Sju lastbilar i olika färg och form med 15 nyblivna och glada lastbilschaffisar begav sig ut på Sveriges vägar förra veckan. Det var Scanias traineegrupp på väg mot Göteborg för ett studiebesök hos återförsäljaren i väst. Vi hade schemalagt så att vi körde ner i fyra sträckor och bytte bil och förare i varje rast så att alla skulle få provköra så många olika bilar som möjligt. Det är produktkännedom på riktigt, det jag lärde mig under turen fram och tillbaka till Göteborg hade jag inte kunnat lära mig genom att läsa om lastbilar eller kundbehov någonstans. Ibland är hands-on det enda alternativet, och vi hade väldigt roligt med att testa olika bilar och funktioner. Och såklart känns det extra bra när man i en Scania-bil med V8-motor utan större ansträgning susar förbi andra lastbilar längs vägen 😀

Efter studiebesöket som upptog hela fredagen hade vi en riktig toppenhelg tillsammans i Göteborg innan vi körde hemåt igen på söndagen. Här ser ni oss uppställda på en rastplats i Huskvarna på vägen ner framför Nalle Puh och Fanny (yes, alla bilar har namn!).

Hej!

Det var länge sen jag skrev nåt på bloggen. Traineeprogrammet tog slut för drygt ett halvår sen. Det var ett riktigt lärorikt och spännande år. Vi hade många kurser i olika områden och fick prova alla viktiga roller inom företaget och lära oss om verksamheten.
Jag har jobbat som utvecklare sedan traineeprogrammet var slut i LMEClear projektet fram till början av mars men nu har lite mer spännande saker hänt på Cinnober!
Cinnober har en ny kund: Australian Stock eXchange (ASX) och jag har börjat jobba i det nya projektet. Vi ska bygga ett trading system åt dem. Det blir mycket nya saker att lära mig eftersom jag jobbade med ett clearing system hittills och nu blir det trading. Det ska vara lättare än clearing iaf!
Jag har flyttat till andra sidan av kontoret och sitter med det nya teamet. En utmaning i ASX är att vi måste hitta ett bra sätt att hantera tidsskillnaden som är 10 timmar. Vi är just nu i planeringsfasen av projektet så vi har ganska många kravare (Busineess Analyst) som har åkt till Sydney för att reda ut vad vi måste bygga.

Ni kan läsa mer om ASX och Cinnober här: Cinnober to provide ASX with new trading system

Hello, my name is Chao Zhu (Terry), I’m from China and I joined Husqvarna Group in September, 2013. For those of you who don’t know, Husqvarna Group is a producer of outdoor power products, garden watering products and cutting equipment and diamond tools for the construction industry. After almost two years at the Group, I can say that I definitely don’t regret my decision to take the job when I got offered a position as a global trainee within purchasing.

Testing products during the first training module in Sweden

The trainee program includes four, six month rotations and I’m currently at my fourth and last one. This time I got to work in Huskvarna, Sweden, at the global commodity department and support them on some very important projects. I have been in Sweden for three months now and it has been one of the most impressive experiences in my life. The working culture and environment in Sweden is very different from what I’m used to and I’m grateful that all my colleagues are willing to share their knowledge. Even more important is that I get to work with challenging tasks and projects and gain valuable knowledge.

Working with R&D electric in Huskvarna, Sweden

Also, I have to say that I am really lucky to have met my assignment manager – Jonas Andersson and my colleague – Jonas Mattsson. They are both amazingly nice guys that have worked at the Group for many years and have a rich working knowledge. They have taught me a lot and always guided me on the right way.

After having worked with four different teams, I have truly gained a lot of precious experience and useful working skills. I have also realized that alignment and communicating with each other is the real key of success, especially in such a large multi-cultured group as this.

When my six months in Sweden are done, I will join another amazing team – the supply chain and demand team in China. I am really looking forward to it and hope I will get to work on even more challenging and interesting projects!

I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to work as a global trainee and I’m glad I chose this program as the start of my career! What interests me most is that as a global trainee you can try different things and work at several departments. That way you can approach problems in a different way and eventually, you contribute with valuable insight and knowledge!

Chao Zhu (Terry)
Global Trainee
Purchasing

Being a trainee means a wide range of work tasks. Me and one of my trainee colleagues have been planning what is called a “Talarforum”, directly translated to speaker’s forum. What we do is that we invite all the old trainees to listen to a speaker talking about a hot topic. Last week we listened to Stas Krupenia talking about the MODAS project that was aired on swedish news some weeks ago. Here you can find the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4IMOo6KX3Q

The speaker’s forum is a great way of networking with current and former trainees. You never stop marvel at the wide range of work tasks one can have! It really is now it starts, and it starts with you 🙂

The abroad period I mean! As I mentioned before, I am going to São Paulo, Brazil. And last week I booked the flights! The planning of my work there is ongoing and I can tell you that it´s going to be really exciting! I will keep you posted, promise!

One thing that is included in our trainee program is an one week language course to prepare us for the abroad period. The week before my arrival in Brazil, I will be in Cambridge to study english. To make sure that all of us get classes at our level of skill, we have been doing some tests and filling out what we would like to improve. It is going to be an intense week for sure with classes, both single and in small groups. And there will probably be study trips and of course evening activitites as well. We are staying with host families so we will really get the chance to practice our english!

When talking to former trainees, they say that if they have to choose, the abroad period and the language week was the most fun and educational of the whole trainee program. That I am really looking forward to!

Någonting som syns direkt om du kommer in till Scanias kontorslandskap eller produktionsenheter är att här tar man visualisering på allvar. I elektroniklabbet har de exempelvis limmat fast en artikel framtill på lådorna som artiklarna ligger i för att snabbt hitta det du söker. Du ser allt som oftast konstruktörer ta med sig sina delar till möten för att alla på mötet ska få en bra uppfattning om vad man faktiskt pratar om. På lagerplatser har artiklar matchats med frukter och du ser bilder på frukten bredvid artikelnumret. På din plockorder listas sedan två bananer, tre äpplen och en kiwi. Betydligt snabbare och orsakar färre fel än att matcha långa och ganska lika artikelnummer! Beroende på vad du jobbar med finns olika sätt att använda visualisering till din fördel.

Det som är mest genomgående är nog ändå VP-tavlorna (VP = visuell planering). Alla grupper har en egen VP-tavla och på den har varje gruppmedlem en rad för kort- och långsiktig planering. Gruppen kan med hjälp av tavlan planera stora leveranser och deadlines och allting är färgkodat för att snabbt få en överblick av situationen. Det är kort och gott ett sätt att visualisera arbetsprocessen. VP-tavlorna skiljer sig lite åt beroende på vilka behov gruppen har och vad den ansvarar för men konceptet är detsamma. Min grupp har VP-möte varje morgon där man under 15 minuter stämmer av läget och har tillfälle att flagga för om något projekt exempelvis behöver extra resurser. I början var jag lite skeptisk till vilken nytta det kan ge. Idag tycker jag att det är mitt bästa verktyg för planering av arbetet och för att se till att jag är i fas. Dessutom är det ett sätt att skapa förståelse för vad kollegorna gör. Det är inte säkert att du har gemensamma projekt med alla men på VP-mötet får du reda på hur saker går. Det är också ett bra forum att be gruppen om hjälp och höra om någon annan har koll på det där du inte riktigt visste.

Det är häftigt att se hur till synes små medel kan göra stor skillnad på utfall kring avvikelser och tidsåtgång. Det går åt mycket post-its och planeringen i sig kräver lite tid och tankekraft men det tjänar du in många gånger om. Min slutsats såg ni redan i rubriken: Visualisera mera!

Alexander Fornell

The best part of being a trainee at Husqvarna Group is the large variety of tasks that you get to work with in the program. When I was finishing my degree at Industrial Engineering and Management at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, I had no specific job in mind and I wanted to get the opportunity to work in a variety of different roles to get a better understanding of what they entail. This made the Husqvarna Group Global Trainee Program attractive to me; I will get to work within different departments during my two years as a trainee.

I’m from Kungsbacka, a city located on the west coast of Sweden and my first assignment as a trainee was at the Husqvarna Group site in Huskvarna, Sweden. There I worked at the Product Management and Development department together with Product Managers and Product Specialist for the Petrol Handheld category, which includes for example chainsaws, brush cutters and hedge trimmers. It was a great experience to get to know what it means to be a Product Manager or Specialist and I got to learn more about the Group’s products. I have also cooperated with colleagues at other departments, such as sales at our dealer conference on Rhodes, Greece, where I met dealers and took part in our product presentations.

Product presentation on Rhodes for Husqvarna dealers

Another perk of working at Husqvarna Group is that we are encouraged to learn about how to use the products. One example is when I spent three days in the forest to get a “driver’s license” for working with brush cutters. Before joining the Group I had more or less zero experience of using chainsaws and brush cutters, but in my opinion it is more important that you are willing to learn about the products than having previous experience of using them. Additionally, it is not only about using the product, we get to take them apart and put them back together (the first part is the easy one) to learn more about the pure mechanical aspects of the products. I had no previous experience of this, but as long as you are eager to learn it is no problem learning about the basics of carburetors and two-stroke engines.

Petronas Twin Towers are located close to the Husqvarna Group KL office

I am currently working at our regional office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I have been focused on getting to know what our customers in Asia expect from our products. I will stay in Kuala Lumpur until the end of the summer after which I will move to Charlotte, USA. There I will get the opportunity to work within sales, which is a new experience to me. This is what makes working at Husqvarna Group as a global trainee so great, you get to experience a lot in a short period of time while seeing interesting parts of the world. So if you want to try different roles to see where you can excel, apply for the Husqvarna Group Global Trainee Program!

Alexander Fornell
Global Trainee
Product Management & Development

Jonathan Cabeza

It has been almost a year since I started working at Husqvarna Group as a Global Trainee. It has been a great experience so far. However, there is always the “not so good” because, most of the times, life isn’t perfect. That being said, I wish I could get a dollar every time I see or hear people resisting change. Change is a necessary “evil” that, if used properly, can let us maximize our potential, increase our efficiency, and let us be leaders instead of followers.

Most of my time as trainee has been spent improving processes and developing tools to make better business decisions. During this period, I have been observing, learning and testing what it takes to drive change.

True leaders have the vision to understand the benefits of change and how it pays off in the short and long run. On the other hand, people might resist change because they are familiar with doing tasks a certain way and cannot see how an additional task to be done or a completely different process can benefit them. Other individuals feel that they are already proficient with current processes and they fear that the new process may reduce their actual performance. The latter are conscious that there are better more efficient ways to do their job, but they are scared of starting on a clean slate, learning new methodologies and possibly being mediocre when it comes to using new procedures. Good news! Persuading these individuals is possible thanks to a very valuable tool called emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is an immensely broad subject. Therefore, I will share with you the “dos” and “don’ts” from my perspective on how to effectively implement change using emotional intelligence that I have found useful in order to encourage others to adopt change successfully:

1. If you are at a higher level in the corporate ladder, do not attempt to leverage power to introduce change; remain approachable when having discussions with other coworkers.
2. Do not command what needs to be done and fail to explain the reasons why this needs to be done. It is important to inspire a shared vision to make sure that all parties involved can envision what the future could be like and how the organization, as a whole, can benefit from a given change.
3. Do not cover up the possible challenges that your team may face to avoid opposition or rejection. Instead, clearly outline challenges and benefits associated with this new change, and provide the necessary resources and tools to increase the chances of success.
4. You may be a very intelligent individual, but do not establish a one-way communication with coworkers because team effort can always help making something good into something great. Always ask for input from colleagues; there is always room for improvement. This will help you challenge the process.
5. Even when your new process or change is clearly better than the actual one, do not belittle the current process or the people who use them for liking it. Instead, sit down and spend time with employees reviewing how the current process works and show them how the new one works; if the new one is better, your workforce will likely welcome the change.
6. Change could bring a considerable amount of extra work. Do not try to cut corners by following the new process partially. Instead, model the way by following the rules and regulations. Lead by example to ensure that others feel inspired to adapt to change.
7. Do not forget to recognize privately and/or publicly when someone is adapting to change effectively. This encourages the heart to keep the good work and make others feel that their efforts do not go unnoticed.

Resistance to change is a common occurrence at the workplace and we should be prepared to handle it properly. You can enhance the chances of success when bringing change to your team by getting input from the people involved, sharing challenges and benefits entailed, providing the necessary tools and resources, guiding colleagues through the new process, modeling the way and encouraging the heart. An obvious improvement over the current process or situation, and an influential role in your company are not enough to introduce change successfully. Use emotional intelligence; it is your friend.

Jonathan Cabeza

Global Trainee
Product Management & Development – Wheeled
Charlotte, USA

Being a trainee means that you automatically build a big contact network when working in different departments and functions in the company. Besides your ordinary work tasks, you should also take the opportunity to meet with people you wouldn’t meet otherwise. Or go on study visits and learn how they work elsewhere in the company, and with what. In many ways, what you do is to devote yourself to tourism. It might take a while getting used to it. But I can assure you that when you do, you will learn so much more! It gives you an holistic view of the business that most other people probably don’t get. At least not in the same way, and probably not as easy.

Tourism in this way could make you a link between different functions within the company. It is not uncommon that you have some kind of knowledge which is of great importance to others. For example, I booked a lunch meeting with a manager at a completely different function in the company, just because I want to understand more. I presented some topics that I wanted to learn more about at that meeting. And guess what, my point of view of what I wanted to talk about turned out to be exactly what they are in need of in their organization right now. Win-win! It feels great to not only learn from others, but also being able to teach others something!

If you ask a previous trainee what he or she had wanted to do differently if they got the opportunity to be a trainee once more, many of them will say that they had wanted to use the time to network more, smarter, or more efficient. This is a hot tip for you, whoever you are. Use your time to network. Book meetings, go out there, talk to people. And if time is of short supply, book a lunch meeting, everyone’s got to eat right? You never know what they can teach you, or what you can teach them for that matter! In many ways, being a trainee is like being a tourist. So, use your time to see as much of “the world” as possible.

Jag har alltid tyckt att det är rätt tråkigt att plugga språk, även om det är väldigt kul att kunna. Nu har jag insett att jag inte alls tycker det är speciellt tråkigt. Det ligger mycket i hur språk undervisas, vilket ofta är med glosor och grammatikregler att lära sig utantill. Inte speciellt inspirerande och inte så användbart heller faktiskt. Jag läste så lite språk jag bara kunde på gymnasiet och kom till steg tre i tyska innan det blev tillåtet att göra något annat istället.

Nu känns tyskan helt plötsligt mer aktuell än någonsin eftersom jag ska spendera nästa period hos just Scania Deutschland! Innan utlandsperioden drar igång får vi som tur är en veckas språkutbildning, vilket för oss som ska plugga tyska blir i München. Nu är det mindre än två månader kvar till avfärd och jag försöker få in tyska lite här och där i vardagen. Jag spelar Duolingo på bussen på väg hem från jobbet och är i full färd med att läsa Harry Potter-böckerna på tyska. Mitt favoritsätt att öva på är helt klart att luncha med mina traineekollegor Johannes (som är från Tyskland) och Bastian (med en språkbegåvning jag avundas) och då är det 100% tyska som gäller. Idag är Bastian upptagen med körlektion inför sitt CE-kort men jag och Johannes ska ha tysk Mittagessen.

Det skulle vara väldigt roligt att kunna sköta jobbet i så stor utsträckning som möjligt på tyska och målet är helt klart att vara flytande (om än hackigt flytande) innan det är dags för semester i juli. Fortsättning följer på den!

Auf wiedersehen!