On target but increased ambitions ahead
As one of the three main areas in Lantmännen Unibake’s sustainability strategy, ‘People’ plays a vital role in the company’s ambition “Baking for a Better World.” From a 2021 baseline, Lantmännen Unibake aims to, among other things, triple the number of people representing the next generations, increase flexible job arrangements by a factor of four, and work for a 45/45 gender split in management by 2030.
Sonja Admiraal Bentzen is Chief Human Resources Officer at Lantmännen Unibake. She begins by stating, that Lantmännen Unibake is “on target” on all People-related goals in the company’s sustainability strategy – on some targets they even exceed expectations.
“A good example is our recruitment process of next generation employees such as graduates, interns, and apprentices. We are good at bringing young people onboard. Right now, we have access to more talent than we dared to anticipate.”
Sonja Admiraal Bentzen thinks, that Lantmännen Unibake’s recipe for success is a market reputation for having a good work environment and a unique company culture.
“You can’t underestimate the importance of a workplace where people feel safe and secure, and where it is okay to reach out to colleagues for help. On top of that, we are very clear about our sustainability targets. The green agenda is something especially younger generations can relate to. Even though it is quickly becoming a hygiene factor,” Sonja Admiraal Bentzen says and gives an example.
“The other day, I was involved in a job interview, and we asked the young candidate why he hadn’t written anything about sustainability in his application. He responded that he hadn’t applied for the job in the first place if Lantmännen Unibake didn’t have a clear position on sustainability. To me, that is a clear sign that if you want to be able to attract talent, you need a sustainability strategy – otherwise you are not even on their radar.”
Apply the right mindset
Even though Lantmännen Unibake is on target when it comes to attracting and retaining employees of all ages, it is also evident that investing in flexible job solutions for the seasoned workforce must be a focus point.
“We have a world population that is aging. And we have a job market where we currently and especially in the future can use all the people with the competencies we need. Personally, I think it as a waste of good resources to see employees fully retire when they are 62 or 65. They still have a lot to offer. If they want too of course. We are building tailored programs for seniors to make them stay with us a little longer. For example, they don’t need to work 37 hours. They can have a work schedule that fits better with their personal situation,” Sonja Admiraal Bentzen says.
She adds that it takes an extra effort to kill the common but biased understanding that senior employees can’t adapt to modern ways of working and new digital tools.
“I know of 60-year-olds who find it challenging to adapt to new ways of working but I also know of 35-year-olds who feel the same way. It’s not an aged-related thing. It has more to do with an individual’s mindset.”
Aware of bias
A hot topic on the People agenda in society is diversity. Lantmännen Unibake is looking specifically at combining people of nationalities, gender, age, and experience to get a mix of different qualifications og competencies in a team and across teams.
“It’s good for a process and its outcome to have different people working together towards a common goal. It frees creativity, gives better results, and I think many people also find it more fun to go to work,” says Sonja Admiraal Bentzen.
If we zoom in on a young talent working together with a seasoned employee in the same team, they will usually bring different perspectives that can be mutually beneficial.
“As an example, young employees are often quite good at using digital tools. But what they may not always think about is the end-to-end process and the interdependencies between departments. Who gets affected by the work that is done in different functions? As a seasoned employee, you typically have an eye for those interdependencies across the value chain due to their experience.”
Lantmännen Unibake has set a target to reach a 45/45 gender split in management by 2030. They are moving in the right direction, but it is also clear to Sonja Admiraal Bentzen that gender equality is a challenging agenda.
“Our policy is to hire the best candidate for the job. But as I say, the best man for the job can be a woman. The fact is, however, that women don’t apply as much as men do for managerial roles. To change that, we are currently looking at how we write job ads, and if we are good enough at telling all the good stories about our female leaders to drive inspiration,” Sonja Admiraal Bentzen concludes.