An update on Copenhagen life, a star-struck presentation and some old friends visiting as the former trainees tell us where they are today.
End of the collective
Our time at Unibake in Copenhagen is coming to an end, as is our reputed “Trainee Collective”. It has been a real blast! Both to work at Unibake, our far most international company, in a period of great change with the acquisition and integration of Vaasan. There will be many really exciting opportunities coming up! It has also been fantastic to live in and explore Copenhagen with three other trainees – pretty much like family by now. Biking to work, watching TV-series over dinner and getting really nerdy in Lantmannen discussions together. Unibake has taken really good care of us and we have felt very welcome in this busy office!
Project management – a lot of post-its
The other week, I was in Belgium for a course in Project Management. The course itself was really good, with hands-on tools and practical examples (and so many post-its!). But, not least, it’ll always be about the people. We were about 25 people, mostly Belgians, but we were a few from Denmark, Spain and Italy as well, and from all sorts of functions and roles. It was really interesting to meet everyone and have some good conversations as well as big laughs! The value of meeting face to face is never to be underestimated.
The Burger Battle “True Burgers” at OWOO conference
Commercial conference
Another great meet-and-greet was Unibake’s commercial conference “One World of Opportunities”, that Fredrik was the project leader for. An incredibly well-arranged event where commercial teams from across the globe met and got to know each other. Not least, there was an award ceremony and TEAM SWEDEN WON THE GRAND PRIX despite tough competition! Boom!
Star-struck presentation
… and obviously I’ll have to tell you… Last week I was incredibly stoked to present my previous project about Africa to PO, our group CEO and Per, vice president! Some months back, I presented it to Ulf, our group CFO and Stefan, head of group controlling, as well. In which 30bn+ company does that happen to a trainee? It is absolutely fantastic how down to earth our top management is and obviously it is extremely motivating and inspiring to get the opportunity to discuss something you are really passionate about in such a forum! Lantmännen was awarded “most talented company” for the second year in a row, the fruit of hard and strategic work throughout the organization. Though I have little to compare with, I dare say Lantmännen is a company where people really matter and are at the heart of the organization. That makes me very proud to work here!
Looking back – our older trainee sisters and brothers
It was a while since you heard from the previous trainee group, so I asked a few of them to give us an update. You find their last blog post here. And a greeting from us to them – I think we are all very grateful for the way they never hesitate to take a moment and discuss something, whether it is about the next placement or how to solve a problem – often whom to contact. Another strength of the program and the combined network across the organization.
Jakob did some guest-starring on the way to his present position as an “Innovation and Business Developer” at Lantmannen HQ. He did gigs at for example Doggy and Cerealia, something he is very happy about because it meant he got to know even more of the group. “It is particularly interesting at Lantmannen, because we have so vastly different businesses within our group.” Looking back at the trainee program, he feels it was a great benefit to see so much of the LM-group, and to share and reflect over experiences together with the other trainees. “I got a fantastic network and an understanding of how the parts of the business must work together to leverage group benefits. Not least, I also got an understanding of how I fit into Lantmännen and how I can contribute in the best way.”
Pelle is a Nordic Brand Manager within the Breakfast category in Cerealia, but just like Jakob he did a few shorter projects after the trainee program. First as a Business Analyst within Group Controlling and then a temporary role as Nordic Brand Manager at AXA. After that he got a fulltime as Nordic Brand Manager at GoGreen, before going back to the Breakfast team. Looking back, he’s very positive about the trainee program, mainly because it gave a holistic perspective of the group and a deep understanding for its business, as well as a strong network across the Lantmannen Group.
Elin has had a bit of a roller coaster ride over the last couple of months. But, finally, it seems she is set to start her new position as Category Manager for Unibake USA! Super exciting! The practicalities around moving countries and continent has proved quite challenging but now she is really excited and happy to start working in Chicago soon. After the trainee program she worked as an analyst within Group Strategy and Controlling. Looking back at the trainee program, she says it “was a fun way to get introduced to Lantmännen by working at different parts of the Group and sharing the adventure together with the other trainees. The training modules and projects were all good, but the most valuable part of the program was getting to know people from across the organization. “
Ok, got to go, we are gonna say good-bye to us 🙂 Or, rather, Unibake are arraning and a little fare-well, so nice!
Til next time..
Ebba
Ps. WOW. Not a little fare-well at all! Ahhh we will miss you, Unibake people! All the very best til we meet again!