Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter, Förening U.P.A.
Degebergavägen 60
291 91 Kristianstad
Sweden
We strive to promote a sense of community within the company, and during the year have implemented a large-scale evaluation project in the Swedish operations to create a sense of belonging and security. We also arrange activities to promote employee well-being, and since 2022 this work has been run for the Swedish operations through a club with representatives from all of our companies, under an HR umbrella. The focus for this well-being club is health-promoting activities, with the aim for it to be possible for everyone to participate, for example in a Pilates taster session, bowling, a padel tournament, or a golf contest.
At Lyckeby, all of the staff are invited to an annual Lyckeby Day. A range of company information is presented, such as our sustainability process and the new core value formulations, and we then offer inspirational talks about self-leadership, the chance to socialize, a show, and dinner. The pulse survey we carried out in the Swedish companies in spring 2023 also showed that happiness and satisfaction are important.
In the Czech operations, joint activities were also arranged for employees of Amylex and Culinar, for example outdoor activities, product tastings, a Christmas party, and a motivation event prior to the start of the campaign in the fall. The business is a major employer in Horažďovice, and is also active both as a sponsor and participant in cultural and social events and projects in the town. Annual meetings are also held in which retired colleagues participate. At the end of FY23, we organized an Open House which attracted 400 attendees.
Maria Forsblom, HR Business Partner, you’ve led the work to draw up core values for Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter. What was the aim of doing this?
We wanted our core values to reinforce a shared culture in the workplace and to give clarity around what we can expect from each other when we work here. We believe this lays the foundation for creating happier employees.
What challenges did you encounter in the process?
Agreeing on what is important in our collaborations in the workplace has been fun and creative, but also challenging. Of course there’s a fear of platitudes, and words mean different things to different people. So it’s been important for us to work hard to formulate behaviors that we associate with our values. Like the fact that Commitment means we take an interest in our colleagues and collaboration partners, and give each other energy and joy. We have also been careful to listen to many other opinions along the way. The entire business has been involved in this work.
How do you move forward now to make sure the values have the intended effect?
The core values have been set on an overall level, and now we begin the process of communicating what we mean by the values internally and integrating them into our processes and leadership. They should be a self-evident part of our leadership training, the induction of new employees, employee appraisals, salary criteria, recruitment, etc. It’s a long process, but it feels as if it’s going well so far, so we’re hopeful about the future.
Degebergavägen 60
291 91 Kristianstad
Sweden