Trond Vinje is Chief Human Resources Officer in the recently merged company TietoEVRY. He has long had a relationship with both companies, both as a customer and competitor in previous positions. This has given him a good basis for also seeing the company from the outside. He is passionate about transformative HR and is very familiar with change processes. With a long and varied career behind him, Vinje shares his experiences with Leadership Weekly.
What is your top priority for HR going forward and how are you tackling this?
Following the formal merger of EVRY and Tieto, we are naturally very busy integrating the two companies into a single new company. With an ambition to not only pick the best from the two, but also to look outside the company when appropriate, it is a challenging and exciting process. We have set up a completely new organization with 1,100 new managers and a new strategy and operating model. All processes, systems, digital solutions and incentive models must be harmonized, new leadership principles must be set and it is important to establish a new culture in the company as a whole. For those of us who enjoy working with transformative HR, it's incredibly exciting to be part of this. We are constantly learning and have a clear ambition with the work we do; we will develop a leading company that will become an even better partner for customers in their digitalization journey. With such a comprehensive change agenda, good program management and change management is essential. It's critical to focus on what we want to achieve and never lose focus on what business we want to create. The fact that we are also going through COVID-19 naturally makes this work extra demanding, but I feel that this is something that is being handled well.
What are your main ambitions for development at your company?
We work with complex services and solutions in a global industry with a high rate of change. It is a prerequisite for survival that we have a learning culture where we are equipped to take part in the rapid development of IT and technology. The situation in our markets requires us to be quick to adapt, to be at the forefront of - and to drive this development together with our customers. We see this in many situations where we, as a driving force, explore how technology can improve our customers' business model and competitive situation. One of many examples of this is how we are working with a major logistics company to establish a completely new way of operating using sensor technology.
A fundamental prerequisite for success is to recognize that the glass is always half full. Having a strong drive for development, both individually and as a company, must be part of our DNA. As managers, we must naturally set strategic priorities and directions, but also ensure that the company has an infrastructure for individual development. Here, it is important to create good learning arenas in the various projects and teams, and to work for a high level of internal mobility. Development often takes place outside the comfort zone, and exposure to different tasks combined with a good feedback culture results in good learning and development over time.
What have you done to further develop your own skills?
One of the most skills-enhancing things I've done is actually changing jobs. I've had different roles in quite different companies, although I also enjoy doing different tasks within the companies. I believe that exposure to the variety of challenges you face contributes to continuous learning. For the first half of my professional life, I've worked with things other than HR, including as a consultant and with program and project management. I believe that such mobility and experience can make us better both as managers and HR professionals. In my experience, it provides good interdisciplinary skills and a better understanding of how the business works. Otherwise, I'm keen to learn from colleagues. Everyone around me is more skilled in one area or another, and it's both natural for me and inspiring to use the network in my own development.
What is the most important experience you have gained in the past year?
I must admit that I have been struck by the complexity of merging two businesses as large as Tieto and EVRY were. Establishing a company with 24,000 employees from two former competitors is demanding. While we naturally focus on all the strategic and operational aspects, it strikes me how true the expression "culture trumps everything else" is. At the same time, I have seen how important leadership is, and not least open and transparent communication, in such demanding periods.
Who impresses you and why?
Fortunately, we are all concerned with diversity in all dimensions today. One of the things that impresses me most is how recent graduates and those with longer experience in the company complement each other in so many ways. As a large company with a long history, we have many generations working together across both national borders and organizational units. When the new technology knowledge and energy of the young people is combined with a deep insight into different industries and customer groups represented by seniors, it often results in very well-functioning and competent teams. Seeing that dynamic impresses me.