twenty years in C-suite roles across luxury, fashion, beauty and consumer packaged goods. She has led finance teams at Hermès, GODIVA, Burberry, Wella, and most recently Mondelēz. These are brands that compete in fast-moving global markets where standing still means falling behind.
Transforming Teams During Rapid Growth
Costa’s experience is rooted in environments where growth is not optional but required. “All these consumer brands are constantly fighting for market share. And to gain market share, you need to think about high growth and focus on developing high-performance teams. There is no other way around it,” she says. At Burberry, she led teams through major transformations as the company implemented SAP and expanded its digital capabilities. The shift demanded quick adaptation and flawless execution. “The teams had to be ready, and there was no time for a slow transition,” she recalls. At Wella, the challenge was entirely different. After the company was acquired from a publicly traded organization, Costa was tasked with building the corporate finance function from the ground up. “We had to stand up the corporate finance function very quickly to be ready to operate as a standalone company,” she explains.
Breaking Silos Through Collaboration
Ask Costa about the biggest challenge during rapid scaling, and she does not hesitate. “The biggest risk is having an organization that operates in silos, where cross-functional thinking and collaboration are missing,” she says. She has seen it happen many times. The issue is not laziness or poor communication skills. It is human nature. “You tend to retreat into your comfort zone. Anything outside that zone requires extra effort and curiosity,” she explains. When people pull back into their departments, critical information gets lost and things fall through the cracks. The solution, Costa says, is to keep a constant pulse on how engaged teams are and whether they are still collaborating across functions.
Creating Purpose and Trust in Teams
Costa breaks her approach into four areas, though she admits the fourth one might seem soft to some executives.
Purpose
The first is purpose. Not mission statements or corporate values, but real clarity on goals and how they affect customers. “When everybody in the team understands the goals and how they affect the consumer experience and the customer environment, once the team is aligned on why those goals matter and grasps it very clearly, it enables better collaboration,” she explains. Teams that speak the same language collaborate better. Simple as that.
Trust And Psychological Safety
Costa creates specific forums where people from different functions can interact. Sometimes it’s a steering committee tracking project progress. Other times it’s just regular check-ins about market conditions. “Creating those spaces so that the teams can mingle, can get to know one another, can get to learn what they are focused on creates a very good environment for collaboration.” These aren’t team-building exercises or forced social events. They’re structured opportunities for people to understand what their colleagues are working on.
Talent Development
The third piece is talent development, which Costa calls non-negotiable. People need to see their career path and understand what skills they need to get there. “Once you provide that clarity—this is the career path and this is what you need to get to the next step—that creates energy and motivation.” Both the company and the individual win when career progression is transparent.
Celebrating Progress
It is not just about individual wins but also about team milestones. “It is very important to have those moments when you celebrate not only a person but a milestone achieved,” Costa says. Recognizing shared success reinforces the sense of belonging that keeps people engaged through demanding growth phases. Costa began her career thirty years ago with paper and pen. She jokes about it now, but the point matters. Technology has always changed how work gets done. The current anxiety around AI replacing jobs reminds her of every other major shift she has seen. “Think about it as a tool for you, not a replacer of what you do,” she says.
In finance, routine transactions often consume time that could be used for strategic work. Paying bills from the same account or repeating similar processes does not require human judgment. “All those routine transactions can be done in the blink of an eye compared to the few days it might take today,” she explains. The time saved allows finance teams to focus on being strategic partners to the business instead of transaction processors. Her advice for anyone worried about being replaced is simple. “Be curious. See what it can provide and how you can leverage it.” Costa’s philosophy on team building always comes back to consistency. “If you do this constantly, the performance will follow. And when performance follows, so do loyalty, innovation, and growth.” It is the kind of team she builds wherever she goes.
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