Holmen attracts…
We start off in the beautiful spring which always surprises with its greenery and flower splendor. I am very grateful to enjoy the spring air, to walk with my family in the woods and land and see the sea in the beautiful St. Anna archipelago where we spend much of our free time. Paint red house walls where my grandparents painted once, it gives peace of mind.
Sport has always been and is a big part of my life. Football, bandy, floorball, skiing, shooting, equestrian and now in recent years there is a lot of ice hockey with our son Oscar and mountain biking with the whole family. My husband Fabio has been very active in ice hockey and leader for a few years, he also plays paddle and bandy and running and I almost forgot about the motorcycle.
Our hall way and our garage in our house in Norrköping often look like we were a circus company where equipment and bags from different sports compete for space... it breathes activity and we enjoy it.
Horses and equestrian sports are my passion and have become the sport that has followed me since I started riding at the age of 4. With the horses I get rest, power and joy. Leadership is another area that I never tire of exploring, being part of people's development is an exciting journey every day. It is precisely the word development that is what is the energy and the joy, the idea that everyone can develop and everything can be improved is a big part of my inner engine.
If you follow me coming weeks, I will tell you why Holmen attracts me, my experience of making a change of industry and coming in as new in the forest industry, how Holmen welcomes, my view on leadership and co-operation and thoughts on the future. You get to see some elements of my days at Holmen and meet some of the nice employees that I have around me and through it see what makes me feel so good during my days at Holmen.
Blog post June 15
Monday morning. Check in to make sure everyone on the team is in place and that we are doing well. Short reconciliations with production and logistics. Check the situation when it comes to industrial situation, speed of production, rate of delivery, stock levels and quality. Reconciliation targets of the day, week, month, risks, lessons from previous week, etc. The employees are concentrated, reporting clear and with the support of better and better BI solutions we can focus on analysis of the situation and get to action faster.
Good start, good check in. Feedback flows during the reviews. We have done this well, we need to do better.
Between the reviews, I have time to calibrate some questions about collaboration, leadership and our joint improvement work with the Heads of our regions Central and North, good feeling, the power is in common goals and collaboration.
The week is on and I look forward to the content that offers fantastic breadth which makes my job exciting.
Just this Monday contains reconciliation talks with my co-workers where we go through mood, target fulfillments and development. Important talks.
The entire regional management gathers (via Teams) during the afternoon as we work through the planning scenario and supply strategy. Some of us met physically at the regional office in Norrköping. Production Manager Linnéa Gille and Acting Manager Oscar Fornander (pictured).
Including a picture from the last time when the entire management team Region South was physically assembled. A full day in the field with focus on Holmen's Knowledge Forests. As I said this week containd an exciting range of tasks. Digitalization, Branding Platform, Operational Efficiency, Developing our Risk Management, Diversity Issues, Business Planning work with Forest Management, among other things.
One week at work
Consider the opportunities we have today to meet and work together in different ways.
Future and strategy are the topic this Tuesday and Wednesday and we are connecting from different parts of the country. Video is used extensively and we go in and out of various virtual meeting places during the day. In this industry, we work with the perspective of the next 100 years and longer in several of our analyzes and strategies. We also have a several hundred years of history to be proud of and cherish, at the same time we must constantly evolve to meet the future. Another dimension that makes my job so interesting.
Today, we in Holmen Forest management team together with participants from Group management train to move boundaries, break the habits of thought and patterns and see new scenarios, new opportunities. We open the door a bit more to the future and we do it together with different partners. Umeå University trains and guides us as we immerse ourselves in the subject of digitization during one of the work sessions.
The abstract and somewhat intangible feel more understandable and concrete. When that step is taken, ideas and thoughts starts to flow. The energy level is high and the commitment is high. We acknowledge that today's program through Teams worked brilliantly and I am grateful that I am here right now and allowed to participate in this development step!
Thursday:
The next morning starts with a conversation with Magnus Jansson, employee of Own team, Machine group. Magnus is already out in the woods since early morning. When we talk, beautiful summer sun shines through the window and we pause for a while to catch up on the fine morning. We discuss a number of issues and decide the way forward and wish Happy Midsummer! Magnus continues to produce sustainable raw material and contributes to increasing the forest's values and I do the same when I connect with the communication and marketing department and work on developing our brand platform.
At the end of the day, we have a reflection exercise in Holmen Forest's management team on diversity and inclusion. Good diversity builds teams for the future. Increased diversity contributes to attracting and retaining talented employees. The development is going in the right direction, I see examples around me daily. Now we are increasing the speed!
Blog post June 25
By being on-site with the employees and "going to the source" gives many insights that we can benefit from. For me as a newcomer in Holmen Forest, it is a must to be to do this as much as possible so that I am quickly able to increase the value I can add to the company. On a day like this it means that I am part of a plant inventory with Markus Mokvist, one of our Forest Management leaders. We spnd several hours in the field together where Markus tells in detail about the journey from seed to plant and about all the work invested to ensure that the plant gets the best possible condition to grow. It's fascinating ... the knowledge, the care, the responsibility. Hours of walking in the field gives time for a lot of questions, discussion and thoughts. In addition, we get to know each other, we calibrate values, share our history and laugh… and through it we put a puzzle piece in place that means that from that moment we have a stronger relationship and thus become more effective in our collaboration.
Scheduled visit to the Nursery Friggesund this week will be replaced with Teams due to covid-19. We connect from the head office, the Nursery Friggesund and the Region South. By investing time in talking through history, current situation and our common goal image ahead, we find new ways to improve and more effective ways to collaborate. Areas of improvement agreed, way forward decided!
I manage to squeeze in a lunch reflection with some of our new employees on Tuesday, which makes me happy. I describe Holmen Forest, our mission, why we are here and about a little about me. I get the opportunity to listen to Rebecka, Therese, and Elin's stories about life and why they chose Holmen Forest. We continue to talk about introduction and well-being and we focus on what affects the feeling of wanting to stay and develop with Holmen. Elin and Rebecka came to us from other business areas at Holmen. Therese joins us as her first job after graduation. The mix of different backgrounds and skills means that we build a stronger Holmen Forest and with the encouragement of internal mobility a stronger Holmen.
We get to know each other and calibrate values and sommon goals and laugh together. Energizing! We decide to see eachother again some time in the future. Sending with the expectation that we all have the mission to improve the business every day. Forward with everyone's creativity and ideas. Holmen Forest is moving ahead!
Holmen Forest is welcoming and the desire to develop is great. Commitment, responsibility and courage are constantly present. In the Forest Management team, we study and learn and challenge and develop to become even better at leading innovation and further unleashing the power of all our talented employees.
It is not hard to write with a warm heart about what I do and how I enjoy my work. I hope I have been able to convey my experience and feeling where I am right now. In a steep personal development curve where I enjoy learning and longing for the next day, where, in collaboration with fantastic people, we continue to develop Holmen's forest constantly leaned towards a larger purpose where we together create a sustainable future.
Ending the day with the book "The digital matrix" in the sun on the terrace. An exciting new workshop with the theme of Digitization in Holmen Forest's management is imminent.
Thank you for following me for a few days. Now I leave the blog assignment for this time.
Take care
See you later! // Anna