The trainee program from a personal perspective


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Ni Hao!

Last time I wrote a post, I sat in my brick house in a small picturesque town in northern England. Today, I’m writing to you from a skyscraper in one of the world’s biggest cities, Shanghai. Contrasts!

Me at The Great Wall of China

I want to continue where I left you the last time, what the trainee program means to me, foremost, from a personal point of view. My home manager encouraged me to write down some key insights from my time at Husqvarna Group, and I would like to share two of them with you!

Cultural commonalities

It is very popular to talk about cultural differences. The importance to be able to adapt to different cultures. Maybe I’m naive and young, but from my perspective, I think it is more about what is common. I have had the privilege to work with people from all around the world. New Zeeland, Brazil, Spain, Morocco, the UK, China, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Lithuania, Sweden, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, okay you get it… And I would say it’s not the differences that have caught my attention, but our commonalities! Of course, there are some differences in experiences and also different environments, but on an individual level, not too much of a difference. After all, we are all humans, and this insight I will carry with me for my whole life. 

Expanding my comfort zone

Another key insight is how important it is to constantly step outside of my comfort zone to develop. When I moved to the UK, I felt like I was really stepping outside of my comfort zone. Moving to a new country where I knew nobody… But, compared to moving to China, that was easy peasy… Here, the most simple things are an adventure in itself. For example ordering food in a local restaurant. First, you need to find a reasonable place while trying not to get hit by a scooter, they are EVERYWHERE… Phuu. When that is done, you need to explain, with your body language, that you want to have a look at the menu. When you have the menu in your hand, it is time for the translation app to work. Often, the app is working quite good, but you never really know what you have ordered. Then the last step; to pay. You just give them your credit card or some cash? Nope. Now you have to explain, with your body language, that you don’t use Ali pay or WeChat pay, but that you want to pay with cash. The first times, when I went out to get some food, I was actually a bit nervous, I stepped outside of my comfort zone for the smallest thing, to buy food. After a couple of times, you get used to it, and now it’s a part of my everyday life. You just have to put yourself out there. So China, bring on the next challenge.    

Shanghai Tower

What’s next?

The program is not over yet, I have roughly eight months left! Next on the agenda is a trip to our Japanese site just outside Tokyo, and then I will finish up my rotation here in China before Christmas. My last rotation will be in the robotic sales team in the US, fun! There, I will be working with commercial sales to customers like universities and golf courses. I’m moving away from sourcing to the other side of the business, I think that will be a really good experience.

…And don’t forget to apply for the brand new Pioneer Program, the Global Trainee Program 2.0! http://trainee.husqvarnagroup.socialmediabranding.se/

Regards,

Caroline

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Rain, red brick houses and fitted carpets, guess where I am…?


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…In northern England, more precisely in a small town called Darlington. My name is Caroline Lilja,  I’m a Global Trainee within Sourcing, and I moved here a week ago to start my second rotation in the UK Sourcing team. Very exciting!

The last few weeks have been a lot about meeting new people and traveling. I have been in Germany for our second Training Module and as mentioned, I just moved to the UK for my second rotation.

Training Module in Germany

As you might know, between each rotation, we have a training week in one of Husqvarna Group’s main sites. This time we got to visit Ulm, Gardena’s headquarter. The module typically consists of a lot of interesting presentations from different areas within the company performed by senior managers, former trainees and other amazing colleagues. The week in Ulm also offered some practical exercises like Lego simulation, project management training and, last but not least, nice food and great company! The top two things during the week was according to me, the LEGO simulation and the cooking event. The LEGO simulation is a fun activity about continues improvements and we as a group did really well! It’s so much fun to work with bright and driven people! We also got the opportunity to challenge our ability to cooperate when we, one night, attended a cooking class. We were supposed to cook a three-course dinner for 15 people… But honestly speaking, I think the real chef cooked all the food and we just messed around in the kitchen ;).

Happy team after the LEGO simulation!
Dinner with my boys!
Cooking event in Ulm!

Second rotation in the UK

After the week in Ulm, I did a quick touch down in Sweden to finish up some work and then I went straight to the UK for my second rotation. In the UK we make, according to me, our coolest product. The robotic lawnmower! And wow! The UK office have really welcomed me and from day 1, I’ve felt like I’m a part of the team. Of course, it is a bit overwhelming to move to a new country, leaving the safe ground in Sweden to explore something new. But that really triggers me, and I think it’s good to step outside your comfort zone from time to time to experience new sides of yourself. Sometimes you just have to throw yourself into the unknown and see what happens. To wrap up my first week in the UK, I went out for a typical British pub crawl with my fantastic colleagues from the office, see picture below.

Pub crawl in Durham

Professional skills and personal development

For me the trainee program is not just a great opportunity to develop my professional skills, I also get the possibility to travel around the world to learn from different cultures and to meet great new friends! This program gives me an opportunity to grow as a person and to step outside my comfort zone. Husqvarna Group is a company that understands how important it is for people to grow, not just professionally but as an individual. I’m so glad that I got this amazing opportunity.

Until next time, take care :)!

Regards,

Caroline

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